Instant Clásico: Galaxy stun Chivas USA
By Greg Daurio / MLSnet.com Staff
04/16/2006 01:40AM
CARSON, Calif. -- Chivas USA had their hearts broken by the Los Angeles Galaxy in the Honda Súper Clásico on Saturday night at The Home Depot Center. Ante Razov scored just seconds into the second half to pace Chivas to a 1-0 lead, but Cornell Glen made up for a bevy of wasted first-half chances when he scored two late goals to earn the Galaxy a 2-1 win.
For the Galaxy it was another case of early chances squandered, as they continue to struggle with their finishing in front of goal. Chivas missed a number of chances in the second half however, and with better finishing, would have walked away with the full complement of points. At the end of 90 minutes -- and another nine minutes of second-half stoppage time -- it was the Galaxy who did the better job of sorting out the offense and came away with the win.
The old guard dominated the opening 45 minutes, most noticeably by Galaxy newcomer Cornell Glen. The Trinidad & Tobago international saw a slew of chances go by the wayside in the first half.
In the 12th minute, Glen was sent free on a long ball out of midfield. Using his speed to get in behind the Chivas back line, he seemingly was free on a breakaway, but a hustling Tim Regan tracked down the speedy attacker and broke up the play.
Moments later, Chivas tried to spring a player free with a long ball of their own. Francisco Palencia and Kevin Hartman ended up in a footrace for the ball, and it was Hartman, alertly playing off his line, who won the race and cleared the danger.
Just prior to the 20-minute mark, Pete Vagenas and Landon Donovan worked a clever one-two at the top of the penalty area. Vagenas then fed Glen, who turned and fired from just inside the penalty area but couldn't find the target, missing wide.
Glen was at it again, this time the recipient of a terrible back pass. Juan Pablo Garcia played a ball back to nobody, which allowed Glen to race in all alone on Chivas 'keeper Brad Guzan. Glen managed to round Guzan, but dribbled himself right out of a shooting angle. He still somehow ended up with the ball and tried to play a ball back to Donovan, but saw his pass deflect off of a Chivas defender.
The chances kept on coming for Glen. It was his speed that again allowed him to track down a long ball over the top of the Chivas rearguard. With Donovan running along side of him, Glen elected to shoot rather than pass, only to see his effort deflected out for a corner kick.
Chivas almost got on the board in the 29th minute off of a freak play. Francisco Mendoza worked himself free on the left side and sent a ball into the middle. In the ensuing scramble, Galaxy fullback Chris Albright's intended clearance turned into a shot on his own 'keeper. Hartman however was well positioned and punched the ball clear.
The play continued to go back and forth, and just before the halftime whistle, both teams came close to getting on the scoreboard. First it was the Galaxy as Cobi Jones slipped a ball into the box to a streaking Donovan, but from a sharp angle, he blasted a shot into the chest of Guzan.
Then, Chivas found themselves deep in the Galaxy penalty area. A weak Galaxy clearance fell right to the foot of rookie Sacha Kljestan, who used his first touch to set up his shot before hitting a low drive just wide of the post.
Chivas came out of the locker rooms the more inspired side going straight to the attack, and opened the scoring less then a minute into the second half.
Garcia picked up another poor clearance by the Galaxy defense then dribbled into the penalty area and laid the ball back to Razov at the penalty spot. With Hartman forced to guard his near post, Razov made no mistake and buried the ball into a half-empty net.
The Galaxy quickly tried to recover, winning a corner kick in the 52nd minute. Albright rose up above everyone in the center of the penalty area, and hit a powerful header, but just missed the target.
Vagenas kept the Galaxy to within one goal in the 64th minute. Palencia raced toward goal at the end of a Chivas counter, and with Hartman and Todd Dunivant bearing down on him, Palencia managed to slip a ball past the 'keeper. But Vagenas continued to track back and the Galaxy captain cleared the ball off the line as it slowly rolled toward the goal.
