Los Angeles Galaxy secure opening-day victory over Chicago Fire

Mar 7, 2015 at 3am UK

FT(HT: 0-0)

The Los Angeles Galaxy begin their 2015 MLS campaign with a 2-0 victory over the Chicago Fire thanks to goals from Jose Villarreal and Robbie Keane.

Published: March 7 2015 | 05:37

Last updated: March 8 2015 | 01:58

Reigning MLS champions the Los Angeles Galaxy got their season off to the perfect start with a 2-0 victory over the Chicago Fire.

The home side had an excellent chance to take the lead when they won a free kick just outside the area, which was taken by Jose Villarreal.

The midfielder's effort was saved by Sean Johnson, but Dan Gargan had the chance to poke home the rebound, only to put his shot into the side-netting.

Stefan Ishizaki nearly put the Galaxy ahead in the 27th minute when he raided forward from the wing and cut infield to fire a shot at goal which went just over the bar.

The winger caused further problems when he beat his man down the right and then lifted the ball into the middle for the run of Villarreal, but he failed to guide his strike on target.

Ishizaki was having his way with the Fire defence as he carved out another opportunity, this time for Gyasi Zardes as the winger fired a low ball across the face of goal but it was just out of the reach.

In the second half, Ishizaki's efforts were finally rewarded when he picked out Villarreal in the penalty area, and this time the midfielder displayed composure to find the back of the net.

The Galaxy secured their win late in the match as Robbie Keane fired the ball past Johnson into the net from close range to clinch the three points at the StubHub Center.

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Eastern Conference

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Inter Miami Inter Miami	34	22	8	4	79	49	30	74
2	Columbus Crew	34	19	9	6	72	40	32	66
3	FC Cincinnati Cincinnati	34	18	5	11	58	48	10	59
4	Orlando City	34	15	7	12	59	50	9	52
5	Charlotte FC Charlotte FC	34	14	9	11	46	37	9	51
6	New York City FC NY City	34	14	8	12	54	49	5	50
7	New York Red Bulls NY Red Bulls	34	11	14	9	55	50	5	47
8	CF Montreal Montreal	34	11	10	13	48	64	-16	43
9	Atlanta United Atlanta	34	10	10	14	46	49	-3	40
10	DC United	34	10	10	14	52	70	-18	40
11	Philadelphia Union Philadelphia	34	9	10	15	62	55	7	37
12	Toronto	34	11	4	19	40	61	-21	37
13	Nashville SC Nashville	34	9	9	16	38	54	-16	36
14	New England Revolution New England	34	9	4	21	37	74	-37	31
15	Chicago Fire	34	7	9	18	40	62	-22	30

Western Conference

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Los Angeles FC Los Angeles	34	19	7	8	63	43	20	64
2	Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy	34	19	7	8	69	50	19	64
3	Real Salt Lake Salt Lake	34	16	11	7	65	48	17	59
4	Seattle Sounders Seattle	34	16	9	9	51	35	16	57
5	Houston Dynamo Houston	34	15	9	10	47	39	8	54
6	Minnesota United Minnesota Utd	34	15	7	12	58	49	9	52
7	Colorado Rapids Colorado	34	15	5	14	61	60	1	50
8	Portland Timbers Portland	34	12	11	11	65	56	9	47
9	Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver	34	13	8	13	52	49	3	47
10	Austin FC Austin	34	11	9	14	39	48	-9	42
11	Dallas	34	11	8	15	54	56	-2	41
12	St Louis City	34	8	13	13	50	63	-13	37
13	Sporting Kansas City Kansas	34	8	7	19	51	66	-15	31
14	San Jose Earthquakes Earthquakes	34	6	3	25	41	78	-37	21