Saturday, August 8, 2009

The Streak is Over - Galaxy Win 2-1 at New England

LA Galaxy 2, New England Revolution 1
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Gillette Stadium – Foxborough Mass.

Scoring Summary:
LA – Landon Donovan 9 (Unassisted) 21’
LA – Jovan Kirovski 2 (Alan Gordon 3, Eddie Lewis 4) 52’
NE – Steve Ralston 6 (Penalty Kick) 83’

Misconduct Summary:
NE – Kenny Mansally (Yellow Card) 74’
LA – Eddie Lewis (Yellow Card) 77’

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Donovan Ricketts, A.J. DeLaGarza, Omar Gonzalez, Gregg Berhalter, Todd Dunivant, Stefani Miglioranzi, Eddie Lewis (Chris Klein 80’), David Beckham (Chris Birchall 87’), Landon Donovan©, Jovan Kirovski, Alan Gordon (Bryan Jordan 92+).

Subs Not Used: Josh Saunders, Tony Sanneh, Dema Kovalenko, Mike Magee.

New England Revolution: Matt Reis, Kevin Alston, Darrius Barnes, Emmanuel Osei (Pat Phelan 67’), Jay Heaps, Shalrie Joseph, Jeff Larentowicz, Steve Ralston©, Kenny Mansally, Kheli Dube (Wells Thompson 78’), Edgaras Jankauskas (Sainey Nyassi 46’).

Subs Not Used: Brad Knighton, Amaechi Igwe, Mauricio Castro, Michael Videira.

Notes:
• With the win, the Galaxy are now 7-3-10 on the season, giving them 31 points. LA is now alone in second place in the Western Conference, four points behind first place Houston, one point ahead of third place Colorado, who defeated Chivas USA 4-0 and two points ahead of fourth place Seattle who lost 1-0 at Real Salt Lake.
• Bruce Arena made one change to the team that drew the Kansas City Wizards 1-1 in their last league game two weeks ago. Jovan Kirovski returned to the lineup in place of Mike Magee who returned to the bench .
• The Galaxy were without four players, with Edson Buddle, Alecko Eskandarian, Sean Franklin, and Julian Valentin all missing the game through injury.
• The Galaxy are now unbeaten in their last six MLS games, going 5-0-1 in that span. They last lost a league game on June 20, a 2-1 loss at San Jose.
• Landon Donovan scored his team-leading ninth goal of the season in the 21st minute. Donovan is now tied with Seattle’s Fredy Montero for third in the league in goals scored. Only Colorado's Conor Casey (11 goals) and Guillermo Barros Schelotto (10 goals) have scored more.
• Donovan’s goal was scored from outside the box. They have now scored four goals from outside the box in the last three games after scoring just once from outside the area in the first 17 games of the season.
• In the Galaxy’s six-game unbeaten streak, they have scored the game’s first goal five times, winning each one.
• Jovan Kirovski put LA in front 2-0 in the 52nd minute with his second goal of the season. It was his first goal since the Galaxy’s 2-1 loss to San Jose on June 20.
• Alan Gordon and Eddie Lewis each assisted on the goal. It was Gordon’s third assist on the season and Lewis’ fourth. Lewis is now in third place on the team in assists, one behind the leaders Landon Donovan and Mike Magee.
• Eddie Lewis was shown a yellow card in the 77th minute for a foul on Sainey Nyassi. It was Lewis’ fourth yellow card of the season, meaning that he is now on warning. If he gets a yellow card in an of his next three MLS games, he will earn a one game suspension.
• Chris Klein entered the game in the 80th minute, replacing Eddie Lewis and stretching his MLS record consecutive games played streak to 135.
• The win was the Galaxy’s first at New England since July 11, 1999, when they defeated the Revolution 5-2 at Foxboro Stadium.
• Following the game, David Beckham (England), Chris Birchall (Trinidad and Tobago) Landon Donovan (United States) and Donovan Ricketts (Jamaica) all left the club to join up with their National Teams for games on Wednesday. All four are expected to be back in Los Angeles and available for selection in the Galaxy’s next game, against Seattle.
• The attendance for today’s game was 26,623.
• The Galaxy are back in action on Saturday, August 15 when they host the Seattle Sounders FC at The Home Depot Center at 8 p.m. (PT) in a game that can be seen live on PrimeTicket.
• For more about this afternoon’s game, please visit www.lagalaxy.com.

