The Los Angeles Galaxy closed out a difficult week, conceding another three goals in a loss. Houston Dynamo came to town and walked away with three points as they reclaimed first place in the Western Conference in a 3-1 victory against the Galaxy on Sunday afternoon at The Home Depot Center.
Alan Gordon's first-half strike was canceled out by goals from Ryan Cochrane, Dwayne de Rosario and Ricardo Clark. With the victory, Dynamo officially qualified for the MLS Cup Playoffs, while the Galaxy drew ever closer to being eliminated. They now have 17 points with eight games remaining, 13 points behind eighth-place Chicago; any combination of 11 points won by the Fire or lost by the Galaxy the rest of the rest will officially rule them out.
The lazy Sunday afternoon translated into the play on the field in the first half. Neither team came out with guns blazing and the pace of the game was a mild one at best, as very few scoring chances came from the run of play over the opening 45 minutes.
The first scoring chance fell in favor of the Galaxy. In the ninth minute the Galaxy won a free kick on the left flank. Landon Donovan sent the ball into the area where Gordon had worked himself free from his marker with a clever run to the near post. Gordon was first to the ball, but his flick header missed high of the mark.
One minute later Houston worked one of the prettier sequences in the first half. Corey Ashe burst up the left wing, feeding a pass to Nate Jaqua. Jaqua slipped a diagonal ball in behind the Galaxy back four to Brian Mullan. Mullan played the ball past Joe Cannon and in front of a gaping net, but the Galaxy defense recovered well and Troy Roberts cleared the ball from danger.
Gordon continued to get on the end of things for the Galaxy and in the 19th minute was mixing it up again in the area. This time it was Cobi Jones providing the service after a long run up the left side. Jones crossed the ball to the near post for Gordon, who could only manage to get a toe to the ball, leaving an easy save for Pat Onstad.
Two minutes later Houston opened the scoring from a corner kick. Richard Mulrooney sent in the corner from the left, and on the way in the ball took a slight deflection and bounced inside the six-yard box. Ryan Cochrane beat Gavin Glinton to the ball at the back post and first-timed a shot into the roof of the net.
It only took the Galaxy five minutes to answer, also from a corner kick. Donovan took the corner, and played it right into the middle of the area. Gordon, who had been a menace all half, got on the end of the cross and powered a header past Onstad to even the score.
In the 32nd minute Gordon nearly got a second. Mike Randolph ventured into the attack from his left back position and played a cross into the area. Gordon was inexplicably unmarked and again had a free header, but missed high of the target.
While the final minutes of the first half sailed past without incident, it took Dynamo just seconds into the second half to take the lead.
Literally from the kickoff, Randolph had the ball in the left corner, only to have it poked away by Mullan. As the Houston winger raced past and into the area. Randolph pulled him down and referee Brian Hall pointed to the post. De Rosario stepped up and buried the penalty to reclaim the lead for Houston.
It took some time for the Galaxy to recover but in the 57th minute LA worked a solid counter attack. Chris Klein got things started up the right wing, but the ball eventually wound up on the left side with Kyle Martino. Martino played a ball into the center where Glinton won a header, but his effort went straight at Onstad who made an easy save.
Houston nearly doubled the advantage in the 60th minute. Substitute Brian Ching got loose behind the Galaxy defense and played a ball across the ground to Jaqua. Jaqua got the slightest flick on the ball, pinging his shot off of the inside of the post, but instead of bouncing into the net his shot came back out and into the arms of Joe Cannon.
The Dynamo kept the pressure on and only a brilliant reaction save from Cannon kept them off the board in the 68th minute. Ashe beat Klein off the dribble and played a ball into de Rosario. The Canadian international squirted free from a pair of defenders and shot from seven yards out. Cannon got to ground quickly and surrendered no rebound to keep LA within 2-1.
Houston got the third goal in the 73rd minute. Dynamo worked a series of one touch passes at the top of the LA penalty area, culminating in Ching trying to slip a ball into Ricardo Clark in the return pass of a one-two. The Galaxy looked as though they had everything covered, but both Roberts and Pete Vagenas both pulled up on the play, expecting the other to go for the ball. As Cannon also stayed on his line, it allowed Clark to walk in all alone and tuck the ball home at the near post.
Houston's domination of the second half showed no signs of relenting as the onslaught on Cannon's goal continued. In the 78th minute Houston was pushing forward with numbers again, this time the final pass wound up on Ching's boots. The U.S. international dribbled in and fired and his shot beat Cannon, but missed wide of the net.
For the Galaxy, it was their eighth loss in the last nine league games, and the fifth time in that stretch where they've allowed three or more goals. Three points closer to elimination, things don't get any easier next week for the Galaxy, who have two more matches scheduled next week, one on the road at Real Salt Lake before playing host to FC Dallas.
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
