Beckham Winner Nominated for Goal of the Week

It was quite a weekend for David Beckham.

On Saturday he scored his first-ever goal against Chivas USA, giving the Galaxy a 1-0 win over their rivals, then on Sunday he flew off to England to join his National Team ahead of their upcoming friendly against Slovenia on Saturday and World Cup Qualifier against Croatia at Wembley on the following Wednesday.

Finally, to make things better, his goal has now been nominated for the MLS Goal of the Week award.

Watch the goal below and click here to vote.


Now check out the same goal from a different angle...


Lastly, what are you more impressed by, David's goal from Saturday, or this?

We Got the Cup

Bruce Arena's first piece of silverware arrived tonight with the 1-0 win over Chivas USA that gave the Galaxy the Honda SuperClasico crown.

Here's what the guys had to say after the win...

LA GALAXY HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA…
Overall thoughts on the match…
That was a hard earned three points. Chivas played well. They came at us real hard. They were really aggressive the first half, but in the second half, we played better. It was a great goal by David Beckham, and a well earned victory. It’s nice to win at home, if you can call this a home game. Our opponent played well tonight. They deserve a lot of credit coming back from their game earlier in the week. Once again our team continues to make progress, we are getting better. We have to win games like this. This was a tough game. I think our concentration and discipline over 90 minutes was real good. I’m pleased with the win. Every point is critical.

On Landon Donovan playing in the midfield…
I think he likes being able to face opponents and not playing with his back to the goal. He gets more involved in the game when he is playing in the midfield than he does up top as a striker. Obviously, he’s work rate and pace are special, and in those positions you can take advantage of that. I thought in the first half [Jonathan] Borstein played him well. In the second half, we started him out on the left. We had success with that. Landon’s been great this year. He’s really grown as a player. The things he does in the locker room and off the field are special as well. He’s having a great season, and we hope it continues. And we wish him the very best for the next ten days with the U.S. National Team.

On David Beckham’s role…
He’s a very experienced and talented player. He has to find different places on the field to be effective. Tonight, [Jesse] Marsch and [Paulo] Nagamura did a good job trying to get around David when he was sitting in a central position. I prefer him going wide or going high instead of coming back to get the ball, and we saw a lot more of that in the second half.

On the improvement of the Galaxy’s defensive compared to last season…
It’s what we are trying to do with this team. To make it a real team you have to win games 1-0. This 4-3 stuff, this 5-4 stuff, I think its nice. I was a part of a 5-4 game when I was with the New York Red Bulls, was maybe one of the worse games I’ve ever been a part of. It was a horrible performance defensively by both teams. For some reason, I read it was one the best games in MLS history, but it was a horror show in terms of defending. We have to learn to play in games like this and we have.

LA GALAXY FORWARD LANDON DONOVAN
On the win…
It’s huge. The breathing from Chivas and the breathing room from the rest of the League is really important. We’ve played more games that everyone and we are off next weekend. Now they are going to start catching up, so it’s nice to have a little bit of cushion. It’s still going to be tight.

On the importance of that last few games…
The last three or four have been really crucial. Just because of whom we’ve been playing. Chicago is right with us, DC who is a team we are trying to keep away from the playoffs. Tonight was huge because Chivas has a few games in hand from us. We did a good job.

On switching to the left side during the second half…
Borstein’s a good player. He does a good job. He knows my strengthens and weaknesses, and did a good job not letting me go at him. And, it helped when I was able to switch sides. I like both sides with [Marcelo] Saragosa playing with a yellow card it was going to be hard for him. I wanted to put him under pressure. Eddie [Lewis] did a good job on the side controlling those two—a lot better than I did. I was able to make it a lot more difficult for Chivas.

LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER DAVID BECKHAM
On his scoring his first goal of the season.…
It’s always nice to score a goal, but it’s always nice to win a game, especially when it’s against your rivals.
I anticipated the ball bouncing and going through where it did. And obviously it did on a wet night and a wet pitch, I had to hit it down because it was bouncing awkwardly. Sometimes they can end up in the back row, luckily this time it ended it the back of the net. It wasn’t the prettiest thing, but three points is three points.

On the team’s performance…
They kind of controlled the game in the first half. Our passing was terrible. We just kept giving the ball away, but sometimes that happens and you just have to persist. In the second half, we picked it up a bit. We knew if we could get the ball to Landon and get the ball through midfield, we would be able to create chances. We started passing a little better and creating chances.

LA GALAXY GOALKEEPER DONOVAN RICKETTS
On achieving his third consecutive shutout:
It’s always good to keep a clean sheet, it gives the team confidence, and it gives us a foundation. So, it is always good.

