The Los Angeles Galaxy were clearly the better team for much of their Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup play-in game on Tuesday night against the Colorado Rapids, but that didn't prevent the Galaxy from losing 1-0, thanks to a late goal by Conor Casey.
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Los Angeles saw a slew of chances go by the wayside, including two balls that struck the post in the opening half. It's seemed as though Murphy's law dictated that the Galaxy would eventually come up on the short end of Tuesday's game.
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"We talked about that at halftime. That's always in the back of your mind when you're on top of them like that," said Pete Vagenas, who wore the captain's armband for the Galaxy. "We actually said, 'Let's make sure we don't give up something silly.' We've played in a lot of game like that where a team is dominating and ends up losing 1-0; then sure enough."
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Los Angeles head coach Ruud Gullit played as close to his regular starting 11 as he could. He was forced to make three changes due to the international absences of Landon Donovan and David Beckham and a late injury to Alvaro Pires. Other than that, the squad that took the field Tuesday was essentially the first team. It was the loss of Pires that seemed to sting the most, however.
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"It was a pity that Alvaro was injured. I think our main problem today was more in midfield," said Gullit. "We couldn't control [the ball]. Those players that normally sit on the bench, we gave them a chance to show themselves, and they had difficulties today."
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Despite their midfield struggles, the Galaxy managed to create a number of quality scoring chances. Los Angeles was just a half-step too slow at times in the final approach to put the game away.
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"I think we created as many chances as we did all season," said Vagenas. "I think Fish [Carlos Ruiz] would have one-upped David [Beckham] had [his midfield effort] gone in. Edson [Buddle] hit the post a few times. It's a cruel game sometimes. We couldn't put one away. If we had gotten one of those it would have been a great night for everyone."
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A lot will be said about the lack of finishing and how that correlates to Beckham and Donovan not being on the field. Despite the star duo's absence, the Galaxy had every opportunity to win on Tuesday night, but saw the game slip away.
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"Yeah, we lost 1-0 tonight, but we created a lot of opportunities. On another day, those go in and we win this game, no problem," said goalkeeper Steve Cronin, who made a handful of key saves on the night. "Maybe when Landon and David are in, there's that much more quality in the group, but we had enough quality tonight to win the game. I don't think them not being here is an excuse."
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If you can take any silver lining away from tonight's game it is the fact that Los Angeles can concentrate on the league from here on out, rather than having its roster stretched thin by multiple competitions. That, however, is little consolation for Gullit.
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"I would rather have played in the Cup," said Gullit. "The only good thing is if we had won this game, we would have played in Toronto, then on Tuesday again on turf. We have issues with players on turf. For that reason it's okay, but I'm disappointed that we are out.
"We know a lot of teams don't take [the Open Cup] as serious. You saw today, Colorado plays with players that normally don't play. I think it's a shame that we are out."
While there is disappointment in being eliminated early from the Open Cup, there is no time to wallow. Los Angeles will get on a plane Thursday to fly to Toronto for this weekend's league fixture. The good news is that the Galaxy is capable of creating dangerous attacks without their two star players. The question lays in who will get on the end of those chances to score the goals.
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
