CARSON, Calif. — Robbie Keane scored on a penalty kick and added two assists, and Los Angeles scored five goals for the second straight match as the Galaxy routed the Portland Timbers 5-0 on Wednesday night.
“They punished us for, it seemed like, every mistake that we made,” Timbers coach Caleb Porter said. “And we made some big ones.”
The victory broke a tie between the teams for third place in the Western Conference. The Galaxy (7-5-7) have never lost to the Timbers (7-6-4) in Carson in seven matches. The Timbers had a franchise-best four-game MLS win streak snapped.
The Galaxy scored three first-half goals against a team that had been giving up an average of fewer than one a game. Porter said his team started well, but that falling behind 2-0 in a five-minute span changed the game.
“We’re down 2-0, chasing the game on a big field on the road against a team that is very explosive and dangerous and talented going forward,” he said. “So that’s a tall ask. …We can’t let it carry into the next game. We have to move on from it, and certainly learn from it and correct the mistakes that we made. But hat’s off to L.A. They’re a very good team and they showed that tonight.”
Sebastian Lletget scored in the 13th minute and has a goal in each of his last three MLS starts. Keane converted in the 18th minute, and Robbie Rogers scored his first MLS goal since 2011 off a pass from Keane in the 33rd.
Juninho scored in the 72nd off another Keane assist and Jose Villarreal added the final goal in the 87th minute on a direct kick. Portland’s Liam Ridgewell was given a red card in the 78th.
