Late Gonzalez Goal Rescues 1-1 Draw for Galaxy

LA Galaxy 1, Chicago Fire 1
Saturday, September 4, 2010
TOYOTA Park – Bridgeview, Ill.

Scoring Summary:
CHI – Collins John 3 (Unassisted) 88’
LA – Omar Gonzalez 2 (Landon Donovan 12) 91+

Misconduct Summary:
CHI – Gonzalo Segares (Red Card) 21’
CHI – Logan Pause (Yellow Card) 63’
LA – Omar Gonzaalez (Yellow Card) 87’
CHI – Collins John (Yellow Card) 88’

Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Donovan Ricketts; Sean Franklin, Omar Gonzalez, Leonardo, Todd Dunivant (Mike Magee 81’); Dema Kovalenko, Jovan Kirovski, Tristan Bowen (Bryan Jordan 61’), Alex Cazumba (Eddie Lewis 71’); Edson Buddle, Landon Donovan©.

Subs Not Used: Josh Saunders, A.J. DeLaGarza, Chris Klein, Michael Stephens.

Chicago Fire: Sean Johnson; Steven Kinney, C.J. Brown, Wilman Conde, Gonzalo Segares; Logan Pause, John Thorrington, Patrick Nyarko (Collins John 82’), Mike Banner; Nery Castillo (Calen Carr 69’), Brian McBride© (Krzystof Krol 77’).

Subs Not Used: Andrew Dykstra, Kwame Watson-Siriboe, Corben Bone, Baggio Husidic.

Notes:
• With the draw, the Galaxy are now 13-5-5 on the season and remain in first place in the Western Conference with 44 points. They are now four points ahead of Real Salt Lake for first place in the Western Conference and three points ahead of Columbus for the best record in MLS, with both teams in action tonight.
• Because of the result, the Galaxy will remain in first place in the Western Conference heading into next week’s games. They have been in first place in the Western Conference all season long.
• The draw snapped the Galaxy’s two game losing streak.
• Bruce Arena made four changes to the team that fell 2-0 at home against Kansas City last weekend, with Tristan Bowen, Alex Cazumba, Jovan Kirovski and Dema Kovalenko all returning to the starting lineup replacing Chris Birchall, who was suspended for yellow card accumulation, as well as Chris Klein, Mike Magee and Michael Stephens, who all started the game on the bench.
• The Galaxy also played the game without defender Gregg Berhalter, who missed his third straight game because of viral complications and midfielders David Beckham and Juninho. Beckham remains on the Disabled List after undergoing surgery in March to repair a torn Achilles tendon, while Juninho returned to Los Angeles today after dealing with personal matters back in Brazil over the past two weeks. He was last in the lineup on August 21 at San Jose.
• Landon Donovan missed a penalty kick in the 23rd minute, with Sean Johnson saving the shot by diving to his left. That was Donovan’s first missed penalty in an MLS game since September 1, 2007 in a 2-1 home loss to Real Salt Lake. Since then, the Galaxy captain had 12 straight penalties in the regular season, including two against Johnson and the Fire at The Home Depot Center on August 1.
• The three penalty kicks for Donovan against Johnson are the most he has taken against a single goalkeeper in MLS.
• The Fire’s Gonzalo Segares was sent off for a foul on Leonardo that led to the penalty kick attempt. He is the fourth player to be sent off against LA this season, and the third to be sent off in the first half.
• LA is now 2-0-2 when the opposition has a player sent off, winning at Houston and vs. Philadelphia and drawing at home against Toronto FC.
• Omar Gonzalez tied the score for LA in the first minute of stoppage time, heading home a Landon Donovan corner kick.
• That goal was Gonzalez’s second of the season while the assist was Donovan’s MLS-best 12th.
• Gonzalez’s goal in the first minute of stoppage time snapped the Galaxy’s 350 minute scoreless streak dating back to Edson Buddle’s goal in the 10th minute of the 1-0 win at New York on August 14.
• This was the first time since August 14 and just the second time since July 18 that LA did not allow a goal in the opening half of play.
• Omar Gonzalez was booked in the 87th minute for a foul on John Thorrington. That was his seventh yellow card of the season, leaving him one caution shy of a mandatory one game suspension.
• Dema Kovalenko played the 240th game of his MLS career in the game, while Landon Donovan played his 225th and Todd Dunivant played his 180th.
• Michael Stephens did not enter the game for the Galaxy. This was the first time this season that Stephens did not play in a regular season game.
• LA is 0-5-2 now on the season when allowing the game’s opening goal, compared to 13-0-0 when scoring the first goal.
• The attendance for today’s game was 21,068.
• The Galaxy are back in action next Saturday, September 11 when they host the Eastern Conference leading Columbus Crew at The Home Depot Center. That game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live on Fox Sports West starting with Galaxy Live at 7 p.m.
• For more about today’s game, please visit www.lagalaxy.com.

New Look Midfield Aims to Get Galaxy Back on Track

After dropping their last two games, the LA Galaxy will look to get back to their winning ways on a cool day this afternoon at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill. The first time these two met, LA gave up three goals in the opening 19 minutes en route to a 3-2 loss. Now Bruce Arena's squad will look to return that favor this afternoon and solidify their spot at the top of the MLS standings.

