LA Galaxy 2, Houston Dynamo 2
April 19, 2008
The Home Depot Center – Carson, Calif.
Scoring Summary:
HOU – Brad Davis 1 (Franco Caraccio 1, Brian Mullan 1) 36’
LAG – Landon Donovan 4 (David Beckham 2) 67’
HOU – Franco Caraccio 2 (Unassisted) 78’
LAG – Landon Donovan 5 (David Beckham 3, Chris Klein 2) 84’
Misconduct Summary:
LAG – Mike Randolph (Yellow Card) 25’
LAG – Greg Vanney (Yellow Card) 57’
HOU – Franco Caraccio (Yellow Card) 78’
HOU – Ricardo Clark (Yellow Card) 90+
Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Steve Cronin, Mike Randolph, Greg Vanney, Sean Franklin, Chris Klein, Josh Tudela (Abel Xavier 46’), Brandon McDonald, Alan Gordon (Joe Franchino 46’), David Beckham©, Landon Donovan, Edson Buddle.
Subs Not Used: Josh Wicks, Troy Roberts, Peter Vagenas, Israel Sesay, Bryan Jordan.
Houston Dynamo: Tony Caig, Wade Barrett©, Bobby Boswell, Patrick Ianni, Richard Mulrooney, Ricardo Clark, Brad Davis, Brian Mullan, Dwayne DeRosario, Franco Caraccio (Stuart Holden 81’), Brian Ching.
Subs Not Used: Corbin Waller, Craig Waibel, Corey Ashe, Kyle Brown, Geoff Cameron, Chris Wondolowski.
Notes:
· With the draw, the Galaxy’s record stands at 1-2-1 on the season, giving them four points and fifth place in the Western Conference standings.
· Landon Donovan’s two goals give him an MLS best five on the season, two more than Alejandro Moreno and Kenny Cooper.
· Donovan now has four goals in the last two games, after scoring twice last weekend against Toronto. The last time that Donovan had multiple goals in consecutive games was September 20 and 27, 2003 when he was a member of the San Jose Earthquakes. Donovan scored three times in a 4-1 win over Kansas City and then twice more in a 5-2 win over Dallas.
· David Beckham had two assists in the game, giving him three on the season and a tie for the most in MLS.
· This is the second time in his MLS career that Beckham has registered two assists in a game. The last time was on August 18, 2007 when he set up a pair of Carlos Pavon goals in a 5-4 loss to the New York Red Bulls at Giants Stadium.
· Midfielder Joe Franchino made his first appearance for the club this season after being acquired from the New England Revolution on Friday. Franchino, who played for the Galaxy from 1998-2000, last appeared for the club on May 6, 2000.
· Forward Edson Buddle and midfielder Josh Tudela each made their first start of the season for the Galaxy in tonight’s game.
· Goalkeeper Steve Cronin passed a late fitness test for the Galaxy and made his fourth start of the season for the Galaxy. Cronin had been listed on the injury report as questionable with a left groin injury.
· The attendance for tonight’s game was 23,401.
· The Galaxy are back in action on Saturday, April 26 when they host their in-stadium rivals Chivas USA in the first edition of the Honda SuperClasico at The Home Depot Center. The match will kick off at 7:30 p.m. and can be seen live on Fox Soccer Channel.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Game Recap
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7 comments:
Great atmosphere at the game tonight us fans had it rocking. ACB and the Riot Squad were rocking tonight. The win would have been nice but the tie was good. We could see the guys were really tired at the end of the game. It really looked like the game was moving a lot faster tonight it was not the best passing throughout the game but we came through when we needed to. Oh yeah Gordon better learn something coming up soon or he should be dealt for some allocation money. The hats are nice also.
It was an "action-packed" energetic game. I know that most reporters are stating thatthe first-half of this game was "lack-luster". I'm going to disagree. LA Galaxy stepped ontot he field with the mind-set and drive to give it a 110%. And, they did... Moreover, I felt that David Beckham, Landon Donovan, Chris Klein, Sean Franklin, Greg Vanney gave it a FULL 110% in both halves. Man-oh-man... Joey Franchino; Holy Jesus... he was exactly what LA Galaxy needed in the second half. One word - "PITBULL" !!! He won the ball for us so many frakkin' times. It was phenomenal to witness. The problem, however, was the ref. This ref was "Foul-calling" happy. Presonally, I really believed this ref truly favored the Houston Dynamo team over the LA team. At one point, he personally went out of his way to go and shake (congratulate) Franco Carracio of Houston Dynamo as he Carracio was subbed off! Does that seem peculiar to anyone??? Like, I've stated all along - LA Galaxy team & coaches... Welcome to the MLS... more, in particular - welcome to the "shady hoax" that are MLS Referees!!! LA Galaxy handled themselves with pride, urgency, professionalism, and stride. Well done!
