Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Sporting Kansas City: Rating Robbie Keane’s Performance

Los Angeles Galaxy captain Robbie Keane had a much improved performance on Saturday night against Sporting Kansas City, but he could have done a little bit better with his finishing. Still, it was enough for the Galaxy to press through with a 2-0 shutout victory at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. and Keane did earn an assist in the 74th minute.

April 20, 2013; Carson, CA, USA; Los Angeles Galaxy forward Robbie Keane (7) controls the ball against Sporting KC during the second half at Home Depot Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

During pregame, the team aired a “This and That” feature, and among the teams Keane supported, they included the Kings and Dodgers. Now, from a fan’s perspective, I support the Ducks and Angels. Perhaps showing a little love to the OC might change your scoring fortunes around, Keano. Try it sometime. This suggestion brought to you by the View from Avalon and the Fansided Network.

All joking aside, distribution-wise Keane fared well. He had a 77 percent pass success rate, seven lay offs, two key pass, a header and the assist. In terms shots, Keane had his best chance of the night on a 1-v-1 with Jimmy Nielsen in the 88th minute but took too much time to try to make the most of his chance and lost.

Defensively, there wasn’t much coming out of Keane, with just two tackles won and four recoveries, according to the Opta Chalkboard. His dribble success rate was average at 50 percent, and he lost possession on the challenge 14 times. Keane was offsides once and conceded a foul. All in all, this was an average night out for the Republic of Ireland international.

This scoreline was more about the team’s effort than Keane’s escapades.

“We watched videos on them and how they play so I think it was important that we pressed them and the keeper likes to play the ball from the back and he tries to play it to [Collin] so we stopped them from doing that because we knew that if they played the ball in the air then Omar would win most of the headers so we’d get the second ball and that was the case,” Keane told reporters. “I think we did [counter attack] very well. We could have been a bit better sometimes with our final ball but overall we have to be happy with the three points.”

And in the end, this night belonged to Landon Donovan and his comeback.

“You have to give people a bit of time,” Keane said of Donovan’s night. “It takes a four or five games to get into the swings of things. It doesn’t matter how much fitness you do away from the team or on the training field, it’s the match sharpness that is the one that is going to get you and that will only come with playing 90 minutes most week. He’s played three or four games now and when you score a goal and set one up it breeds confidence.”

For earning an assist, Keane gets a 7.

Rating: 7/10