There are a number of changes for the Galaxy, who will use an entirely new look midfield for this afternoon's contest, brining Tristan Bowen, Alex Cazumba, Jovan Kirovski and Dema Kovalenko back into the first team. They replace the suspended Chris Birchall as well as the Chicago-born duo of Michael Stephens and Mike Magee, as well as Chris Klein, who all start the game on the bench.

Here is how the Galaxy will lineup today.

------------------Donovan------------Buddle------------------

Alex Cazumba--------------------------------------------Bowen

------------------Kovalenko----------Kirovski------------------

Dunivant---------Leonardo-----------Gonzalez---------Franklin

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

Subs: Saunders, DeLaGarza, Lewis, Klein, Stephens, Jordan and Magee.

And here is how the Fire will lineup...

-----------------------------McBride-----------------------------

Banner----------------------Castillo------------------------Nyarko

-------------------Pause--------------Thorrington----------------

Segares--------------Conde----------Brown----------------Kinney

----------------------------Johnson-------------------------------

Subs: Dykstra, Krol, Watson-Siriboe, Bone, Husidic, Carr and John

Good Morning on Game Day

The sun is shining today in the Windy City as the Galaxy look to break their two game losing streak against the Fire at Toyota Park. LA came to Chicago just over a year ago on the heels of a 2-0 home loss and pulled out a convincing 2-0 win over the Fire and will be looking for a similar result this afternoon. Mike Magee and Landon Donovan scored on that day and both players would gladly replicate the feat today.

The conditions were a bit different yesterday as the club endured a nearly two hour bus ride to Bridgeview in order to train in blustery conditions. But despite the weather and the travel delays, the guys went through a precise 75 minute session that saw them play possession and some 8 on 8 exercises before having the first team work on set pieces. The last six goals allowed by the Fire have come on crosses or set pieces, so the big guys like Omar and Edson were putting in some extra work, attacking the ball and getting their headers on target.

Hopefully that hard work will be rewarded in a few hours time.

To get you ready for the game, be sure to watch This Week Inside the Galaxy (as well as the preview of Jackie Pickering's interview with David Beckham), read the latest View from the Booth by Mark Rogondino and the official game preview from MLSSoccer.com.

And of course, don't forget to tune into Prime Ticket at 12:30 p.m. for Galaxy Live, with Jim Watson and Mark Rogondino bringing you all the action live starting at 1 p.m. Or for the Spanish speakers out there, you can tune into TeleFutura for the game, also starting at 1 p.m.

This Week Inside the Galaxy: 2010 - Episode 20

In this edition of This Week Inside the Galaxy, we take a look at some of the guys' pregame rituals and look ahead to Saturday's game against the Chicago Fire (at TOYOTA Park on PrimeTicket and TeleFutura at 1 p.m.).



Prior to the game, make sure to tune-in to PrimeTicket's pregame show Galaxy Live at 12:30 p.m. to watch Jackie Pickering's exclusive interview with David Beckham.

Here's a preview of that interview...

Alan Rovira Trains With El Salvador

Alan Rovira finally got to put on the La Selecta jersey.

A midfielder on the LA Galaxy's Youth Academy U-18 club, Rovira trained with El Salvador's national team for the first time on Thursday, almost a full month after finding out out he was being called in to camp by interim head coach Jose Luis Rugamas. The teenager's first training session with La Selecta, which is the nickname given to El Salvador's national team by Salvadoreans, was not that far from home-- El Salvador trained here in Los Angeles, where they will be facing Honduras national team in an International Friendly at the L.A. Coliseum on Saturday.

Saturday could be a big day for Rovira and for the club. At 1 p.m., LA will take on the Chicago Fire-- currently coached by Carlos De Los Cobos, El Salvador's former head coach. About five after the final whistle, El Salvador and Honduras kickoff at 7:30 p.m.

After the game, tune in to Telemundo's Marcador Final this Sunday at 5 :30 p.m. to learn more about Rovira and how he rose up the Galaxy youth ranks to make onto El Salvador's national team (in Spanish).

Below are more photos of Rovira from yesterday...

Special thanks to Walter Martinez and Telemundo for photos.

Beckham Ready For Return

After months of intense rehab to recover from a torn left Achilles tendon, David Beckham finally can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The midfielder has his sights set on a return to the pitch against the Columbus Crew on September 11 at The Home Depot Center.

Click here to see what David had to say about getting back on the field and his hopes for the rest of the season.


David also sat down to speak with Jackie Pickering and you can see that interview this Saturday during the Galaxy Live pregame show on Prime Ticket starting at 12:30 pm.

Berhalter on the Road Back

After missing the last two games as a result of viral complications, Galaxy defender Gregg Berhalter returned to light training this week, running on the side of the training field. Berhalter fell ill shortly after the win at New York on August 14 and did not train ahead of the game against San Jose or last weekend’s game against Kansas City. He did not dress for either of those games and did not accompany the team to Chicago this afternoon.

The 37-year-old center back has missed seven games through injury this season, his first full season with the Galaxy. In addition to the last two games, Berhalter was out for the first four games of the year with a knee injury thta limited him during the preseason and the 2-2 draw with San Jose on July 22 when he was an unused substitute. In 2009, he missed just four games on the year, two through suspension and two at the start of the season before signing with the club. LA is 5-3-3 in the 11 games that Berhalter has not played in since the start of the 2009 season.

Since joining the Galaxy in April 2009, Berhalter has appeared in and started 41 regular season games, while also starting all four of the club's postseason games last year.