However, coaches... I know you must have seen it: Edson Buddle , Mike Randolph, Alan Gordon - once again these three individuals were being pressured and disposessed WAY TOO OFTEN! This are the things that cost us our rightfully due THREE WINNING POINTS!!! These players MUST, MUST keep practicing how to hold onto the ball, and find alternative ways to maintain posession! High Praise to LA Galaxy for NOT... for NOT giving up - you guys fought and fought to get the equalizer! Good! I sincerely hope that Carlos Ruiz, Alvaro Pires, and Ely Allen are healing and recovering well! They are all very much missed! Once again - Joey Franchino... Man, you did us proud out there... Please teach our youngsters the importance of BALL POSESSION, especially during dribbling and defensive manuevers!!! Welcome back to So Cal! Go GALAXY!!!
Yes, Franchino did a good job, but after watching the game a second time on replay, I noticed that McDonald also won his fair share of balls throughout the entire match as well. So, I'd like to give him kudos as well - to be fair. Tudela, on the other hand, was lost in the first half of this match. Maybe he has lost a little of his confidence. One more thing, Franklin served up some wonderful long balls from the LB position in the second half. That was nice to see.
improving performance !
Franchino changed the game. great find.
Klein/Becks combo was class.
get rid of Vanney!
Why has Abel Xavier's playing time been drastically reduced? I understand that he was sent off in the season opener and suspended the following match, but hasn't received much time since. Rationale anyone?
Again, bringing in Joey Franchino and Abel Xavier into the second-half of yesterday's match vs. Houston was just what our LA Galaxy team needed. Joey added some SERIOUS BITE & PRESSURE to the Houston Dynamo mid-field. Abel Xavier added the experience and calm tot he back-line allowing the back-line to midfield connection to be more SMARTER, more connected - allowing members of our Midfield a chance to think out their positions and moves. David, Landon, Chris, and Sean Franklin tried their utmost best to be the workhorses. A great, great effort by these team members.
REQUEST: Please can the coaching staff allow Cobi Jones to spend critical, in-depth practice & training time with BOTH Josh Tudela and Brandon McDonald? Both of these guys have the stamina, strength, and will to play courageous football... but, they are young & raw! They seriously need focused, in-depth training from Cobi Jones to help them with their development and progression as play-making Midfielders. Both of these guys need to practice and pick-up PASSING & CONNECTING with more precise timing. These passes are going to be so important for Landon, David, and Carlos!!!
Next, can the coaches please make Ely Allen, Edson Buddle, and Alan Gordon to practice, train, and warm-up /stretch together; then, making them compete against each other for who can hang-on to the ball and make the most number of goals during shot-on-goals sessions?
I'm assuming that Ante Jazic is healing and recovering on schedule... If that's the case - then, soon we'll have our Left-Back Defender come into position... allowing Mike Randolph to become his more natural Left-Wing/Midfield. Can Head Coach Ruud please make Mike Randolph, Bryan Jordan, Isreal Sesay, Landon Donovan, and Carlos Ruiz practice, warm-up / stretch and make play-making decisions and runs together... These guys have the quickness, speed, and evasiveness to become very effective & potent strikers starting from key areas in the front midfield. These players need to know and understand each other - what each prefers; what each requires. They ALL have to be able to converge on goal!!!
Please stress Ian Feuer to spend more effective time with Steve Cronin and Vito Higgins. Pressure our goal-keepers constantly, make them learn critical leaps, swoops, body & leg-positions.
Next, Chris Neville needs to spend constant time getting Abel, Greg, Joey, Troy, Julian, and Alvaro physically agile, stronger, and more capable of lasting a 45 - 55 minute activity session. Light jogging, stretching, water exercises, leg-to-eye coordination, head-to-ball coordination, ball crossing, ball-landing, side-to-side crossing, side-to-side passing, and competing with each other on who can protect and reach the goal-keeper more effectively!
Next weekend our LA Galaxy team faces Chivas USA... Chivas USA is notorious for fouling, chopping down, sliding, pushing, shoving, elbowing. We cannot lose our form & our purpose - maintain unity and composure. Be powerful as a unit... outrun them, evade them, and maintain the majority of posession and forward drive.
I really believe we won that game! The ref blew the call on Buddle's header that crossed the line at the end of the match. These refs are aweful!!
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