(East Los Angeles, CA) October 14, 2020 [From The Editor’s Desk]: The Galaxy were without the presence of one of their top Franchise players, Javier “Chicharito” Hernández, once again on this day, Wed., Oct. 7th, but it was due to a very personal Hernández family matter….the birth of his first baby girl, Nila. His services could have been greatly used in his team’s uphill battle against the visiting Portland Timbers, currently holding down 2nd place in the MLS Western Conference. Also unavailable to play due to International competition were the highly valued, Jonathan Dos Santos and Rolf Feltscher. Nonetheless, the season must go on, and on it did, as the Timbers took good aim at the Galaxy defense at the Dignity Sports Health Center for a (6-3) win. The Galaxy are in dire need of wins as they are currently in 12th place.

 To see highlights, click here.

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(1st Half): The potent Portland attack squad put up two rapid-fire goals, the first at the 14′ minute mark, when Yimmie Chara sent a beautiful assist to Felipe Mora from the 1-(throw-in pass to Chara), 2-(then Chara’s dribble attack) and 3-(his perfect placement pass) to Mora for the goal from directly in front of the net. Next up, at the 23′ mark, Guess Who?? Jeremy Ebobisse, who’s becoming a Master of Disaster with his superb play, took a “free kick” that performed some magic when it wrapped around the Galaxy wall and got past goalie, David Bingham, for the Timbers‘ second goal. The Galaxy’s first goal of the match took place at the 34′ mark when Julian Araujo took aim and sent a missile with his right foot, from well-beyond the box and to the left back-side of the goal, cutting the margin to (2-1).  This would be the halftime score. 

(2nd Half): However, as they came out to the pitch for the second period, the Timbers showed that they were on a mission to control the tempo of the match and then added an unusual and exotic “swivel hipped”-“no look” goal at the 47th minute by Diego Valeri for extra insurance, making the score Timbers 3, Galaxy 1. This would set the tone for the offense on both sides to play a bigger role in the match. At the 55th minute, Ethan Zubak, got into the scoring book with his right-on“header” goal, after the throw-in was guided by a Cristian Pavon crossing assist. The score then moved to (3-2), Timbers.

Then, a pair of quick-strike goals were made by Felipe Mora, first, at the 60th minute from a crossing assist by Jorge Villafaña, that passed the front of the goal, for his second, giving him a brace. That was quickly followed by a Larrys Mabiala “header” off a rebound from just in front of the goal, at the 63rd minute. The final score for the Galaxy came at minute 70′ when Pavon managed to put up a flashy score after dribbling a few yards to his right, through light traffic, and then finding a perfect angle for his cannon shot to the left side of the goal. The score was now Timbers 5, Galaxy 3. And yes, it was that man once again, Ebobisse, off of a successful LeBron James-like,“stutter-step” one-on-one approach to the goal, that concluded the match scoring at the 80th minute. It was his brace for the day.

FINAL SCORE: Timbers 6  Galaxy 3.

(Next Up): San José Earthquakes at Dignity Health Sports Park – Wed., Oct. 14th – 7:30 PM ET; STREAMING: MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US, on DAZN in Canada; LOCAL TV: Spectrum SportsNet, NBC Sports California. MLS Regular Season – Week 18

**The October 10th match against the Colorado Rapids has been re-scheduled for a later date due to a confirmed COVID-19 case in their player pool.