After the turbulent departures of Ruud Gullit and Alexi Lalas, what better way for Los Angeles Galaxy to refocus on their play-off battle than the regular season’s third and final Superclasico clash with neighbours Chivas USA.
Cobi Jones took charge of Galaxy for this vital fixture that captain David Beckham described as a “must win game”. It could be Jones’ sole match in the interim role. Former US National Team coach Bruce Arena attended Home Depot Center to survey events from the comfort of Tim Leiweke’s private box. Leiweke, CEO of the Galaxy’s owners Anschutz Entertainment Group, is keen to fill the void quickly in light of another unsettling year for the team.
Chivas too have endured struggles recently. Injuries to star forwards Ante Razov and Maykel Galindo blunted their title assault after topping the Western Conference last year. Continuing losses to key personnel saw them enter the final third of this season one point behind Galaxy in fifth place in the West (12th overall). Razov and Galindo were absent again for this derby, but perhaps a more significant loss was that of midfielder Sacha Kljestan. The native Californian arrived back from Beijing merely hours before kick-off after three impressive displays for the US Olympic team.
MLS viewers can be thankful for the Olympics. The absence of televised domestic women’s basketball enabled complete soccer coverage from the advertised start time for once, though ESPN would rather have avoided broadcasting simultaneously with the exploits of two extraordinary talented American gymnasts, Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson, in the all-round women’s competition.
A change of manager often sparks an unlikely performance boost and so it proved for Galaxy in the opening exchanges. An excellent Beckham pass released overlapping full-back Chris Klein on 7 minutes, but he shot wide of the far post from a narrow angle. A minute later Klein started a similar move with a pass for Landon Donovan. The league’s top marksman made no mistake firing low beyond Zach Thornton to give Galaxy an early lead.
Chivas’ dire injury situation saw head coach Preki employ the skilful but lightweight Francisco Mendoza at left-back rather than his preferred midfield slot. With the inexperienced developmental player Bobby Burling standing in at centre back, Galaxy exposed their opponents’ lack of defensive cohesion and awareness during the first half hour. Klein found Edson Buddle with a third ball over Chivas’ left side, but Donovan could not steer his strike partner’s cross on target. Donovan then burst through that same gap having taken possession on the halfway line, but blazed his effort high of Thornton’s goal.
Chivas retaliated towards the end of the first half. Forwards Atiba Harris and Roberto Nurse fashioned a trio of chances but could not find the target before Carey Talley forced Galaxy goalkeeper Steve Cronin’s first save from a free-kick.
The pattern continued after the interval with Cronin making three saves in the first five minutes before Chivas deservedly drew level. Former Arsenal youth player Paulo Nagamura burst down the right flank before sliding a low cross into the penalty area for Nurse. The Mexican’s delightful dummy left Galaxy defender Sean Franklin in need of medication and created space for Harris to finish at the back post. It was world class inventiveness by Nurse, but he receives no recognition under MLS’s ridiculous statistics for assists having never touched the ball.
Galaxy almost reclaimed an unlikely lead on 52 minutes when a second excellent Beckham pass sent Donovan clear. Thornton raced from his line to force the striker wide and prevent a clear shooting chance. From a tight angle Donovan set up Ely Allen but the onrushing midfielder failed to direct his effort on goal.
Chivas took a deserved lead on 63 minutes. After cheaply losing possession at the edge of Chivas’ penalty area, Beckham tried to con referee Alex Prus into awarding a free-kick with a pathetic flop. Prus was rightfully unimpressed, leaving Nagamura to seize the loose ball and mount a swift counter-attack. He released Harris down the left flank and continued his run into the penalty box. Harris timed his return pass to perfection finding Nagamura onside and the Brazilian steered his left-foot strike beyond Cronin. Perhaps Becks should have watched the gold-medal winning Liukin to pick up some tumbling tips.