13 comments:

Unknown said...

Exciting game today! Little dicey near the end, but great job guys! Little fire in the belly there from Beckham after Mansally's flying elbow. Good stuff.

charlesj27 said...

Excellent game showing our LA Galaxy team's will, purpose, and strong desire to stay ahead. There were certainly some situations, I thought warranted some cards on both ends for Revs and for our team. Again, they came at us with insane speed; they (the Revs) really wanted to get a win at home and I don't blame them. We played very bunkered down soccer - and, at times, there were gaps and poor clearances... However, clearly, for me - Landon, David, Sir Don, AJ, Omar, Stefani, and Eddie had a trcuk-load of attitude and fight that was wonderful to see. Thanks, Landon for that amazing first-touch arcing goal to beat Matt Reis. It was a beautiful spectacle!!!
We got a win out of this - Congrats to our players and coaches! Next coming weeks, we play against two very tough teams... Again, I ask - how is Alecko, Edson, and Alan ('cause, in today's game I saw Alan limp / hobble a couple of times?)I hope that this great trend of hard work and alertness plus accountability for mistakes keep on happening for this team and club.

charlesj27 said...

Update:
Columbus just trounced on SJ Earthquakes; and, Colorado is making a spectacular mockery out of Chivas USA. Colorado is playing like a visious team on a hell-bent mission; they are so dangerous when BOTH Omar & Connor are up top. I don't know if David and Landon will be able to play for us on Saturday due to international duty for both of them - but, the coaches absolutely have to make sure that everyone else on this team truly steps up, puts immense pressure and energy into the next two MLS season matches!

Anonymous said...

Great game, it was nice to see everyone involved, which will develop the TEAM. Gordon did great but Jordan should have came in earlier since Gordon was limping and a 2-0 lead. I think he needs a shot to gain some more experience. Mansally should have had yellow/red if not a straight red that was an dirty tackle. FSC did great in showing the game, but they need to get some HD. Can't wait for the game with the Sounders, it has a playoff feel to it and the Galaxy will need to step it up to reach the top of the table(I still go by points).

Calibos

Anonymous said...

I have a new fav player. AJ D.(as in defense). Wow!

I don't want to talk about Landon any more. I think he's from Mars and not LA.

I think Bruce waited 10-15 minutes too long to take one of the forwards out.

Anonymous said...

Well played game,besides the PK, that definetly changed the pace of the rest of the game. I agree with charles, David,Landon,Sir Don,Omar,Eddie,and mostly AJ for there performance. A.J is the most improved player over the start of the season,peoples are just finally noticing him and what he brings to a defense that was terrible last year. Omar has brought alot to the table also, but he has cost the galaxy costly goals from not just rookie mistakes,but mistakes period,so he needs to tighten up for the stretch run. Intresting what they will do with A.J once Franklin returns??? Any Thoughts ???

Anonymous said...

charles27 be quite, I want to hear what Meg and Nicole have to say. C'mon girls the floor is all yours!

Anonymous said...

Great game guys. I think A.J. is awesome. He does get better and better. When is Gordon going to learn how to turn a ball. He gets great set-ups and over and over turns the ball over, because he can't turn. When are Buddle and Alecko coming back. We need their experience and charge that are added up front.

Monica said...

Just voted for Donovan's goal in the MLSnet Goal of the Week! He has 54% of the vote so far!

Good luck Donovan for the August 12, 2009 classico!

MEG said...

Hi Anonymous, I am here. Nicole is still watching DVR replays of David and crying her little heart out. She thought she had a chance while Victoria was away with Idol but she didn't realize he had hopped a plane to London

Anonymous said...

Yessss, nice dig Mega Nut Meg. I know Nifty Nicole is practicing hard with charles27's "soccer for dummies" instructions for her come-back smack. I know you girls won't let me down. This is blogging at it's best. Keep it up!

PS - What's this with Posh and Idol? Is it really true?

MEG said...

Yes Posh was a guest judge on AI in Denver, she got the call while "in bed and was extremely excited" according to her interview with Ryan Seacrest. OMG Nicole must be devestated to know that she was in bed and excited.

Anonymous said...

Two quick jabs by MegA leaves Nicolette flat on her face. I see the trainer in her corner picking up the towel. Is he going to toss it in? Stay tuned.