LA Galaxy’s Harbor Miller, right, defends against CF Montreal’s Daniel Rios during first half MLS soccer action in Montreal, on Saturday.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
The MLS homecoming party for Alexis Sanchez was spoiled as his CF Montreal side needed a late goal to salvage a 2-2 Major League Soccer draw against the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday at Stade Saputo.
Daniel Rios and Prince Owusu scored for Montreal (5-10-6), while Ruben Ramos and Maya Yoshida found the back of the net for Los Angeles (6-8-8), extending their unbeaten run to five games.
Both teams opened the game cautiously, trading stints of possession, but toward the quarter-hour mark Montreal began exercising control over the ball, while the Galaxy looked to hit back on the counter.
Montreal’s control paid off quickly as the persistent pressure set the stage for Rios to get on the end of a rebound spilled by goalkeeper James Marcinkowski and open the scoring in the 16th minute.
Los Angeles replied almost immediately, using the counterattack to its advantage and jumping on a rebound. After driving the ball through the Montreal midfield, Kyogo Furuhashi’s shot forced Thomas Gillier to spill the ball into the path of Ramos, who made no mistake.
Tension in the stadium increased even more just before halftime when Matty Longstaff was brought down in the penalty area, but the referee judged the contact insufficient to award the hosts a penalty.
It took the Galaxy just 2 1/2 minutes to take the lead in the second half, when a defensive mishap following a corner led to Yoshida sending an audacious backheel into the bottom right corner.
At the hour mark and still trailing by a goal, Montreal brought on Sanchez to the delight of the Stade Saputo for his first minutes with the club at home.
Los Angeles’ task of defending their one-goal lead became significantly harder with 20 minutes left when JT Marcinkowski was sent off for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity after bringing down Owusu as the last man back.
Owusu would also be the man to take advantage of the numerical advantage less than 10 minutes later. Montreal’s leading scorer found the back of the net for the fourth straight game when he rose above the defender and met Luca Petrasso’s cross with a perfectly placed header, tying the game at 2-2.
Up next
Galaxy: Visits San Diego FC on Saturday, Aug. 29.
Montreal: Visits Inter Miami on Saturday, Aug. 29.