LA GALAXY DEFENDER TODD DUNIVANT
On the game
The pressure was on us in this game, it was important to get the points today, and we did the job. The bigger picture is the important thing in this situation…winning the trophy, winning two out of three games, and not conceding any losses, is a great result. That’s good and it sets us up for the playoffs, and that’s really our goal at this point, and it really put us in a good position now.

On Donovan Ricketts’ third consecutive shutout:
The biggest key of our turnaround is the team focus on defense, and now we have three shutouts in a row. It’s always a working progress. And again, tonight, Donovan [Ricketts] made big saves whenever we need him, and for the most part we kept them out off our ending, and limited their chances, and I think that was the key of our success.

LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER CHRIS BIRCHALL
On David Beckham’s goal…
As soon as it dropped out, and you saw David step up to hit it, I think everyone thought he would at least get in on target and he did. I don’t think it was the cleanest connection, and he’llprobably admit it. But, I don’t think he is bothered by it at all. He’s got another goal, and especially at this time, when he is getting a hit of criticism. I think it’s good for him that he is playing and getting goals, and hopefully, the England Manager can see it.

LA GALAXY FORWARD JOVAN KIROVSKI
On the game…
It was a good game. There was a lot of passion in the game. You can see both teams wanted to win, but we were a little cautious because we didn’t want to give anything up. It was a typical derby game.

LA GALAXY DEFENDER GREGG BERHALTER
On playing physical aspect of the game…
I think this game is always difficult because of all the emotions, and then add where we are in season and where both teams are on the table. It was a pretty physical game. As the game went on, we didn’t give up a lot. We were able to get a really, really big game win for us.

Finally, for those who did not see this in the pregame, check out Leo Griffin's video from last week's training in D.C. where David took a challenge from Alan Gordon and showed the same pinpoint accuracy that he did with tonight's goal, except this time it was putting a ball into the press box from field level.

Check it out.

Beckham Goal Gives LA 1-0 Win and SuperClasico Title

LA Galaxy 1, Chivas USA 0
Saturday, August 29, 2009
The Home Depot Center — Carson, Calif.

Scoring Summary:
LA – David Beckham 1 (Omar Gonzalez 1, Todd Dunivant 2) 80’

Misconduct Summary:
CHV – Marcelo Saragosa (Yellow Card) 26’
CHV – Maykel Galindo (Red Card) 82’
LA – Chris Klein (Yellow Card) 90’
CHV – Paulo Nagamura (Yellow Card) 92+

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Donovan Ricketts, A.J. DeLaGarza, Gregg Berhalter, Omar Gonzalez, Todd Dunivant, Stefani Miglioranzi, Eddie Lewis (Chris Klein 68’), Landon Donovan©, David Beckham, Mike Magee (Chris Birchall 86’), Jovan Kirovski (Alan Gordon 75’).

Subs Not Used: Josh Saunders, Leonard Griffin, Tony Sanneh, Bryan Jordan.

Chivas USA: Lance Parker, Marcelo Saragosa, Yamith Cuesta, Carey Talley (Eduardo Lillingston 81’), Jonathan Bornstein, Jesse Marsch© (Bojan Stepanovic 84’), Paulo Nagamura, Jesus Padilla (Chukwudi Chijindu 88’), Sacha Kljestan, Maicon Santos, Maykel Galindo.

Subs Not Used: Kevin Guppy, Ante Jazic, Shavar Thomas, Michael Lahoud.

Notes:
• With the win, the Galaxy are now 9-4-11 on the season, giving them 38 points. LA remains in second place in the Western Conference, two points behind first place Houston and four points ahead of third place Seattle.
• Bruce Arena made no changes to the team that drew 0-0 at D.C. United last weekend. Arena used the same starting 11 and began the game with the same seven available substitutes as he did in that game.
• The Galaxy were without five players for tonight’s game, with Edson Buddle, Alecko Eskandarian, Sean Franklin, Dema Kovalenko and Julian Valentin all missing the game through injury.
• The win gives the Galaxy the Honda SuperClasico title with a 2-0-1 record on the season against Chivas USA. This is the fourth time in the five years of the competition that the Galaxy have won the title.
• Donovan Ricketts made three saves for his fifth shutout of the season and second straight. Ricketts was not credited with a clean sheet in the 2-0 win at Chicago on August 19 because he did not play the full 90 minutes.
• The shutout was the Galaxy’s third straight clean sheet this season, their longest stretch without giving up a goal since June 24-July 15, 2006 when they went five straight games without giving up a goal.
• LA has now gone 306 minutes without giving up a goal, dating back to the 54th minute of the 2-0 loss to Seattle on August 15.
• The Galaxy now have eight clean sheets on the season, three shy of the club record of 11 set in 1999.
• David Beckham’s goal in the 80th minute was his first of the season and first-ever against Chivas USA.
• The Galaxy did not allow a goal in any of the three games that they played against Chivas USA this season. It is the first time that the Galaxy did not allow a goal against a team in an entire season since 2001 when LA shutout Dallas and D.C. United in both games that they played against those clubs.
• Chris Klein entered the game in the 68th minute, replacing Eddie Lewis, stretching his MLS record consecutive games played streak to 139.
• Landon Donovan did not record a goal or an assist against Chivas USA this season for the first time in his MLS career.
• MLS League Pool Goalkeeper Kevin Guppy was the backup for Chivas USA on the night in place of the injured Zach Thornton. A former starter at Cal State-Northridge, Guppy typically trains with the Galaxy and was on the club’s backup goalkeeper for two games earlier this season, including LA’s 1-0 win over Chivas USA on July 11, while Donovan Ricketts was away on international duty at the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
• The attendance for today’s game was a sell out of 27,000. This was the Galaxy’s first home sellout this season.
• The Galaxy are off next weekend but return to action on Saturday, September 12 when they host FC Dallas at The Home Depot Center. The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. and can be seen on tape delay on FS West starting at 10 p.m.
• For more about tonight’s game, please visit www.lagalaxy.com.

