From the opening whistle, midfielder Will Johnson played like a man who'd found a new home as a defensive midfielder in RSL's 4-3-3 formation against the Los Angeles Galaxy.

He took it even a step further.

“I feel like that was probably the best soccer game I've ever played,” he said after RSL finally earned its first road victory of the season by beating the Galaxy 2-0 at the Home Depot Center on Saturday night. “It was great, and I love playing in there. I love getting on the ball, guys love finding me with the ball, they're confident with it. I'll play wherever [coach Jason Kreis] wants me to play, but that seems like a good fit.”

It was the second straight game that Johnson has enjoyed a strong showing in that role, supporting the playmakers in the middle and the strikers who play out wide in the aggressive 4-3-3 formation — which Kreis said at last gives him two options in which he's confident, including the team's base 4-4-2 alignment.

“I feel that we finally, after a year and a half now, it's something the coaching staff has been wanting to be able to do for a long time, which is to change our shape, based on what the game needs. So finally I would say that now, we have two shapes that we play comfortably in, defend well out of and create enough chances out of.”