Los Angeles Galaxy Blow Lead Again, Settle for 1-1 Draw with Philadelphia Union

Sometimes there are hard habits to break. In soccer, one of them is the habit of squandering precarious one-goal leads.

Just like at RFK Stadium in Washington D.C., Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy have made it a habit of blowing 1-0 leads.

At PPL Park in Chester, Penn. Wednesday night, the Galaxy let Philadelphia Union halftime substitute Danny Mwanga score an equalizer in the 84th minute to force another 1-1 draw, this time on the road.

At least one positive can be taken from this: unlike the match with the Red Bulls, the split was determined by the players, not the referee.

Carlos Ruiz did have a point in saying that the Galaxy are not the dominant team they were last season. Is Ruiz the second coming of Nostradamus? To a degree, of course he is.

Why? Because the Galaxy lacked the skill consistency to neutralize the pressure of Union attackers late in the contest. Never mind that in terms of finishing, Juan Pablo Angel can't score his way out of a wet paper bag.

Angel was denied his chances by Union goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon, who had to battle a groin injury in the second half. Stopping your fellow countryman at your age can do that to you, I know.

One can argue that David Beckham's absence dictated the outcome to some extent. But with the Union's lack of scoring punch, Los Angeles was more than capable of producing against a side that produces once in a blue moon.

A 1-0 lead is not going to work in this day and age, unless the opposition doesn't know the definition of production. Make no mistake, Peter Nowak's Philadelphia Union has this work in their own football vocabulary since they first came onto the MLS scene.

The cards were not as frequent during this draw, but they were still plentiful. Philadelphia incurred four, L.A. incurred three and six of those seven came in the second half.

The Galaxy fell short in the possession category. Arena's club is making a nasty habit of gaining possession early and giving it up as the match progresses. The Union had 51.3 percent of the ball, while the G's settled for 48.7 percent.

To their credit, the Galaxy's passing was better (74 to 71 percent), but I would imagine they would hang on to the ball more when they go through their sequences.

Perhaps the biggest issue Los Angeles needs to work on when they take on Omar Bravo, Teal Bunbury and Sporting Kansas City is winning the battle with the ball.

Philadelphia won the one-on-one battle 63 to 36 percent. Their defense methodically broke apart the possession and sequences the Galaxy generated. Winning the one-on-one's will be crucial to the Galaxy in snapping their three-game winless streak.

To only garner two out a possible nine points in the last three matches is a sign that things need to change for this team. Perhaps Arena would have been wise to start David Beckham after all.

The Galaxy's next match at home against Sporting Kansas City is scheduled for Saturday at 7:30 p.m. PT/10:30 p.m. ET. The match will be televised locally by Fox Sports West.