Galaxy Win at Toyota Park; Beat The Fire 2-0

LA Galaxy 2, Chicago Fire 0
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Toyota Park — Bridgeview, Ill.

Scoring Summary:
LA – Mike Magee 2 (Jovan Kirovski 1) 23’
LA – Landon Donovan 10 (Mike Magee 6, Jovan Kirovski 2) 54’

Misconduct Summary:
LA – Stefani Miglioranzi (Yellow Card) 43’
CHI – John Thorrington (Yellow Card) 61’
LA – Donovan Ricketts (Yellow Card) 72’

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Donovan Ricketts (Josh Saunders 85’), A.J. DeLaGarza, Gregg Berhalter, Omar Gonzalez, Todd Dunivant, Stefani Miglioranzi, Dema Kovalenko (Chris Klein 46’), Chris Birchall (Tony Sanneh 68’), Landon Donovan©, Mike Magee, Jovan Kirovski.

Subs Not Used: Leonard Griffin, Kyle Patterson, Alan Gordon, Bryan Jordan.

Chicago Fire: Jon Busch, Austin Washington, Dasan Robinson, Wilman Conde, Brandon Prideaux (Mike Banner 64’), Logan Pause (Justin Mapp 64’), John Thorrington, Chris Rolfe (Stefan Dimitrov 78’), Marco Pappa, Cuauhtemoc Blanco©, Patrick Nyarko

Subs Not Used: Andrew Dykstra, C.J. Brown, Peter Lowry, Calen Carr.

Notes:
• With the win, the Galaxy are now 8-4-10 on the season, giving them 34 points. LA is now alone in second place in the Western Conference, two points ahead of third place Seattle and five points behind first place Houston, who are tied for the MLS lead with 39 points on the season.
• The win is the first at Toyota Park in four tries for the Galaxy, who had previously lost three MLS games and the 2006 U.S. Open Cup here at the Bridgeview, Ill. stadium.
• Bruce Arena made four changes to the team that lost 2-0 to Seattle on Saturday at The Home Depot Center. Chris Birchall, Landon Donovan, Dema Kovalenko and Mike Magee were all drafted into the lineup in place of David Beckham, Alan Gordon, Chris Klein and Eddie Lewis. Beckham and Lewis each missed the game while serving one-game suspensions for red cards that they picked up against the Sounders while Gordon and Klein began tonight’s game on the bench.
• In addition to Beckham and Lewis, the Galaxy were without four players, with Edson Buddle, Alecko Eskandarian, Sean Franklin, and Julian Valentin all missing the game through injury.
• Chris Birchall made the first start of his MLS career in tonight’s game. His first two league appearances had come as a second half substitute.
• Landon Donovan was also back in the starting lineup as the Galaxy captain after starting Saturday’s game on the bench. He made the 200th regular season appearance of his MLS career in the game.
• Dema Kovalenko made his first appearance in a regular season game since the 2-0 loss to Real Salt Lake on June 13. He has missed the last eight league games while recovering from a left calf injury.
• Kovalenko left the game at half time with a right heel injury.
• Mike Magee’s goal in the 22nd minute was his second of the season, with both coming on the road. A native of Chicago, Magee has four career assists against the Fire, but this was his first goal.
• Jovan Kirovski assisted on the goal for his first assist in an MLS game since August 26, 2007 when he set up a Conor Casey goal for the Colorado Rapids in a 3-0 win over the Galaxy at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
• Kirovski also assisted on Landon Donovan’s goal in the 54th minute for his second assist of the game. This is the second time in his MLS career that Kirovski has collected two assists in a game and the first since May 28, 2005 in a 2-0 Galaxy win over Chivas USA.
• Donovan’s goal in the 54th minute was the 10th of the season, placing him in a three-way tie with Guillermo Barros Schleotto and Fredy Montero for second place in the league in goals this season, one behind the MLS leader, Conor Casey of Colorado who has 11.
• The goal was the 94th of Donovan’s MLS career and he now has 10 or more goals in five of his nine seasons in the league.
• Mike Magee also assisted on Donovan’s goal for his team-leading sixth assist of the season, setting a new career-high.
• Donovan Ricketts, who played 85 minutes, recorded his first clean sheet since June 28, when the Galaxy shutout the Houston Dynamo at The Home Depot Center 1-0. Ricketts did not face a shot on goal. Saunders came in off the bench to replace Ricketts. Saunders did not face a shot on goal either in his five minutes on the field.
• Stefani Miglioranzi was booked in the 43rd minute for a foul on Cuauhtemoc Blanco. It was Miglioranzi’s fourth yellow card of the season, placing him on official warning. If Miglioranzi gets a yellow card in any of the Galaxy’s next three games he will be forced to serve a one-game suspension.
• Chris Klein entered the game at halftime, replacing Dema Kovalenko, stretching his MLS record consecutive games played streak to 137.
• The Galaxy are now 6-0-4 against Eastern Conference teams this season, including a 4-0-1 mark on the road.
• The attendance for today’s game was 20,000.
• The Galaxy are back in action on Saturday, August 22 when they continue their road trip with a visit to RFK Stadium to take on D.C. United. That game can be seen live on Fox Soccer Channel starting at 4:30 p.m. (PT).
• For more about tonight’s game, please visit www.lagalaxy.com.