Galaxy Play to 0-0 Draw in Houston, Back in Three-Way Tie for First Place

LA Galaxy 0, Houston Dynamo 0
Saturday, October 18, 2009
Robertson Stadium — Houston, Texas

Scoring Summary:
None

Misconduct Summary:
LA – David Beckham (Yellow Card) 82’
HOU – Brian Ching (Yellow Card) 82’
HOU – Brian Ching (Red Card) 82’
HOU – Dominic Oduro (Yellow Card) 86’
LA – Alan Gordon (Yellow Card) 91+

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Donovan Ricketts, Todd Dunivant, Gregg Berhalter, Omar Gonzalez, Sean Franklin, Dema Kovalenko, Eddie Lewis© (Jovan Kirovski 84’), David Beckham, Chris Birchall, Mike Magee (Landon Donovan 53’), Edson Buddle (Alan Gordon 67’).

Subs Not Used: Josh Saunders, Yohance Marshall, Chris Klein, Bryan Jordan.

Houston Dynamo: Pat Onstad, Mike Chabala, Bobby Boswell, Geoff Cameron, Andrew Hainault, Ricardo Clark, Brad Davis, Stuart Holden, Brian Mullan, Brian Ching© (Sent Off 82’), Luis Angel Landin (Dominic Oduro 83’).

Subs Not Used: Tally Hall, Wade Barrett, Ryan Cochrane, Eddie Robinson, Craig Waibel, Abe Thompson.

Notes:
• With the draw, the Galaxy are now 11-6-12 on the season, giving them 45 points. LA is now in a three-way tie with Houston and Chivas USA at the top of the Western Conference. Seattle remains in fourth place, one point behind those three clubs heading into the final week of the regular season.
• With the draw, the Galaxy win the season series against Houston, going 1-0-1 against the Dynamo. LA did not allow a goal in either of those contests.
• Bruce Arena made three changes to the team that beat Chicago 1-0 on October 2 in the Galaxy’s last game. A.J. DeLaGarza missed this game through injury, while Landon Donovan and Chris Klein each started on the bench. In their place, Todd Dunivant, Dema Kovalenko and Mike Magee.
• In addition to DeLaGarza, the Galaxy were also without Alecko Eskandarian, Stefani Miglioranzi and Julian Valentin, who all missed the game through injury.
• For Kovalenko, it was his first appearance for the club since leaving the 2-0 win at Chicago on August 19 at halftime with an right Achilles tendon injury. He played 90 minutes for the first time since June 13 today.
• Todd Dunivant returned to the starting lineup after missing the win over Chicago. He was an unused substitute in that game, marking the first game that he had not started since the 1-1 draw with Columbus on May 17.
• This was the fifth consecutive game in which the Galaxy had made a change to their starting back four after using the same four players every game in the back from June 13-September 12, a span of 12 games.
• Landon Donovan entered the game in the 53rd minute, replacing Mike Magee. This was just his second appearance as a substitute this season, with the other coming in the 2-0 loss to Seattle on August 15.
• Donovan Ricketts made four saves to earn his second consecutive clean sheet and his eighth of the season.
• The Galaxy have now kept 11 clean sheets on the season, tying a team record that was first set in 1999.
• This is the seventh Galaxy game this season that has been tied 0-0 at the half. LA is now 1-0-6 in those seven games.
• This was the Galaxy’s third 0-0 draw of the season and first since Augsut 22 at D.C. United.
• Alan Gordon was booked in the first minute of stoppage time. That was his fifth yellow card of the season meaning that he will now miss the season finale against San Jose. Gordon is the first Galaxy player to be suspended for yellow card accumulation this season.
• Gregg Berhalter, Jovan Kirovski and Eddie Lewis all also entered the game with four yellow cards, leaving them one away from a mandatory one-game suspension, but none were booked, meaning that those will be available for the Galaxy’s final game of the season against San Jose next weekend. If any of those four players are booked in that game, they will not be forced to miss the Galaxy’s first playoff game.
• Bruce Arena used all three of his available substitutes in the game. LA has made all three changes in all 29 of their regular season games this season.
• The attendance for today’s game was a 29,470.
• The Galaxy return to action on Saturday, October 24 when they host the San Jose Earthquakes on Fan Appreciation Night at The Home Depot Center. That game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live on FS West, starting with ‘Galaxy Live’ at 7 p.m.
• For more about tonight’s game, please visit www.lagalaxy.com.