After 34 regular-season MLS games (and a Supporters Shield to boot), the Galaxy finally start the season on the road against a New York Red Bulls side that seemed destined to hoist MLS Cup at the beginning of the season. New York underachieved during the season to say the least, leaving their playoff chances in the air until the final week of the season. The season series ended up 1-1-0 in favor of New York, the caveat there is that the win vs. LA came against a very tired team with Robbie Kean and Donovan out with injury back in September.
In the end, however, it really doesn’t matter how you get there. Nor what your regular season record was or even if you belong in the conference that you’re playing in (thanks again, MLS), the results here and now are the only thing that matter. Red Bulls, now the underdogs against a heavily favored LA, have a massive chip on their shoulders while LA’s fans will settle for nothing more than celebrating an MLS Cup win at home.
New York registered the first chance on the 4th minute when Joel Linpere put in a cross that Stephen Keel headed on goal. It seemed an easy save for Josh Saunders, who would be required to do more as the game went on. LA dominated the majority of the first half on both sides of the ball with Robbie Keane hitting the post in the 12th minute. That created a golden chance for Mike Magee on the rebound that went over the crossbar. Magee would silence the Metro Reject chants of his former team’s fans 3 minutes later on a yet another set-piece goal that saw the New York defense fall asleep on the offside trap. The Galaxy thought they had their second goal when Robbie Keane rounded Red Bulls keeper Frank Rost in the 45th minute. However, he never could get a ball on frame or square across goal and the chance went wanting.
The second half saw little from LA as New York attempted to put their stamp back on the game. Joel Linpere seemed to be everywhere on the field during the game and had his finger in a lot of the New York offensive creation. The combination of Luke Rodgers, Thierry Henry, and Dane Richards gave the Galaxy defense trouble throughout the game with Luke and Thierry combining on scoring chance upon scoring chance. Their best efforts of the game came in the 2nd half as they attempted to recover from being down with Henry very nearly converting a bicycle kick in the 47th minute. Dane Richards also seemed to have a goal on his own right after halftime but Josh Saunders got enough of the ball to get it clear.
The Galaxy, even with their lack of offensive spark in the second half, played perhaps their best defensive game all season. The back four of Dunivant, AJ De La Garza, Sean Franklin, and Todd Dunivant were stoic in defense. Even David Beckham tracked back in defense when the need arise. Josh Saunders also played an excellent game, denying the Red Bulls when they did find ways to unlock the defense. Saunders single-handled preserved the win on a 90th minute save by Rafa Marquez that looked sure to go in. The Galaxy hung on with win the game 1-0 on the lone goal from Magee and more importantly, brought the shutout win back home to LA.
However, this wouldn’t be a rivalry (real or imagined) if there wasn’t some controversy. Besides the rough and tumble chances from both teams and yellow cards earned by Franklin and Henry, Juninho and Rafa Marquez earned themselves a post-match red after Marquez threw a ball at Landon Donovan. A skirmish ensued that found both players throwing punches at one another and in the case of Teemu Tainio, choking Juninho. The Galaxy got baited into incendiary action by Marquez and paid the price with losing a midfielder with a penchant for long range efforts for what is still a very up in the air series.
That being said, the Galaxy come home to a Home Depot Center that has not seen a loss in since the Western Conference finals last year and have given up only 8 goals at home. Chances are looking good, but nothing is certain in MLS, especially at this point in the second season. Juninho’s absence and Jan Gunner Solli’s return from a red card in the wild card game against Dallas will weigh heavily on the outcome of the next game and the Galaxy will need to come out and continue their defensive efforts while being merciless with their chances on goal at home, they can ill afford to do otherwise.
(image courtesy of lagalaxy.com)
