DENVER - The Los Angeles Galaxy left Denver with nothing to show for a hard-fought match, ultimately falling 1-0 to their division rivals to remain above only Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference standings.
But they left convinced they were on the brink of turning things around, buoyed by a strong showing despite playing a man down for over 65 minutes following Kyle Martino's 25th minute ejection for violent conduct.
"I always see the positive side of things," head coach Frank Yallop said after the defeat. "I don't get down on people if they give me effort, and I think the guys gave me effort today. You've got to commend them for that. Yes, there is a mental breakdown for the goal. But at some point they were going to get some chances. They took their chances when they came along, and we didn't."
L.A. held Colorado even until the 71st minute, when Terry Cooke chipped a ball in front of the goal from the right side and Herculez Gomez headed it past Joe Cannon for the game's only goal.
"Once again, poor marking in the box shot us in the foot," Galaxy midfielder Ante Jazic said of the play. "We lost a valuable point for the future."
Though L.A. was unable to capitalize on opportunities in front of the goal, it kept the pressure on Colorado and Yallop was pleased with the team's response to playing the bulk of the game a man down.
"It's never easy, especially that early in the match," Yallop said. "It was harsh, and the guys knew that. They responded real well. We had a good chat at halftime to say we can win this game. Let's try and win the game. I think the goal hurt as at the wrong time. We had great chances at the end to equalize, which was tough."
While Jazic lamented the future and Yallop focused on the affirmative, Landon Donovan balanced the two, taking equal parts yin and yang from a well-played game with an unsatisfactory result. His two shots stood beside Nate Jaqua's pair as L.A.'s only shots of the game, but for much of the match the Galaxy held their own under challenging circumstances.
"I was really happy," Donovan said of the team's play after losing Martino. "It sucks to give up the goal, to be honest, because I thought we deserved better than that. I was proud of our effort, but it sucks that one play cost us at least a point here."
The Galaxy tightened their game up with the loss of Martino, but they didn't back off from playing aggressively, determined to make the most of an opportunity that seemed within their grasp at least until Gomez's goal.
"It's a big field, so we wanted to make sure that we stayed as compact as possible, and I thought we did a really good job," said Donovan. "While I'm disappointed that we lost, I have to commend our effort. We played well and probably had equal chances until their goal and better chances after their goal. A man down and we're away from home, but it still hurts to lose."
Though the team seemed to tire as the game went on, suffering from the high altitude and the league's biggest pitch, Yallop thought the size of the field may have played to the Galaxy's advantage.
"It might have helped us a little bit," Yallop said. "They weren't around the goal much. I think they were trying to get breakaways, but we never really got those clearcut chances until Gomez scored the goal. The field wasn't too bad for us. We created some stuff wide with some balls in and didn't finish them."
The loss kept L.A. a point ahead of celler-dwelling Real Salt Lake, who take on Chicago Sunday in a bid to climb past the Galaxy.
Owen Perkins is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