Nurse saw his 69th minute header rebound off a post as Chivas nearly sealed the win that would propel them above Galaxy. That outcome seemed inevitable until Galaxy were boosted by a late numerical advantage. Chivas’ captain Jesse Marsch was withdrawn from the field after suffering a head knock with all three substitutes already committed.
Despite an otherwise anonymous performance, Beckham produced a third exquisite pass on 88 minutes to find substitute Mike Randolph bursting into the Chivas’ penalty area. Randolph controlled excellently on the run before lashing a right-foot shot off the crossbar with time running out.
Galaxy clinched a fortuitous point two minutes into injury time with a goal that will cause much displeasure for Preki. Ante Jazic’s hopeful punt from deep on the left found Alan Gordon neglected near the penalty spot and he headed home a dramatic equaliser.
Chalk up an assist for Jazic – in the hazy world of MLS statistics, clever space-creating feints do not qualify but Hail Mary’s certainly do.
Week 21 Results
Chivas 2 L.A. Galaxy 2
Columbus 2 Dallas 1 (Crew hang on to reclaim top spot)
Chicago 0 D.C. United 1 (Abysmal marking costs Fire as Brian McBride makes losing debut)
Houston 4 Salt Lake 3 (Dynamo back on top despite defensive mishaps)
Colorado 2 Kansas City 1 (Rapids end barren spell with important win)
San Jose 4 New England 0 (Huckerby and O'Brien inspire Quakes to season's biggest shock)
New York 2 Toronto 0 (Football season returns to Giants Stadium)
Standings
Eastern Conference
1) Columbus 34 points (played 20)
2) New England 33 (19)
3) Chicago 32 (20)
4) D.C. United 28 (19)
5) *New York 28 (20)
6) Toronto 25 (20)
7) Kansas City 25 (20)
Western Conference
1) Houston 29 (19)
2) Salt Lake 27 (20)
3) *Dallas 25 (20)
4) Colorado 24 (20)
5) L.A. Galaxy 24 (20)
6) Chivas 23 (19)
7) San Jose 21 (20)
Cobi Jones took charge of Galaxy for this vital fixture that captain David Beckham described as a “must win game”. It could be Jones’ sole match in the interim role. Former US National Team coach Bruce Arena attended Home Depot Center to survey events from the comfort of Tim Leiweke’s private box. Leiweke, CEO of the Galaxy’s owners Anschutz Entertainment Group, is keen to fill the void quickly in light of another unsettling year for the team.
Chivas too have endured struggles recently. Injuries to star forwards Ante Razov and Maykel Galindo blunted their title assault after topping the Western Conference last year. Continuing losses to key personnel saw them enter the final third of this season one point behind Galaxy in fifth place in the West (12th overall). Razov and Galindo were absent again for this derby, but perhaps a more significant loss was that of midfielder Sacha Kljestan. The native Californian arrived back from Beijing merely hours before kick-off after three impressive displays for the US Olympic team.
MLS viewers can be thankful for the Olympics. The absence of televised domestic women’s basketball enabled complete soccer coverage from the advertised start time for once, though ESPN would rather have avoided broadcasting simultaneously with the exploits of two extraordinary talented American gymnasts, Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson, in the all-round women’s competition.
A change of manager often sparks an unlikely performance boost and so it proved for Galaxy in the opening exchanges. An excellent Beckham pass released overlapping full-back Chris Klein on 7 minutes, but he shot wide of the far post from a narrow angle. A minute later Klein started a similar move with a pass for Landon Donovan. The league’s top marksman made no mistake firing low beyond Zach Thornton to give Galaxy an early lead.
Chivas’ dire injury situation saw head coach Preki employ the skilful but lightweight Francisco Mendoza at left-back rather than his preferred midfield slot. With the inexperienced developmental player Bobby Burling standing in at centre back, Galaxy exposed their opponents’ lack of defensive cohesion and awareness during the first half hour. Klein found Edson Buddle with a third ball over Chivas’ left side, but Donovan could not steer his strike partner’s cross on target. Donovan then burst through that same gap having taken possession on the halfway line, but blazed his effort high of Thornton’s goal.
