LA Galaxy 3, Columbus Crew 3

LA Galaxy 3, Columbus Crew 3
June 21, 2008
The Home Depot Center – Carson, Calif.

Scoring Summary:
LA – Landon Donovan 10 (Unassisted) 4’
LA – Edson Buddle 9 (Mike Randolph 3) 47’
CLB – Brad Evans 2 (Unassisted) 67’
CLB – Guillermo Barros Schelotto 2 (Penalty Kick) 71’
LA – Landon Donovan 11 (Penalty Kick) 83’
CLB – Steven Lenhart 1 (Unassisted) 88’

Misconduct Summary:
LA – Sean Franklin (Yellow Card) 25’
LA – Abel Xavier (Yellow Card) 87’

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Steve Cronin, Chris Klein, Sean Franklin, Abel Xavier, Mike Randolph, David Beckham©, Ely Allen, Alvaro Pires, Ante Jazic (Alan Gordon 67’), Edson Buddle, Landon Donovan.

Subs Not Used: Vito Higgins, Greg Vanney, Troy Roberts, Joe Franchino, Brandon McDonald, Josh Tudela.

Columbus Crew: William Hesmer, Frankie Hejduk©, Chad Marshall, Danny O’Rourke, Ryan Junge, Brad Evans, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Brian Carroll, Nicholas Hernandez (Steven Lenhart 76’), Robbie Rogers, Alejandro Moreno.

Subs Not Used: Andy Gruenebaum, Andy Iro, Jed Zayner, Duncan Oughton, Emmanuel Ekpo, Jason Garey.

Notes:
· With the tie, the Galaxy move to 6-4-3 on the season for 21 points, keeping them alone atop the Western Conference standings, two points ahead of second place Real Salt Lake, who defeated New England 2-1 earlier in the night.
· Ruud Gullit made just one change to his team which defeated San Jose a week ago, bringing Landon Donovan back into the squad in place of Josh Tudela.
· Landon Donovan scored his league-best 10th goal of the season in the 4th minute of play. Donovan rejoined the team after spending last week with the U.S. National Team, where he scored his 36th career goal for National Team in an 8-0 win over Barbados.
· Donovan added his 11th of the year with a penalty kick in the 83rd minute. Donovan is now 3-for-3 from the penalty spot this season.
· Donovan is now just one goal shy of tying his single season record of 12 goals, which he first set as a member of the San Jose Earthquakes in 2003 and matched in 2005 and 2006 with the Galaxy.
· Edson Buddle scored for his third consecutive game, tallying his 9th goal of the year in the 47th minute. Buddle, who now second in MLS with nine goals on the year, is on the verge of scoring 10 or more goals in a season for the third time in his career and the first time since 2004. Buddle set a career-high for goals that year when he scored 11 for the Columbus Crew.
· Mike Randolph assisted on Buddle’s goal, giving him assists in back-to-back games. The 22-year old now has a career-high three assists on the season.
· Today’s game was the third straight in which the Galaxy had scored inside the opening 10 minutes. The last time that LA had scored before the 10 minute mark in three consecutive games was in the 1997 season. On September 4, 1997, Martin Machon scored in the 9th minute of a 3-1 home loss against the MetroStars (now New York Red Bulls). Three days later, Mauricio Cienfuegos scored in the 6th minute of a 6-1 win over the Tampa Bay Mutiny at the Rose Bowl. Then on September 10, Chris Armas scored in the 6th minute to give the Galaxy a 2-1 win over Colorado.
· The Crew scored three goals in the second half to earn a share of the points. Of the 24 goals allowed by the Galaxy this season, 16 have been scored in the second half.
· The Crew’s Guillermo Barros Schelotto scored from the penalty spot in the 71st minute. It was the first penalty allowed by the Galaxy since the season opening defeat to Colorado.
· The attendance for tonight’s game was 27,000, making it the fourth sellout of the season for the Galaxy in eight home games.
· The Galaxy are back in action on Sunday, June 29, when they travel to the Nation’s capital to take on D.C. United at RFK Stadium. The game will kick off at 9 a.m. and can be seen live on ABC. The match will also be available live on the radio starting at 9 a.m. on AM 570 (English) and KWKW 1330 ESPN Deportes.