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Vincent LaRosa

Galaxy Dispose of Rapids in Wilhelmsson’s Debut

 Posted by on September 15, 2012 at 3:53 am  Los Angeles Galaxy, MLS, United States
Sep 152012
 

A debut, a win and a goal. Not a bad start to Christian Wilhelmsson’s stint with the LA Galaxy. The Swedish winger netted LA’s second goal in a 2-0 win over the visiting Colorado Rapids.

The Procession:

It’s been over two weeks since the Galaxy last played an MLS match, but coming in unbeaten in their last four and 7-2-1 in their last 10, LA returned to league play still just three points behind Real Salt Lake for the West’s 3rd spot.

Galaxy Head Coach Bruce Arena welcomed the newcomer, Wilhelmsson, by handing him the start just 10 days after signing with the club. While David Beckham, who suffered an ankle injury in training, did not dress for the match, the Galaxy’s captain, Landon Donovan, returned after missing the team’s last three matches and national team duty to nurse an ailing hamstring. Also returning, Robbie Keane, who played during the international break with Ireland in World Cup qualifiers.

On the Rapids side of the ball, Colorado Head Coach Oscar Pareja opted to stick with the squad that defeated the Portland Timbers 3-0 at home a little over a week ago.

The Action:

You wouldn’t have known it by the way Colorado came out in the first 15 minutes, but they’re a team harboring slim hopes at a playoff spot. But whatever urgency you might have expected eluded the Rapids in much of this match.

In just the 3rd minute, Galaxy fullback Sean Franklin worked a nifty 1-2 with Keane at the edge of the area, springing the defender clean on goal. Fortunately for the Rapids, Franklin’s resolve in front of goal mirrored his position and he could only manage to hit the outside of the net with his golden chance.

With all the pressure early in the match, the Galaxy would find their opener and once again Keane was involved. Only this time, the Irishman took the finishing upon himself. In a sequence displaying an array of slick passing and intelligent movement off the ball, Marcelo Sarvas squared a pass in Keane’s direct just outside the Colorado penalty area. The forward feigned a touch and opted to let the ball continue to his strike partner Donovan while Keane sprinted into the area. Donovan’s first time ball found Keane in stride and after his first touch to collect, the forward expertly finished his shot left-footed into the far corner in the 15th minute.

“It was a great goal,” said Donovan after the match about Keane’s finish. “I thought we started the game really well and we had a few good chances early. It was really important to get a goal early against a team that really came here with no intention of winning the game.”

The goal is Keane’s 9th in the last 14 games and surprisingly Marcelo Sarvas’ first assist of the season in MLS.

After taking the lead just 15 minutes in, LA had few quality opportunities to close the half. For Colorado, they ended with a bit of a flourish but with not so much as a shot on goal to show for their troubles. Both sides entered the break looking fairly content with the scoreline on a unusually hot night.

“It was an inconsistent half after we scored. I think we took our foot off the pedal a little bit and got sloppy,” said Arena of the first half after the match.

The Business End:

While the Colorado never seemed to much of a threat for the Galaxy back line that has three clean sheets in their last four matches, the new boy, Wilhelmsson, put extinguished any Rapids’ hope in the 58th minute when Sarvas found the winger behind the Colorado defense. Fending off the challenge of two defenders, the Swede’s left-footed shot from 20 yards appeared harmless until goalkeeper Matt Pickens got ahold of it. The Rapids’ man made a mess of it and the ball trickled in to cap a perfect start to Wilhelmsson’s time in a Galaxy shirt.

Pareja’s choices to go with Conor Casey and Cummings on the bench to start might have been his attempt to play the hot hand, but when the Rapids resorted to attempting to beat LA via balls into the box, without the strength of Casey, the Rapids had little chance. The combination of Sarvas and Juninho in LA’s midfield has been uncanny as of late, and once again the Brazilians put on a textbook display through the middle with numerous interceptions, clockwork passing and two assists from Sarvas. Add the addition of another quality playmaker the the Galaxy line-up in Wilhelmsson on the wing and LA had little trouble in the match despite a bit of rust from the layoff.

Fulltime:

The win is LA’s 3rd in 4 matches. Level with RSL, Donovan has reiterated the Galaxy’s intention to climb as high as they can before the end of the season. With matches still remaining against the teams just ahead of them (Seattle and San Jose) and the way the team is clicking on both sides of the field, it looks like this team could be a nightmare come playoff time.

LA will now head to Puerto Rico for a CONCACAF Champions League clash on Wednesday before returning home to take on Toronto FC on Saturday.