Chivas retaliated towards the end of the first half. Forwards Atiba Harris and Roberto Nurse fashioned a trio of chances but could not find the target before Carey Talley forced Galaxy goalkeeper Steve Cronin’s first save from a free-kick.
The pattern continued after the interval with Cronin making three saves in the first five minutes before Chivas deservedly drew level. Former Arsenal youth player Paulo Nagamura burst down the right flank before sliding a low cross into the penalty area for Nurse. The Mexican’s delightful dummy left Galaxy defender Sean Franklin in need of medication and created space for Harris to finish at the back post. It was world class inventiveness by Nurse, but he receives no recognition under MLS’s ridiculous statistics for assists having never touched the ball.
Galaxy almost reclaimed an unlikely lead on 52 minutes when a second excellent Beckham pass sent Donovan clear. Thornton raced from his line to force the striker wide and prevent a clear shooting chance. From a tight angle Donovan set up Ely Allen but the onrushing midfielder failed to direct his effort on goal.
Chivas took a deserved lead on 63 minutes. After cheaply losing possession at the edge of Chivas’ penalty area, Beckham tried to con referee Alex Prus into awarding a free-kick with a pathetic flop. Prus was rightfully unimpressed, leaving Nagamura to seize the loose ball and mount a swift counter-attack. He released Harris down the left flank and continued his run into the penalty box. Harris timed his return pass to perfection finding Nagamura onside and the Brazilian steered his left-foot strike beyond Cronin. Perhaps Becks should have watched the gold-medal winning Liukin to pick up some tumbling tips.
Nurse saw his 69th minute header rebound off a post as Chivas nearly sealed the win that would propel them above Galaxy. That outcome seemed inevitable until Galaxy were boosted by a late numerical advantage. Chivas’ captain Jesse Marsch was withdrawn from the field after suffering a head knock with all three substitutes already committed.
Despite an otherwise anonymous performance, Beckham produced a third exquisite pass on 88 minutes to find substitute Mike Randolph bursting into the Chivas’ penalty area. Randolph controlled excellently on the run before lashing a right-foot shot off the crossbar with time running out.
Galaxy clinched a fortuitous point two minutes into injury time with a goal that will cause much displeasure for Preki. Ante Jazic’s hopeful punt from deep on the left found Alan Gordon neglected near the penalty spot and he headed home a dramatic equaliser.
Chalk up an assist for Jazic – in the hazy world of MLS statistics, clever space-creating feints do not qualify but Hail Mary’s certainly do.
Week 21 Results
Chivas 2 L.A. Galaxy 2
Columbus 2 Dallas 1 (Crew hang on to reclaim top spot)
Chicago 0 D.C. United 1 (Abysmal marking costs Fire as Brian McBride makes losing debut)
Houston 4 Salt Lake 3 (Dynamo back on top despite defensive mishaps)
Colorado 2 Kansas City 1 (Rapids end barren spell with important win)
San Jose 4 New England 0 (Huckerby and O'Brien inspire Quakes to season's biggest shock)
New York 2 Toronto 0 (Football season returns to Giants Stadium)
Standings
Eastern Conference
1) Columbus 34 points (played 20)
2) New England 33 (19)
3) Chicago 32 (20)
4) D.C. United 28 (19)
5) *New York 28 (20)
6) Toronto 25 (20)
7) Kansas City 25 (20)
Western Conference
1) Houston 29 (19)
2) Salt Lake 27 (20)
3) *Dallas 25 (20)
4) Colorado 24 (20)
5) L.A. Galaxy 24 (20)
6) Chivas 23 (19)
7) San Jose 21 (20)
*Lines show teams occupying play-off positions.
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