Maykel Galindo was gifted one goal and added a second to lead Chivas USA to a convincing 3-0 win against the LA Galaxy in the third Super Clasico of the year Thursday evening at The Home Depot Center. Francisco Mendoza added a third goal late for Chivas, who defeated the Galaxy for just the second time ever.
A day after going the distance for England in their loss to Germany at Wembley, David Beckham went the full 90 minutes for the Galaxy. But he was unable to lift his side as the Galaxy rarely looked dangerous in the attack.
Possession belonged to the Galaxy in the early stages of the game, but when Chivas did get the ball they always looked to be the more threatening. Eventually as the first half wore on, Chivas began to assert their dominance on the match, and began to control the scoring chances.
But the first couple of chances in the game belonged to the Galaxy. In just the second minute, Beckham played a 50-yard free kick over the top of the Chivas back four. Cobi Jones ran onto the cross at the back post, but his side volley effort bounced right into the arms of Brad Guzan.
Beckham created and took the Galaxy's next chance minutes later. After creating a turnover in midfield, the Galaxy worked the ball to Beckham. The Englishman dribbled through the midfield and when nobody attempted to close him down, he shot from 30 yards out, but sent it well over the crossbar.
The next half hour was all Chivas. Their first chance came in the 10th minute when Ante Razov was ruled to be onside on a long pass over the top of the Galaxy defense. Razov was forced onto his weaker right foot by a retreating Abel Xavier, and his volley attempt was punched clear by Joe Cannon.
Cannon would be called on a couple more times in the half, next by Sacha Kljestan. Galindo slipped Kljestan through at the edge of the penalty area and from close range the Chivas midfielder shot, but Cannon was equal to the task, making a big save.
Kljestan and Galindo reversed roles two minutes later, this time Galindo the recipient of a cutting through pass. The Cuban used his speed to get past Chris Klein and tried to beat Cannon with a low shot, but the Galaxy netminder slid out to smother the attempt and keep the home side in the match.
The Galaxy eventually woke back up, and started to see a bit more of the ball. Their play resulted in a couple of late chances to close out the half. Both chances came on free kicks and both times Beckham found Kyle Veris. On the first attempt Veris headed just wide of the right post; on the second he missed just wide of the other post.
That was the last scoring chance of the half, but it was far from the end of the action. In stoppage time, Jesse Marsch was booked for taking down Beckham from behind. Beckham took exception to the tackle, getting in the face of Marsch, and a melee broke out. In the shoving match, Kevin Harmse threw a punch and Alex Zotinca head-butted Harmse. Both players were shown a straight red card by referee Terry Vaughn, reducing the two sides to 10 men for the second half.
Beckham nearly got his revenge in the 54th minute. The Galaxy were working the ball side to side when Kyle Martino picked out Beckham in the center of the park. Beckham took one touch towards goal then fired, missing just wide of the target.
It was Chivas who opened the scoring in the 58th minute. Tracking back towards his own goal, Veris tried to clear a through pass, but missed. The ball bounced right to Galindo who had Cannon trapped in no man's land, and easily placed the ball past the 'keeper.
After the goal the game quieted down considerably. Trying to spark the offense, Frank Yallop went to his bench, bringing on Landon Donovan, who had played 64 minutes for the USA the night before in Sweden. However the move failed to pay immediate dividends.
A brilliant counterattack by Chivas USA doubled the advantage in the 69th minute. Kljestan fed Francisco Mendoza on the left, who played to ball back into the middle with his first touch, finding Galindo streaking down the center channel. Galindo dribbled in alone on Cannon, and tucked home his second goal of the game.
The Galaxy came close to pulling one back in the 81st minute. Veris hit a header that beat Guzan, but former Galaxy midfielder Paulo Nagamura headed the ball off the line at the last instant to preserve the shutout.
Chivas put the final touch on a thorough victory late in the match on another counter. Ramon Nunez played an early cross along the ground to Kljestan. Kljestan spun around at the top of the 18 and picked out Mendoza, who was all alone at the back post. With acres of space Mendoza calmly curled the ball around Cannon at the near post.
The Galaxy are quickly seeing any hopes of remaining in playoff contention slip away. With just 14 points from their fist 17 games, the Galaxy are 12 points out of the eighth and final playoff spot, with a trip to Colorado and the thin air at Dick's Sporting Goods Park next up on Sunday.
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
