Unbeaten Streak Snapped at Six; Fall to Seattle 2-0

LA Galaxy 0, Seattle Sounders FC 2
Saturday, August 15, 2009
The Home Depot Center—Carson, Calif.

Scoring Summary:
SEA – Steve Zakuani 3 (Brad Evans 2) 22’
SEA – Fredy Montero 10 (Nate Jaqua 7, Peter Vagenas 1) 54’

Misconduct Summary:
LA – A.J. DeLaGarza (Yellow Card) 14’
LA – David Beckham (Red Card) 17’
SEA – Tyrone Marshall (Yellow Card) 65’
SEA – Tyrone Marshall (Yellow Card/Red Card) 76’
LA – Eddie Lewis (Red Card) 79’
SEA – Fredy Montero (Yellow Card) 81’
LA – Jovan Kirovski (Yellow Card) 94+

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Donovan Ricketts, A.J. DeLaGarza, Gregg Berhalter, Omar Gonzalez, Todd Dunivant, Chris Klein (Bryan Jordan 58’), David Beckham, Stefani Miglioranzi (Landon Donovan 46’), Eddie Lewis©, Alan Gordon (Mike Magee 61’), Jovan Kirovski.

Subs Not Used: Josh Saunders, Tony Sanneh, Chris Birchall, Dema Kovalenko.

Seattle Sounders FC: Kasey Keller©, James Riley, Patrick Ianni, Tyrone Marshall, Leo Gonzalez, Brad Evans, Osvaldo Alonso, Peter Vagenas, Steve Zakuani (Sebastien LeToux 74’), Fredy Montero (Zach Scott 81’), Nate Jaqua (Sanna Nyassi 88’).

Subs Not Used: Terry Boss, Nathan Sturgis, Tyson Wahl, Freddie Ljungberg.

Notes:
• With the loss, the Galaxy are now 7-4-10 on the season, leaving them with 31 points. LA is now alone in third place in the Western Conference, one point behind second place Seattle, who jumps to 32 points and one point ahead of fourth place Chivas USA and Colorado, who each have 30 points.
• Bruce Arena made one change to the team that beat New England 2-1 in their last weekend. Chris Klein returned to the lineup in place of Landon Donovan who entered the game at the half despite suffering from the flu.
• The Galaxy were without four players, with Edson Buddle, Alecko Eskandarian, Sean Franklin, and Julian Valentin all missing the game through injury.
• David Beckham’s red card in the 17th minute was his first red card in his MLS career. He will now miss Wednesday night’s game in Chicago through suspension.
• Seattle’s goal in the 22nd minute is only the 10th goal the Galaxy defense has allowed in the first half. The last time they allowed a first half goal was on July 25 when the Galaxy came back to tie Kansas City, 1-1, at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.
• Donovan entered the game at halftime for Stefani Miglioranzi. It was just the 15th time in his MLS career that he entered the game as a substitute and sixth as a member of the Galaxy.
• The loss snaps the Galaxy’s six game unbeaten streak. It is their first loss since a 2-1 loss at San Jose on June 20.
• The Galaxy were shutout for the first time since a 2-0 loss at home to Real Salt Lake on June 13.
• Eddie Lewis was sent off in the 79th minute. It was his second red card of the season. He will now miss Wednesday night’s game at Chicago.
• The Galaxy have now had two players sent off in a game twice this season. Gregg Berhalter and Alan Gordon were both sent off in the 0-0 draw with Chivas USA on April 11.
• Beckham and Lewis’ red cards were the sixth and seventh red cards against the Galaxy this season.
• Former Galaxy defender Tyrone Marshall was sent off for Seattle in the 76th minute after picking up two yellow cards.
• Chris Klein started the game on the right side of midfield, stretching his MLS record consecutive games played streak to 136.
• The attendance for today’s game was 20,162.
• The Galaxy are back in action on Wednesday, August 19 when they travel to play the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park at 6 p.m. (PT) in a game that can be seen live on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.
• For more about tonight’s game, please visit www.lagalaxy.com.

