Maykel Galindo scored two goals and Francisco Mendoza scored his first goal of the season as Chivas USA beat a David Beckham-led Los Angeles Galaxy 3-0 before a sellout crowd of 27,000 at The Home Depot Center on Thursday. The win is just Chivas USA's second against the Galaxy in three years' worth of Super Clasicos.
While the Galaxy trotted out one of their returning two internationals to start the match, Chivas USA took a cautious approach with their international. Jonathan Bornstein, who played 64 minutes for the United States national team on Wednesday in Goteborg, did not start. He was in uniform and took a seat on the bench, though.
The Galaxy's David Beckham started, though. Beckham played 90 minutes for England on Wednesday in London but started the match and played the entire contest despite logging plenty of minutes and air miles over the previous 30 hours. Landon Donovan, meanwhile, was also in uniform and on the bench. Like Bornstein, Donovan played 64 minutes for the U.S.
Still, Chivas USA's potent strike force of Ante Razov and Maykel Galindo were as dangerous as ever. Just 10 minutes in, Razov had the club's first dangerous scoring chance of the night when he trapped a bouncing ball and hit a 20-yard shot on frame. However, he was forced to hit it with his right foot and the ball sailed right at Galaxy goalkeeper Joe Cannon.
A minute later, Chivas defender Claudio Suarez had a free header inside the box moments after a corner kick but Suarez's shot was off target.
The Galaxy did little to generate offense for long stretches of the game but held Chivas in their defensive third. Toward the half-hour mark, though, Chivas started penetrating the Galaxy's backline.
In the 26th minute, Sacha Kljestan took a nifty pass from Galindo and ripped a shot on goal but Cannon turned him away. Three minutes later, Kljestan returned the favor as he found a hard-charging Galindo in the middle of the field. With a pair of Galaxy defenders draped on his back, Galindo slipped a shot on goal from inside the penalty area but Cannon was in good position and turned Galindo away.
Chivas won a corner kick in the 31st minute. Kljestan sent the ball inside the box and the ball bounced out to Suarez who slipped a shot on goal from outside the six-yard box, but Cannon again pounced on the shot and knocked it clear.
One minute later, Abel Xavier hit Mendoza in the ankle from behind inside the penalty area. No penalty was called but Mendoza writhed around on the field in apparent pain. Team trainers rushed out to Mendoza and he walked around gingerly before jogging back out on the field more than one minute after he fell to the ground.
After a tame early stretch, the Super Clasico was finally showing its passion. In the 41st minute, Lawson Vaughn was booked after knocking Beckham down from behind, but it was not until stoppage time that a hard challenge on Beckham created a fracas between the two sides.
In injury time, Jesse Marsch slid and kicked Beckham in the hip from behind and knocked him down. Incensed, Beckham sprung right back up charged toward Marsch, who was then immediately surrounded by three Galaxy players. The two exchanged words and soon after the two players barked at each other most players from both sides charged in.
Galaxy midfielder Kevin Harmse threw a punch at Alex Zotinca's direction, and Zotinca responded with a head-butt to Harmse's face. Harmse fell to the ground and more pushing and shoving ensued. After the dust settled, Marsch received a yellow card while Harmse and Zotinca were each sent off.
With each side down a man, it was Chivas who struck first after the break as the Red-and-White benefited from a Galaxy defensive mistake. Kyle Veris fanned on a clearance attempt just outside the penalty area. The ball fell to Galindo, who looked up and saw Cannon well off his line. Galindo easily slipped the ball past Cannon and the ball rolled gently into the back of the net.
For Galindo, it was his team-high ninth goal and his second against the Galaxy this season. After the goal, Chivas coach Preki took Razov out and replaced him with Paulo Nagamura.
The Galaxy tried to counter with a substitution as Galaxy coach Frank Yallop took out Cobi Jones and brought on Donovan. The move gave the Galaxy another creative player to try and counter the goal but the move did not pay off immediately. Instead, it created more space in the back as the Galaxy pushed forward in search of the equalizer.
Chivas took advantage. Kljestan sprung a Chivas counterattack finding Mendoza on the left flank. With one smooth touch, Mendoza slipped a pass back to the center towards Galindo, who beat Cannon again to give Chivas a 2-0 lead.
Preki continued his substitutions after the goal. He took Galindo out in the 72nd minute and inserted Ramon Nunez and replaced Suarez with Jason Hernandez five minutes later.
Nunez was dangerous from the time he came on and knifed through the Galaxy defense to within yards of the goal. Nunez, though, was at a bad angle and could not beat Cannon from a few yards out.
In the 88th minute, Mendoza scored what will surely be a memorable goal for him. One of three remaining players from the 2005 inaugural season, Mendoza scored his first goal against the Galaxy when he finished off another Chivas counterattack with a cool finish from inside the area.
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
