Landon Donovan scored his fifth goal in four matches, but the Galaxy were only able to walk away with one point as the Los Angeles Galaxy ended up level with the Philadelphia Union, 1-1. Donovan squeezed a through ball through the center of Philadelphia's defense to Juan Pablo Angel in the 24'. Angel wasn't able to turn on it, but laid it back to Donovan who smashed it into the back of the net. Donovan had a chance to score the put away goal, but saw it roll off the foot wrong and end up wide right. Juan Pablo Angel had a solid chance on goal, but Fayrd Mondragon was able to block it with the side of his body.
Philadelphia's equalizer came off the bench, off the foot of Danny Mwanga who came in for Keon Daniel at half time. Sean Franklin tried to play the ball back to Donovan Ricketts in the 84' but the ball slowed down on him. Mwanga was able to run the ball down before it reached Ricketts, dribble around Ricketts, and put the ball in the net. Sloppy play in the back has cost the Galaxy a few victories this year, especially late on the road. Franklin's mental mistake called to mind Gonzalez' blunder in DC, which lead to the equalizing penalty kick. Mwanga ripped his shirt off after the goal, an automatic yellow, but the Philadelphia fans didn't seem to mind. The crowd was loud from start to finish in this match.
This year MLS has started recording a few more of the stats commonly seen in Europe. The possession was almost 50/50, not much in it, and that's reflected in the scoreline. Los Angeles was unable to get a put away goal after their first half opener, and they were unable to keep the ball away from Philadelphia for very long.
The Galaxy now fly back to Los Angeles, to take on Sporting Kansas City on Saturday.