Galaxy stay hot at home with 3-0 victory over Fire
CARSON CITY, Calif. (AP) — Tyler Boyd scored a first-half goal, Riqui Puig and Billy Sharp found the net after halftime and the Los Angeles Galaxy cruised to a 3-0 victory over the Chicago Fire on Saturday night.
The Galaxy (6-10-7) upped their unbeaten streak against the Fire to a club-record 13 against a single opponent. Chicago’s last victory over LA was in August of 2010.
Boyd took a pass from Maya Yoshida in the 29th minute and scored for the fifth time this season to give LA a 1-0 lead at the half.
Puig used an assist from Douglas Costa in the 72nd minute to score his fourth goal of the season for a 2-0 lead.
Sharp subbed in in the 69th minute and scored his first career goal on a penalty kick in the 90th minute in the first appearance of his career to complete the scoring.
LA has won three straight at home for the first time in a year after beating 2022 MLS Cup finalists Los Angeles FC and the Philadelphia Union in their two previous home matches.
Chicago (8-9-8) was forced to play a man down after Gastón Giménez was tagged with two yellow cards in the first 27 minutes.
The Fire entered play with a 5-0-0 record in its previous five matches with Western Conference opponents. Prior to that Chicago was 2-28-9 in its road matches against the West in all competitions.
Puig scored but fell short in trying to become the fourth Galaxy player with assists in five straight matches.
Chicago has allowed just 11 first-half goals this season, third best in the league. The Fire have surrendered 26 scores after halftime, tied with Austin for most in the league.
Chicago returns home to host the Vancouver Whitecaps on Wednesday. LA travels to play the San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday.
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