Alecko Eskandarian, who didn’t plan to start, scored a game-winning volley in his debut game to lift the Los Angeles Galaxy to a 1-0 win over the New England Revolution on Saturday.
“When I was younger in my career, I probably wouldn’t have adapted well to this,” said Eskandarian, a former No. 1 overall draft pick. “But I prepared as if I would start, as far as getting a good night’s rest and eating well and all that stuff. Obviously I wasn’t expecting to, but I stepped right in. A little craziness for a few minutes, but once I got my warm-up in I knew I’d be fine.”
Besides scoring, Eskandarian also meshed well with his new teammates to help LA control the pace of the game before being substituted after 67 minutes of work. “Besides the goal I think he was pretty active,” Galaxy coach Bruce Arena said. “He offered us some good mobility. … We certainly didn’t anticipate having to play him [67 minutes]. He wasn’t expected to be in the starting lineup, but he came in and did a great job tonight.”