 

Galaxy and Juninho Stay Hot

 Posted by on September 3, 2012 at 4:23 pm  Los Angeles Galaxy, MLS, United States
Sep 032012
 

Since being embarrassed 4-0 with all three designated players on the field and in front of a crowd of 60,000 people in Seattle, the Galaxy have been on fire. And while those three designated players have done their fair share in LA’s recently run of five wins and one draw in their last six games in all competitions, the true protagonist of the Galaxy’s sizzling form has been the play of the midfield maestro that is Juninho. On Saturday night, the Vancouver Whitecaps could do little to cool down the Brazilian or LA.

Goals:

Juninho – 41′  (assisted by Robbie Keane, Héctor Jiménez)

David Beckham – 79′

Both goals were absolute stunners. Juninho capped off a move that started from the Galaxy backline and included no less than nine pass before the Galaxy midfielder unleashed a corker into the top right corner of the Whitecaps goal from 20 yards out. Having netted six times in his last five matches, Juninho’s play has been heralded by Galaxy Head Coach Bruce Arena and attributed to midfielder’s higher level of fitness over the past month. With his box-to-box play, timely tackles and above-average distribution, the addition of goals to his game has made Juninho a top candidate for the league’s top midfielder of the past month.

The second goal was Beckham being Beckham. A trademark free kick in which the opposing goalkeeper is rooted to his line and has little chance of seeing the ball before it is in the back of his net, let alone saving the thing. Like Juninho, Beckham has tallied a career-high in goals this season with his free kick bringing his total to seven. When the phrase “he’s still got it” comes to mind, Beckham’s free kicks should be associated closely with it.

Worth Mentioning:

Since reuniting his “championship” backline of Sean Franklin, Omar Gonzalez, AJ De La Garza and Todd Dunivant for the first time in 2012 on Aug. 12, Arena’s men have recorded four clean sheets in all competitions. To put that into perspective, the team had four clean sheets in five months of play prior.

Feeling Like the Playoffs:

After starting the season poorly on all fronts, LA have slowly climbed up out of the Western Conference’s basement and into a playoff spot. With 43 points from 28 matches, the Galaxy are 4th in the table and only two points behind 2nd placed RSL. The win over Vancouver Saturday put six points between LA and the Caps in the West’s final playoff spot, as well as 10 points clear of the nearest outsider looking in, FC Dallas.

The Kids Are Alright

 Posted by on August 30, 2012 at 12:35 am  CONCACF Champions League, Los Angeles Galaxy, MLS
Aug 302012
 

The Kids Are Alright

 

 

 

No Beckham. No Keane. No Donovan…. No problem.

Fielding a reserve side featuring 10 changes from their CONCACAF Champions League opener, the LA Galaxy defeated the Puerto Rico Islanders 4-0 Wednesday night at the Home Depot Center.

With 18-year-old Jose Villarreal as the only player return to the starting XI from last weeks 5-2 win over Isidro Metapán, LA avenged a defeat to the Islanders in the qualifying stages of the 2010 CCL with goals from Tommy Meyer, Villarreal, Jack McBean and Michael Stephens.

The Galaxy opened the match’s scoring less than 10 minutes in when Meyer’s bullet header from the left side of the 6-yard box found the back of the net off a corner kick. The eventual game winner was the defender first goal since be drafted in the first round by the Galaxy before the start of the season.

Just minutes later, Villarreal almost made it two when his cross into the box was redirected by an Islanders defender and narrowly saved by the Islander goalkeeper. Applying pressure with excellent movement and passing through the midfield, the Galaxy would continue to press the Islanders throughout much of the first half but still fail to find a second.

They would not be waiting long however.

Almost directly from the match’s restart, Hector Jimenez’s long ball found the head of McBean just beyond midfield. The Galaxy forward’s flick-on header picked out the slashing run of Villarreal, who muscled his way between two defenders and toed the ball past Islander keeper Richard Martin in the 46th minute. The goal would be the youngster’s final contribution on the night though as a knock on the head received in the process led to his substitution in the 51st minute. LA were far from finished though.

McBean would turn recipient after setting up Villarreal’s goal when his second attempt at a Jimenez cross was fired into the upper left corner in the 79th minute. And rounding out the night’s revenge and capping his MOTM-like performance, Stephens added LA’s fourth with an incisive run through the middle of the Islander’s defense and a cool right-footed finish in the 81st.

The win distances LA from the rest of the pack in Group 5 with six points from two matches and an impressive plus-7 goal differential.

The Galaxy will travel to finish out group play starting with the return leg in Puerto Rico on Sept. 19, before closing out the group away to Metapán in October. And Saturday, the Galaxy will be back in MLS play, when they counter the team directly below them in the standings, the Vancouver Whitecaps, in a match with potential playoff implications.