Bring on the Sounders

The teams are in and kickoff is on the horizon at The Home Depot Center as the Galaxy prepare to take on the Seattle Sounders.

The big story of the week has been the health of Landon Donovan and he starts the game on the bench for LA. Chris Klein starts in his place on the right side of midfield.

Here is how the rest of the team looks.

-------------Gordon------------Kirovski------------

Lewis----------------Beckham------------------Klein

----------------------Miglioranzi----------------------

Dunivant------Berhalter--------Gonzalez-----DeLaGarza

-------------------------Ricketts------------------------

Subs: Saunders, Sanneh, Birchall, Kovalenko, Donovan, Jordan, Magee

Former Galaxy head coach Sigi Schmid sends his Sounders, who are without their designated player Freddie Ljungberg, through illness, will lineup.

----------------Montero---------Jaqua--------------------

Zakuani--------Vagenas---------Alonso--------------Evans

Gonzalez-------Marshall---------Ianni---------------Riley

-------------------------Keller----------------------------

Subs: Boss, Scott, Sturgis, Wahl, Nyassi, Ljungberg, LeToux.

This Week Inside the Galaxy - Episode 13

Relive the Galaxy's 2-1 win at New England, highlighted by Landon Donovan's wonder goal, and look ahead to the all important Western Conference showdown between LA and Seattle.

All that and more, This Week Inside the Galaxy!


Also, don't forget to check out Mark Rogondino's View from the Booth.

Welcome to the Newbies

The newest MLS team is in town for tomorrow night's game and Bruce Arena and Co. have the Galaxy ready. LA is unbeaten in their last six games and will look to make that seven straight against the Sounders.

These same two teams met on May 10 in Seattle, with Alan Gordon scoring in a 1-1 draw. But this time, the Galaxy will be looking to go one better and earn the full three points.

Landon Donovan played the full 90 minutes on that day in Seattle, but he may not be available this time out after being diagnosed with the H1N1 flu virus. Landon is listed as questionable on the official injury report and is status will be re-evaluated before the game on Saturday, with Bruce hopeful that his captain will be cleared and ready to go.

Here is what Bruce had to say this afternoon...


Todd Dunivant also discussed Saturday's all important Western Conference clash...


To go more in depth with this game, be sure to check out the game preview at lagalaxy.com and be sure to download the game guide.

We'll be back tomorrow with This Week Inside the Galaxy, the View from the Booth and all of the action from The HDC.

Let There Be Grass

Full plaudits to the HDC grounds crew and everyone else that has helped to get the new playing surface down and ready to go for Saturday's game.

The maintenance and grooming of the field has already begun and will continue all the way up until gametime on Saturday, ensuring that the field is in optimal condition for the game against Seattle and straight through to the end of the season.

Win Some, Lose Some

While it was not the best day for the Galaxy captain, he did get a bit of good news as his goal against New England was voted the MLS Goal of the Week. He is the first Galaxy player to win the award this season.

The Galaxy will be looking to make it a perfect sweep of awards with the Save of the Week Award still up for grabs. Donovan Ricketts, the only two-time winner of the award, has been nominated for this save from the win over New England.


Click here to vote and don't forget that voting ends at 11 a.m. (PT) on Thursday.

Transformation Back to Field of Dreams

Since the X Games ended on Sunday, August 2, the personnel at HDC have been working extremely hard to get the stadium field back to normal. In five days, the HDC removed 17,000 yards of dirt from the facility, including the northwest and northeast stands. Overall, it took more than 750 truck loads to remove all of the dirt.
In addition this feat was completed in between and during the seven-day LA Women's Tennis Championships tennis tournament that ran here from August 3-9.
Beginning on Wednesday morning, the stadium grounds crew will oversee 601 rolls of beautiful and plush Bermuda sod being brought in to the stadium via 30 semi-truck loads. Each roll is approx. 150-175 sq. ft. of sod.
The field will be completely sodded by late Thursday afternoon. Our hats go off to the grounds crew, who will transform the stadium back to the cathedral of soccer that we all know and love.