Tyler Boyd and Riqui Puig scored goals and the Los Angeles Galaxy continued their dominance of the Philadelphia Union with a 3-1 victory on Saturday night at Carson, Calif.
The Galaxy’s other tally came on an own goal by Philadelphia’s Olivier Mbaizo as they increased their unbeaten stretch to seven matches (3-0-4).
Los Angeles (5-9-7, 22 points) improved to 9-1-3 all-time against the Union. Philadelphia’s only win in the series came on July 4, 2012.
Mikael Uhre scored for the Union (10-7-4, 34 points), who dropped to 1-3-1 over their past five matches.
Jonathan Klinsmann made one save for the Galaxy, while Philadelphia’s Joe Bendik had three.
The Union were without star goalkeeper Andre Blake and top-notch defenders Kai Wagner (hamstring) and Damion Lowe. Blake and Lowe are playing for Jamaica in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, while Wagner sat out his second straight game.
Los Angeles took a 2-1 lead on the Philadelphia own goal in the first minute of first-half stoppage time.
Douglas Costa took the corner kick and sent the ball into the box close to the net. There was competition for the ball, and it hit Mbaizo’s lower back and went into the net.
The Galaxy increased their lead to 3-1 in the 76th minute when Puig unleashed a right-footed blast that was perfectly placed into the top right corner of the net. It was Puig’s third goal of the season.
Earlier, the Galaxy took a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute when Boyd took a low right-footed shot that went off Bendik on the way to the net. It was Boyd’s fourth goal of the season.
Philadelphia tied the score in the 36th minute as Jakob Glesnes took a right-footed shot from outside the box that caromed off a Los Angeles defender. The ball ricocheted to Uhre, who sent a right-footed shot past Klinsmann for his seventh goal of the season.
The Galaxy held a 16-11 edge in shots and placed seven on target to Philadelphia’s two.
–Field Level Media