 

Galaxy Make the Most of FC Dallas’ Mistakes

 Posted by on August 27, 2012 at 11:38 am  Los Angeles Galaxy, MLS
Aug 272012
 

When all else is even, sometimes it’s the mistakes the matter most. On Sunday at the Home Depot Center, the Galaxy made the most of their opponents mistakes beating FC Dallas 2-0 on goals by Juninho and Todd Dunivant.

After a scoreless first half in which both teams spent a majority of the half beating each other up through midfield, Galaxy substitute Jose Villarreal dispossessed FC Dallas’ Matt Hedges as the defender dwelled on the ball a bit too long, putting the teenager in clear on his own net. With only the goalkeeper to beat, Villarreal rounded Kevin Hartman at the far left of the FC Dallas penalty area and played a simple square ball for his onrushing teammate, Juninho, to finish with the simplest of tap-ins in the match’s 66th minute.

“The defender was caught asleep and I managed to pressure him pretty hard. It bounced off my foot and I took a touch right around the keeper. I saw Juninho [with an] open shot and I just passed it to him,” said Villarreal of the sequence.

The set up was a pure hustle play by Villarreal, who has provided LA with a spark of the bench now on multiple occasions since making his debut midway through the season. And while Juninho gets credit for the goal, LA Galaxy Head Coach Bruce Arena singled out his young forward specifically for praise.

“[It was] really alert play to help set up the first goal and really just a solid 30 minutes. [Villarreal] did quite well,” said Arena after the match.

Up 1-0, the Galaxy defense of Sean Franklin, AJ De La Garza, Omar Gonzalez and Dunivant held strong with the help of some key interventions by goalkeeper Josh Saunders, and even found a goal by way of Dunivant to ice the match in the 84th minute.

Lulling the FC Dallas defense to sleep near the left corner of Dallas’ penalty area with a sequence of short passes intended to run out the clock, another second half substitute, Michael Stephens, had the presence of mind to pick out Dunivant as he ghosted in behind the FC Dallas back line. Dunivant’s angled left-footed shot evaded Hartman and nestled into the side net to up the Galaxy advantage to 2-0 with just six minutes remaining in regular time.

“I saw a good opportunity to get forward and Mike Stephens put a good ball in and they kind of looked away and let me through and it was just me and the keeper, so I was fortunate enough to put it in and took a little pressure off of us and kind of seal up the game,” said Dunivant.

The win gives the Galaxy sole possession of the 4th spot in the Western Conference and keeps them just three points behind 2nd and 3rd placed Seattle and Real Salt Lake. Their next match is Wednesday in CONCACAF Champions League group play against the Puerto Rico Islanders before taking on the 5th place Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday.

LA Galaxy 5 – Metapán 2: The Day the Circus Came to Town

 Posted by on August 24, 2012 at 6:45 pm  CONCACF Champions League, England, Los Angeles Galaxy, MLS
Aug 242012
 

The CONCACAF Champions League rolled into town with a bang on Thursday night with its usual array of goals, cards and refereeing gaffes galore. Luckily for the Galaxy, while on the wrong side of the discipline, a red card to Robbie Keane and Bryan Gaul’s conceding of a late penalty, they managed a 5-2 victory to open their group play. This game was a bit erratic towards the end and LA really looked the better side, but why not just have the highlights do the talking:

The Galaxy are now top of Group 5 with another home match on Tuesday against Puerto Rico Islanders. An LA win will put the Galaxy head and shoulders above the competition and go a long ways before having to undertake long trips to El Salvador and Puerto Rico to close out the group. But before diving back into the CCL circus, LA face FC Dallas back in MLS play at home on Saturday.

Who’s Ready For Champions League Football?

 Posted by on August 22, 2012 at 6:46 pm  CONCACF Champions League, Los Angeles Galaxy, MLS
Aug 222012
 

0,,12813~11032013,00 Whos Ready For Champions League Football?

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0,,12813~11032058,00 Whos Ready For Champions League Football?

 

On Thursday night, the LA Galaxy embark on their continental adventure when they take on Isidro Metapán of El Salvador at the Home Depot Center. The match will be LA’s first in this year’s CONCACAF Champions League.

Qualifying for the tournament as 2011 MLS Cup winners, the Galaxy famously crashed out of last year’s tournament just before the start of this MLS campaign by losing home and away to Toronto FC. The loss sent the MLS champs on an tailspin to start the season, as LA faltered coming into both competitions as a recognized favorite from all sides.

