Galaxy strikes fast in 3-0 victory over Sounders

Landon Donovan assisted on Gyasi Zardes’ goal in the eighth minute, then scored off a rebound 10 minutes later and led the Galaxy to an impressive 3-0 win over the Seattle Sounders on Monday night.

Donovan and the Galaxy won for the fourth time in six matches and handed the Western Conference-leading Sounders one of their worst home MLS losses in franchise history. Seattle lost 4-1 last season at home to Vancouver. The worst home defeat was a 4-0 loss to Los Angeles in 2010 that prompted Sounders management to offer refunds to fans.

Donavan added a second assist on Stefan Ishizaki’s goal as he ran unmarked down the right side of the field and beat Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei to the far post.

Seattle had won four of its previous five MLS matches and had a six-game home win streak, but was playing a league game for the first time in more than two weeks. The Sounders were also without MLS All-Star central defender Chad Marshall, who was in a minor auto accident over the weekend and was suffering from back spasms and unable to play.

The absence of Marshall was obvious and Seattle’s defense was disorganized and susceptible to Donovan and the Galaxy’s attack.

Donovan beat the replacement duo of Zach Scott and Jalil Anibaba and left the ball for Zardes to tap in his seventh goal for an early lead. Donovan was then in the right spot to clean up the rebound off Marcelo Sarvas’ shot in the 18th minute while DeAndre Yedlin was caught watching the ball and lost track of Donovan.

Ishizaki’s goal in the 36th minute drew boos from the sellout crowd and Los Angeles had a number of opportunities to make the final score even more lopsided if not for impressive saves from Frei.

Seattle didn’t get a clear shot on goal until the 59th minute when Clint Dempsey’s curling left-footed shot was pushed wide by Jaime Pedeno. Otherwise, Pedeno had a mostly quiet and calm night defending the Los Angeles goal

Aside from the rare Monday night matchup, the stadium also suffered a power surge in the opening moments knocking out the stadium lights. There was also a tussle at the end of the first half between Yedlin and Los Angeles defender Omar Gonzalez that Dempsey joined. The three were teammates for the U.S. at the World Cup.