Chivas continued to pour it on. Just three minutes later, Palencia broke free down the right flank and sent a cross into the center. Razov won a header and directed it towards the near post, but only a great reaction save from Hartman denied Razov his second goal of the night.
The Galaxy evened things up in the 84th minute. A long throw-in went straight up in the Chivas penalty area, but Donovan won a heading duel to send it back toward the goalmouth. Glen, who had been quiet up until then in the second half, ran onto the ball and tucked it away inside the back post.
Glen scored the game winner deep into stoppage time. With the clock winding down but well into the scheduled seven minutes of stoppage time, Donovan took the ball from his own half and dribbled into the attacking third. He held up his run waiting for help, then picked out Glen with a cross. The recent arrival from the Rapids hit a first-time volley past Guzan and drove a dagger right through the heart of the Chivas faithful.
That was the difference as the Galaxy held on to win their first game of the 2006 campaign. Next on the slate is Columbus and head coach Sigi Schmid, the man Galaxy head coach Steve Sampson replaced with the Galaxy.
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
Los Angeles Galaxy (1-1-1) vs. Chivas USA (1-2-0)
April 15, 2006 -- The Home Depot Center
Scoring Summary:
CHV -- Ante Razov 3 (Juan Pablo Garcia 1) 46
LA -- Cornell Glen 1 (Landon Donovan 1) 84
LA -- Cornell Glen 2 (Landon Donovan 2) 93+
Los Angeles Galaxy -- Kevin Hartman, Chris Albright, Ugo Ihemelu, Tyrone Marshall (Troy Roberts 63), Todd Dunivant, Cobi Jones (Herculez Gomez 65), Paulo Nagamura (Josh Gardner 75), Peter Vagenas, Ned Grabavoy, Landon Donovan, Cornell Glen,
Substitutes Not Used: Steve Cronin, Brian Dunseth, Michael Enfield, Marcelo Saragosa
Chivas USA -- Brad Guzan, Lawson Vaughn, Tim Regan, Claudio Suarez, Jonathan Bornstein, Juan Pablo Garcia, Sacha Kljestan, Jesse Marsch, Francisco Mendoza (John O'Brien 85), Juan Francisco Palencia, Ante Razov,
Substitutes Not Used: Preston Burpo, Drew Helm, Ezra Hendrickson, Jason Hernandez, Orlando Perez, Brent Whitfield
Chivas USA Los Angeles Galaxy
total shots: 9 (Ante Razov 5) 11 (Cornell Glen 5)
shots on goal: 4 (Ante Razov 3) 5 (Cornell Glen 3)
fouls: 14 (5 tied with 2) 17 (Paulo Nagamura 3)
offsides: 6 (Juan Francisco Palencia 3) 1 (Cornell Glen 1)
corner kicks: 1 (Juan Pablo Garcia 1) 5 (Landon Donovan 5)
saves: 3 (Brad Guzan 3) 3 (Kevin Hartman 3)
Misconduct Summary:
LA -- Chris Albright (caution; Professional Foul) 37
CHV -- Francisco Mendoza (caution; Tackle from Behind) 39
CHV -- Tim Regan (caution; Pushing, Holding) 58
CHV -- Juan Pablo Garcia (caution; Diving, Exaggeration) 69
CHV -- Jesse Marsch (caution; Reckless Foul) 96+
LA -- Cornell Glen (caution; Reckless Foul) 99+
referee: Kevin Stott
Referee's Assistants: Chris Strickland; Edouard Groguhe
4th official: Baldomero Toledo
time of game: 1:58
attendance: 27,000
weather: Partly Cloudy -and- 59 degrees
Galaxy Snatches It From Chivas USA
Recently acquired Glen scores two late goals as L.A. posts a 2-1 win to stay perfect in rivalry.
By Grahame L. Jones, LA Times Staff Writer
April 16, 2006
It was so close they could taste it, feel it, smell it.