Like the Galaxy, Metapán reached the quarterfinal stages of last year’s competition, before falling to Pumas of Mexico. The Salvadorian squad has already taken part in the group stages with a 3-1 over fellow Group 5 team Puerto Rico Islanders.

With this year’s group stages consisting of only three teams in each group, LA can’t risk a slow start but are also in a precarious position hovering around the Western Conference’s final playoff spot. The Galaxy have had some time to rest having not had a match last weekend, but will turn around and play again just two days later in MLS. It’s likely Galaxy Head Coach Bruce Arena will pepper in many non-starters in this first match up, although losing at home would be detrimental to LA’s qualifying for the knockout rounds of the tournament.

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Robbie Keane Salvages Point for LA Galaxy

 Posted by on August 15, 2012 at 11:52 pm  Los Angeles Galaxy, MLS
Aug 152012
 

Short Two Designated Players, the DP Picks Up the Slack

That’s why  you have three designated players.

613x Robbie Keane Salvages Point for LA Galaxy

Robbie Keane Celebrates

Traveling to Columbus without captain Landon Donovan and David Beckham, many questioned how the Galaxy might fare when faced with some adversity away from home. Lucky for LA, Robbie Keane was on his mark.

Fielding the so-called “championship” back line – as the Galaxy Insider Adam Serrano has coined them – of Sean Franklin, AJ De La Garza, Omar Gonzalez and Todd Dunivant for just the second time this season, LA looked under siege throughout much of the first half as the Crew put together some strong sequences going forward. Galaxy goalkeeper Josh Saunders was sharp in net and a few off target efforts saw both teams enter the half knotted at zeros with Columbus enjoying a steep 14 to 3 advantage in shots to close the half.

But having only bent throughout the first half, the Galaxy broke immediately to start the second half.

Columbus forward Jairo Arrieta opened the scoring in the match’s 47th minute cutting across the top of the Galaxy area from wide ride and angling a low drive across his body to the near post. It appeared Saunders had a beat on the shot, but as the ball trickled by, the Galaxy keeper must have seen the shot later than he’d liked or just whiffed on his save. Either way, he should have done better and the Crew held a 1-0 advantage.

But in a match with clear scoring chances few and far between, the Galaxy’s Irish DP showed himself a fox-in-the-box with a true poacher’s goal in the 64th minute.

Michael Stephens sprung Franklin down the right channel and with all the work to do, Franklin managed to slice up his man and get a teasing ball across the Crew 6-yard box. With Franklin going to work on the Crew defense, Keane took the opportunity to slip away from his man and claim the simplest of tap-ins, reappearing at the pivotal moment to roof the ball into an open net. The goal was Keane’s second in successive matches, preserving a draw for the visitors.

With the midweek match out of the way, the Galaxy will now have a week to prepare for their CONCACAF Champions League opener at home against Isidro Metapán of El Salvador on Thursday.

urso 1990 2012 Robbie Keane Salvages Point for LA Galaxy

Playing in their first match since the death of their teammate Kirk Urso, the Crew and Galaxy both wore #15 armbands to remember their colleague. Crew supporters had a moment of silence at the match’s 15 minute mark in homage of the former Columbus 22-year-old midfielder.

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Match Preview: Columbus Crew vs. LA Galaxy

 Posted by on August 15, 2012 at 12:57 am  Los Angeles Galaxy, MLS
Aug 152012
 

What’s a Galaxy with two less stars?

Without David Beckham on Sunday, the LA Galaxy cruised past Chivas USA with a 4-0 victory. But how will the Galaxy fare sans the Englishman and the creator of all four goals from their last match?

Match Preview: Columbus Crew vs. LA Galaxy

Landon Donovan celebrates one of his four assists against Chivas USA

The Galaxy travel to Columbus to take on the Crew Wednesday in a midweek match falling on a FIFA date, one of the many MLS does not stop play for. With forward, and recently named MLS Player of the Week, Landon Donovan called into action for the US men’s side in Mexico the same day, the Galaxy will have to live without their captain fresh off his career-high four assist performance against the rojiblancos of Chivas USA, in addition to Beckham, who is just returning from his duties as Olympic ambassador.

On the bright side, Galaxy Head Coach Bruce Arena had the luxury of reuniting his stellar back four from last season’s championship team against Chivas USA for the first time this campaign.

With defender Omar Gonzalez fully fit, Arena dropped David Junior Lopes in favor of pairing AJ De La Garza with his former Maryland teammate against their Home Depot Center mates, while Sean Franklin returned from midfield to right back and Todd Dunivant returned from injury to his usual spot on the left side of the backline. The result? The Galaxy’s 5th shutout of the season and easily the most comfortable the team has looked at the back in quite some time. Without Beckham and Donovan and away from home, the backline will likely be called up once again for a stellar performance, as the Crew boast the stingiest defense in the league. With Robbie Keane being hot and cold at best all season, LA may have trouble mustering a multi-goal performance – although the Irishman did find the net in the Superclásico.

