Xolos Tijuana and LA Galaxy play to 1-1 tie in friendly

At the StubHub Center in Carson, California, Xolos Tijuana and the Los Angeles Galaxy drew 1-1 in a friendly. Jose Villarreal and Matias Pisano’s goals canceled each other out in the second half of play.

The Galaxy controlled play in the opening 15 minutes, generating a couple of good looks off of set pieces.

In just the second minute of the game, Jermaine Jones got involved in the action for the first time as a member his new club. He found some open space on the left side, but hit his header was easily saved by the Tijuana goalkeeper.

Off of a corner in the 13th minute, Daniel Steres nodded down a header. This time, the attempt bounced off the ground and narrowly missed the crossbar.

Seven minutes later, Brian Rowe saw his first bit of action when he had to come off his line to thwart a dangerous move brewing from Xolos Tijuana.

Tijuana’s best chance of the opening 45 minutes came in the 27th off of a corner kick. Pablo Meza rose up to meet the delivery off a corner with his head, but the attempt went just wide of the target.

A goal was nearly scored four minutes from the halftime interval. Jones, who was arguably the best player of the opening half, had a deflected shot hit off the right post.

It did not take long for the opening goal to come after the action restarted. The speedy Emmanuel Boateng cut inside from the left before threading an inch-perfect pass into space. There, Jose Villarreal made a darting run before tapping the ball into the back of the net.

Two minutes later, in the 54th, Xolos Tijuana found the equalizing goal. In his first game as a Xolos man, Pisano stepped up to the spot and sent Clement Diop the wrong way.

The action did not let up. Nearly immediately after play resumed, Xolos had two back-to-back opportunities to take the lead. But Clement Diop, who started the second half, came up with two massive saves seconds apart to preserve the tie.

Eight minutes from time, Diop made one more spectacular save. This time, he produced a one-handed stop to ensure that his club did not taste defeat.