In their short history together, whenever the Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA have faced off, the games have been highly intense and emotionally driven contests. There is usually a mystique hanging in the night air that makes the rivalry one of the most entertaining in MLS.
But in their second meeting of 2007, the game was played in the middle of the day, a lazy Sunday afternoon, and it certainly showed as the Super Clasico was played to a 1-1 draw. Maykel Galindo scored for Chivas USA while Landon Donovan scored for the Galaxy -- both goals really brief spikes of excitement in what was mainly a flat game for both teams.
"I think it's the conditions of a day game. You come out with all this energy and excitement, your buzzing around then all of a sudden you have to catch your second wind," said Tyrone Marshall. "The game kind of got a little lethargic in terms of moving the ball. When it's hot the ball doesn't move as quickly as you want it to. I think we got caught up in that game."
The Galaxy did come out early and control the run of play through the first quarter-hour. Donovan had a great chance to put the Galaxy ahead early, but failed to beat Brad Guzan on a breakaway, and from that point on the game started to grind down.
"Both teams hate each other, so the first 20 minutes of this game was about as intense as there is. You kind of run yourself ragged in the immediate stages of the game," said veteran midfielder Pete Vagenas. "You're not really trying to pace yourself in this game. Both teams want to come out and throw the first punches and get on top early. We left ourselves a little bit empty in the tank."
Neither team really dominated possession and both sides had late chances to nab a game winner and steal the three points. But a different scoreline would not have been indicative of the way the game played itself out.
"I thought (the result) was fair given the situation we were in. I think the first half, we didn't play our best half. They got a goal and it was like 'here we go again,'" said Marshall. "But we stuck in. We came in at halftime and had a good talk. I thought we did good in the second half. We came out from the get-go, which we haven't been doing as of late. We fought for the result today and I think it was a justified result."
Vagenas wasn't as willing to concede the fairness of the result following the game, but did admit the play did go back and forth between the two teams.
"I'll never admit (that a tie is just). I think the first quarter of the game was all us. Up until five minutes before they got their goal we started to lose a bit of our rhythm," said Vagenas. "We had some golden opportunities to set this game the way we wanted it. Usually when you miss those chances it encourages the other team and they made the most of their opportunity. I think we did a good job of coming back but after that point it was a bit of a grind."
One thing the Galaxy did do much better was defend. They conceded just one goal, and the Chivas attack presented only one other legitimate threat on the Galaxy net. Galaxy head coach Frank Yallop pointed to that as one of the few positives he could take away from the game, but also admitted that it came at the expense of his attack.
"I thought we defended better. We limited their chances," said Yallop. "In our last home game we conceded three goals. We talked this week about not conceding goals at the wrong times. What happens is you get in the mode of making sure that doesn't happen.
"It's a fine line. I thought we played probably the best we've played going forward against New England, but we conceded three goals. I'm pulling my hair out right now."
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