The Chivas USA fans were on their feet at the Home Depot Center on Saturday night, chanting, singing, stamping their feet and tossing red and white paper streamers and confetti onto the field.
Less than six minutes remained in regulation, and the Goats were leading the Galaxy — a team they had never beaten — on an Ante Razov goal 40 seconds into the second half.
And then, just like that, it all evaporated in an improbable 2-1 Galaxy win.
First, Landon Donovan climbed above Jesse Marsch to get his head to the ball and redirect it to Cornell Glen, whose off-balance shot from six yards out sneaked inside the left post to tie it at 1-1.
Then, four minutes into the nine minutes of injury time, Chivas USA's Jonathan Bornstein had a poor pass intercepted in midfield by Donovan, who ran at the Chivas defense, took the ball wide right and then dropped it on a dime to Glen, who had made a diagonal run and was waiting unmarked at the far post.
Glen, a Trinidad international signed last week by the Galaxy, fired a shot into the far corner of the net. Goalkeeper Brad Guzan had no chance. Galaxy fans in the sellout crowd of 27,000 erupted.
The victory gave the Galaxy a 5-0 record in the series.
Soccer can be a cruel sport, and Saturday night offered a perfect example.
It could have been otherwise. It should have been otherwise.
It was one of the most intense Major League Soccer matches played in the 3-year-old stadium, and one of the strangest.
Had referee Kevin Stott seen Galaxy defender Ugo Ihemelu pull down Chivas USA's Juan Pablo Garcia by the back of his jersey in the penalty area, Chivas USA might have had a two-goal lead and been able to hang on.
But the foul went unseen and uncalled. Having been swept by the Galaxy in four MLS games last season, and having also lost to the defending MLS champions in the U.S. Open Cup, Chivas USA desperately wanted to set things straight.
Or at least begin doing so.
The Galaxy had an 11-9 edge in shots and a 5-4 advantage in shots on target, but it was Chivas USA (1-2-0) that played the more adventurous soccer, that was more creative in its approach and that, truth be told, "won" the first 84 minutes.
But Donovan's intervention and Glen's two goals won the game for the Galaxy (1-1-1) earning it its first victory of the young season.
The second half, sparked by Razov's third goal of the season, was played at a tremendous pace, with both teams fighting tooth and nail, sometimes almost literally. Injuries were frequent, hence the extended injury time.
If nothing else, the game should bring the fans back.
Galaxy Coach Steve Sampson made two changes to his starting lineup, dropping forward Herculez Gomez and replacing him with Glen, and dropping winger Josh Gardner and replacing him with Ned Grabavoy.
Sampson also tinkered with his alignment, sending midfielder Paulo Nagamura out wide left into Gardner's spot and using Grabavoy as more of a central playmaker alongside Donovan.
It took a long time for the Galaxy to settle into the new system, and for much of the game it seemed the players never would.
Chivas USA carried the game to the Galaxy, especially when Francisco Palencia lifted his game noticeably in the second 45 minutes.
It was Palencia's pass that ignited the sequence ending in Razov's goal.
There was only one word to describe the first half an hour, however: Strange.
How often, for instance, is a massage therapist ejected from a game?
That happened to Chivas USA's Humberto Macias in the 14th minute when he furiously protested from the bench a dubious offside call against Razov.
Exactly what Macias said is unclear, but it brought referee Stott running over with a red card in double-quick time.
Weird.
And then there was the extraordinary save that Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman pulled off just before the 30-minute mark when he had to fling himself across the net to block a blazing shot by … Galaxy defender Chris Albright?
In a desperate effort to clear a loose ball before Chivas winger Francisco Mendoza got to it, Albright lashed out at it and only Hartman's acrobatics prevented him from firing the ball into his own net.
Bizarre.
That merely set up the strange ending, however. At Home Depot Center, it was one of those nights.