First Trophy of the Year is on the Line

The Honda SuperClasico trophy is up for grabs tonight at The Home Depot Center as the Galaxy host Chivas USA. A capacity crowd is expected in Carson where a Galaxy win or draw will give LA their fourth SuperClasico in five years, but a Chivas USA win will give them their second title in the last three years.

Here is how Bruce will line up his team, with no changes from the 0-0 draw at RFK Stadium last weekend.

--------------Magee--------Kirovski-------------

Lewis--------------Beckham-------------Donovan

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

Dunivant-----Berhalter-----Gonzlaez-----DeLaGarza

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

Subs: Saunders, Griffin, Sanneh, Birchall, Klein, Jordan, Gordon.

And here is the team that Preki will put on the field.

--------------Santos--------Galindo--------------

Kljestan----------------------------------Padilla

--------------Marsch-------Nagamura--------------

Bornstein-----Cuesta-------Talley--------Saragosa

---------------------Parker----------------------

Subs: Guppy, Jazic, Thomas, Lahoud, Stepanovic, Chijindu, Lillingston.

Set for the SuperClasico

In what might be the biggest game of their season so far, the Galaxy host Chivas USA at The Home Depot Center on Saturday night in the finale of the Honda SuperClasico.

A win or draw sees LA retain the SuperClasico crown while a Chivas win sees the trophy move down the hall.

We caught up with a few of the guys to see what they had to say about this all important game.

Check it out.

Hot Hot Heat

The summer heat wave has officially hit The Home Depot Center. With temperatures reaching nearly triple figures the club continued their preparations for Saturday's SuperClasico against Chivas USA.

But this wasn't just your ordinary day of training. The work that Bruce and Co. put the guys through was standard for a Thursday afternoon, what went on before and after the session gave the day an added level of importance.

Everything started around 9:30 this morning when the team gathered on the stadium field in front of team photographer Robert Mora for the Galaxy's official 2009 team photo. The only one who was missing from the shot was Tristan Bowen, who remains on loan with Miami FC of the USL-1. But besides him, 25 players, along with 14 coaches and staff were on hand for the shot which will be available later this year.Once the shot was done, everyone was back inside to change into training gear before getting out onto the field for an intense session that featured an extended game of 6v6 to go along with the usual crossing and finishing drills, fitness work and everything else.The players then made their way over to a very special group of guests, as the newest members of the LA Galaxy Youth Academy were on hand to watch training and get an inside look into what they hope to become, members of the LA Galaxy.After the guys met with the Academy Players, Landon and Bruce stuck around to chat with them and welcome them to the program while also letting them know what they are in for as they begin the path toward hopefully becoming professional soccer players. After his welcome, Landon stuck around to take a photo with the kids for a memory that they will not soon forget.Finally, after all that was done, it was time for the guys to address the assembled media and look ahead to Saturday's Battle for Los Angeles.

David, Landon and Bruce were all popular with the press as they always are...

while Mike and Todd also stopped to answer a few questions.

Here is what they all had to say.
Bruce...

David...

Landon...

Todd...

Mike...

Landon Gets the Call

No surprises here, but Landon Donovan was called into the U.S. National Team for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers against El Salvador (Sept. 5 in Sandy, Utah) and Trinidad and Tobago (Sept. 9 in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad). Both games can be seen live on ESPN Classic and Univision.

Click here to see the full squad.

Landon has a National Team record 41 goals in 116 career appearances with the Red, White and Blue, including 11 goals in 31 career World Cup qualifiers.