Chicharito scored early, Dejan Jovelvic converted a penalty and the Los Angeles Galaxy raced to a 4-0 win over CF Montreal on Monday.
Chicharito scored his seventh goal of the campaign in the eighth minute. Samuel Grandsir crossed then Efrain Alvarez sent a header to Chicharito, who hit the mark between the legs of Sebastian Breza.
Chicharito hadn’t scored in their last three games.
The Galaxy doubled the cushion at the start of first-half stoppage time from a penalty, after the referee looked for replays.
Joel Waterman’s hand was ruled narrowly into the penalty area.
Jovelvic thus obtained a fifth goal in four games.
He scored from the left side, Breza having chosen the wrong side to dive.
Waterman’s hand was committed following a short header from Serbian Joveljic.
The penalty was a very unfortunate outcome for coach Wilfried Nancy’s club, especially since the Galaxy had been in a cautious style for many minutes.
“We had a bit of bad luck,” said midfielder Alistair Johnston. At the same time, it can’t be so much a matter of bad luck, with the score at 4-0.
“We give way too many quality chances at the start of the game. It’s not fair to our goalies. Collectively, we must do better at this level. »
The crowd favorites saw Rayan Raveloson add a brace (60th and 79th minutes).
He first took advantage of a perfect cross from Julian Araujo, before punctuating the score following a fine series of short passes.
“The third goal was a bit of a turning point,” Nancy said. From there, it got harder.
“We had to take advantage of our first dangerous situations and we didn’t. »
The Galaxy had four shots on target, among 14 in total. The Montreal team fired 11 times, including three shots on target.
CF were trying to continue on the heels of a 2-1 win at Seattle last Wednesday. The team was trying to set an all-time MLS record with a fifth road win in a single season.
The Montreal club will play again Saturday night at home, against Sporting Kansas City.
Alvarez is one of 12 Galaxy players from California.
Playing at home for the seventh time in a row, the Galaxy snapped a three-game winless streak, including two straight losses.
“We were playing against a club that was going through a bad streak,” Nancy said. We didn’t know how to get the goals that would have done us good. »
The Galaxy improved their home record against Montreal to 4-0-1, including a 9-1 dominance in goals.
The first threat from the visitors came in the 6th minute from the left flank, a low cross from Jojea Kwizera, intended for Ismaël Koné. The latter made a fork, but too high.
In the 11th minute, Lassi Lappalainen was frustrated with a right hand by Galaxy keeper Jonathan Bond. Romell Quioto had worked well before the sequence.
Three minutes later, Grandsir missed a great opportunity posted to the right of the net, on a rebound.
In the 26th minute, a burst of speed from Joaquin Torres caused Mark Delgado to over-sturd his right elbow, earning him a yellow card.
On the counterattack that followed the free kick, Grandsir crossed just a bit too far for Chicharito.
About fifteen minutes before the half, Lappalainen did not compromise against the formidable Mexican, stifling a sustained charge from the Galaxy.
In the 38th minute, it was Samuel Piette who was at fault for a yellow card, at the expense of Alvarez.