Western Conference leaders FC Dallas paid a visit to The Home Depot Center Sunday night to take on the last-place Galaxy. The home side did have one distinct advantage heading into the match however.
Dallas has not won in Los Angeles in nearly six years. The Galaxy's dominance at home against Dallas continued Sunday, as L.A. picked up three crucial points with a 2-0 win.
Landon Donovan and Santino Quaranta both netted goals in the first half, and the defense withstood some pressure by their guests in the second half to stay alive in the playoff hunt.
Galaxy head coach Frank Yallop mixed his lineup a bit, starting Alan Gordon, Nathan Sturgis, Cobi Jones and Quaranta, all changes from his lineup that started the game against the Colorado Rapids last week.
"I feel that the players who started the game were ready to start the game," said Yallop. "I thought Cobi had a good game. I think Quaranta is finding his feet a little bit. We just needed to mix it up a bit."
The changes paid dividends as Gordon's size freed up a lot of space for Donovan to run and be dangerous. Donovan seemed to be mere inches from scoring on several occasions before final knocking home the game's opening goal in the 26th minute.
Quaranta, who scored in first-half stoppage time, has made Yallop and Galaxy General Manager Alexi Lalas look like profits since acquiring him from D.C. United on Aug. 8.
"It's good. I'm very excited to be here," said Quaranta, who has two goals in three games with the Galaxy. "I've done well in the first couple of games so it seems like a good move."
Quaranta said that he is also impressed with his new teammates. Having come from the top team in MLS, Quaranta said that his new team is capable of doing special things, despite the fact that they are currently sitting on the outside of the playoff picture.
"I feel that we have a good core group of players here. Once we're clicking on all cylinders we can be very dangerous," said Quaranta. "This locker room is as good a locker room as I've ever been around. It's phenomenal."
Spirits were high all around in the locker room following the game. Despite losing against Colorado last week, Sunday's win continues a good run of form for the Galaxy.
"It's kind of weird when you look at the run we've been on, it's pretty good. We've only lost one game I think in eight now, and we're still five points out of it," said Yallop. "All we can do is worry about ourselves. We can do what we can do hopefully it's enough points to get into the playoffs."
One major change in the Galaxy's performance came from the offense. The two goals is explosive when compared to the Galaxy's last few league games. Yallop admited that he has let up on the reigns a bit, and is starting to let his playmakers do their thing.
"Now is the time for (the players) to express themselves. Use their imagination is one of the words I used in the meeting today," said Yallop. "You've got to be crafty around the goal and I think that we were. We actually were quite dynamic and created some good chances."
Grit combined with imagination Sunday for the Galaxy in their win. Donovan's goal was a hard fought battle with Greg Vanney followed by a full extension stab at the ball to get it past Dallas 'keeper Dario Sala.
Quaranta's goal showed a player who was willing to look and mix things up, firing from distance to beat Sala.
If the Galaxy can continue to piece together positive performances on both sides of the ball they might just be able to imagine themselves in the playoffs for an attempt at another run to the MLS Cup.
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