For the Crew, they are coming off trading a win and a loss apiece with the East’s DC United and Sporting KC. They’ve shown to be staunch in defense of their own goal, but characterizing them as languid in attack is not too much of a stretch. And although he is the lesser known Higuain, Columbus could have really used Federico Higuain in attack against the Galaxy but due to passport issues their newest designated player will have to wait for his debut until the weekend.

The Galaxy are clinging on to the West’s final playoff spot, but with so many teams having games in hand, it goes without saying that every point is vital. The last MLS Cup champion to not make the playoffs the following year was the Galaxy back in 2006. This year’s team will be hoping to avoid that legacy at all costs. Expect a tight affair in Columbus, with LA hoping Keane packed his shooting boots.

 

Deciding the Superclásico

 Posted by on August 10, 2012 at 10:05 pm  Los Angeles Galaxy
Aug 102012
 
Coming “home” from a 4 – 0 thrashing in Seattle, the LA Galaxy will play as the away team Sunday in the final installment of the Superclásico for 2012 at the Home Depot Center. With the season series tied, even more than bragging rights are up for grabs with playoff positioning also on the line.

After two matches this season, the Galaxy and Chivas are knotted at 1-1 with LA taking the latest tilt 3-1 on July 21. Since then, Chivas USA have won one and lost one, and will be coming into the match on more than two weeks rest after last playing in a victory over the Timbers in Portland.

For LA, the match is a chance to show their poor performance against the Sounders was merely a blip on their comeback trail after going 7-2-1 in their last 10 matches and garnering a lot of attention as a reigning champion back on track. While Chivas USA, will be looking to close the five point gap LA has on them for the West’s final playoff spot.

 

Sounders Send Galaxy Crashing to Earth

 Posted by on August 6, 2012 at 3:12 pm  Los Angeles Galaxy, MLS, Seattle Sounders
Aug 062012
 

Shooting up the standings and posting an impressive 7-2-1 record in their last 10 matches, the buzz around the LA Galaxy was they were finally back to championship form. Add reigning defender of the year Omar Gonzalez back to the mix, and LA seemed a no-brainer for the playoffs. The Galaxy had even pulled within one point of third-placed Seattle.

That’s when the Sounders put LA back in their place.
sp00054576 image Sounders Send Galaxy Crashing to Earth
In Seattle for the second time this season, the Galaxy had no Olympic, European or national team excuses this go around, as head coach Bruce Arena fielded one of his strongest sides of the year with all three designated players starting and Gonzalez at the center of defense. But just like their 2 – 0 loss to the Sounders three months prior, Sounders forward Eddie Johnson scored the match’s opening goal and the Galaxy never recovered.
With LA fielding arguably their most talented midfield and back line combination of the season, Seattle started the match with immediate pressure on the Galaxy defense, looking to clog LA passing lanes through midfield and strike quickly on the counter. And in the match’s 6th minute, Seattle took just two passes from midfield to beat the Galaxy defense.
As Osvaldo Alonso jogged the ball to midfield, the Sounders immediately when into attack springing forward Fredy Montero down the right channel. The Colombian’s first touch sent a pinpoint cross into his partner, Johnson, and the forward headed home before Gonzalez or the LA Galaxy could make a challenge. The lighting quick strike put Seattle up 1 – 0, a lead they would build on throughout the second half.
While the Galaxy enjoyed a bulk of the possession during the match, Seattle remained content on exposing LA on the counter and would go on to add goals by Montero, Alex Caskey and Andy Rose to complete the rout of LA, who came the closest to scoring when Landon Donovan was found by David Beckham long ball behind the Sounders defense and just 12 yards from goal. The forward was unable to get a clean shot off the 1v1 as the ball wouldn’t settle for the striker due to the field turf at Seattle’s CenturyLink Field.
The Galaxy might also have had legitimate shouts for a penalty when down the lone goal in the first half as AJ De La Garza was brought down by defender Leonardo Gonzalez in the penalty area in the 15th minute. Although the Seattle defender won the ball, it seemed he impeded De La Garza first, bringing the Galaxy defender to the ground, but the referee immediately waived away the Galaxy’s pleas.
The loss ends LA’s 5-game unbeaten streak and separates the two teams by 4 points in the standings. LA heads back to the Home Depot Center Sunday for the final installment of the SuperClasico against Chivas USA.
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