LOS ANGELES GALAXY 5, CHIVAS USA 2
LA GALAXY HEAD COACH RUUD GULLIT
On the match:
"I think that it was a great match to watch for the crowd. For me, it was a match that you have a lot of ups and downs. Our team started out really, really good in the first half. I think it was good that we got the yellow cards immediately, so our midfielders had a little bit of the feeling that they couldn't really challenge. I do think they were yellow cards, by the way. We scored some good goals. The sloppiness helped Chivas into the game. The first Chivas goal was because we were ball watching. Somebody on our right side was all by himself, and everyone was looking at the ball. And he finished it well. It was a good goal. The second one again he scored a good goal. We have a moment that someone didn't clear the ball well. It's easy to clear it. It gave them again that opportunity to get into the game. We needed some strengthen up top. Edson (Buddle) did well; he worked really hard. He did his job. I think Gordon did an excellent job in the game. I think it changed the game a bit. We were still in the game, but with his strengths and with his goals and assists. It was an excellent game. It you saw the game, we deserved to win. We played some excellent football."
On the players:
"I think Landon is in great shape. People say that the only he is the only one that scores goal, but today it was Gordo also. I think Landon is excellent, but I think that our best player is in the last couple of weeks is Sean Franklin. I think again he played an excellent game. If you see how he goes into midfield and gives long balls to David (Beckham) all the time. I think he's made a huge progress. That makes me happy. Of course to see, the stars like David and Landon do what they need to - I'm happy for them. Landon's shape is incredible. But I also have to mention the other players. I think Sean Franklin has been the best player today."
On the derby:
"I think it was great. It was electric. There were ups and downs with the fans in the sense of we scored, they scored, we scored, they scored. All the ingredients that we should have had. Normally it's usually really tight. Now Gordo came on, we all of a sudden were scoring goals. We very easily found more gaps behind them, and it changed the whole game. 5-2 is a great score, but normally it doesn't happen in a derby."
LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER DAVID BECKHAM
On the game:
"Very good performance. Very good team performance against a very good team. They are always a tough team to play against. They play very good football and have some really good players. We started up the game well, unlike the last game where we started off slowly. We got in front, and they got one back - it was a great goal. Then we went ahead and they got one back, but then we took over we the goals that we got, and after that there was no stopping us. We're happy to win the game. It was a good night for us."
On Landon Donovan:
"Scoring goals. That's what we need him to do. That's what we need all of our goal scorers to do. He's a special player, Landon is. He's a player that given the chance, he'll score a goal, and he proved tonight that he's not just all about goal scoring in the box. He can do outside the box as well with the goals he scored tonight. When we've got a player like we have in the form that he's in, it helps the team. It gives the team confidence. At the moment, he's scored some great goals."
On his partnership with Landon:
"I think its nice for both of us to be in the position we are in. Like Landon said, I take pressure off him, and he takes the pressure off me. He's scoring some great goals and goals that are winning us games. I can do my job; I can do my assists, and that's what I do. Scoring goals is the important part and Landon is doing that. I'm sure we are going to come up against teams that will be two men marking us at games. Either two men on me or on Landon. We'll come up against that, and that's when other players are going to come into it, but you saw tonight when Alan Gordon came in. It's not just about the 11 players; it's about the squad players, as well. Alan Gordon came on and produced the goals and put some fire back into the team. That's what's in important."
LA GALAXY MIDFIELDER JOE FRANCHINO
On the win:
"It feels great. The second half was fun. It felt like old times. The atmosphere was good. Everything is great right now."
On playing 90 minutes:
"It was great getting in there for 90 minutes. We gave up two goals that we can work on, but overall we have to look at positive. We scored five goals, which is great. Great win."
CHIVAS USA HEAD COACH PREKI
On the game as a whole:
"It was a weird game from the get-go. Scrappy game, both teams were trying to find the edge on the other team. Obviously the sharpness in front of our goal hasn't been the best. It's not one guy, the whole team was making mistakes and we got punished by them. That's the name of the game -- sometimes you don't play well, sometimes you play well, sometimes you play well and get nothing, sometimes you make mistakes and get punished for them. Tonight we made mistakes and we got punished."
On the Galaxy celebrating in front of the Chivas USA bench:
"That was absolute crap, because that shows a lot of disrespect. That's the second time it's happened in two weeks with Landon; last week against Houston, today, twice in front of our bench. I don't appreciate that, we don't appreciate that as a club, because that shows a lot of disrespect. But that's life."
CHIVAS USA MIDFIELDER JESSE MARSCH:
On the team's recent results:
"We've got to get this thing going in the right direction. For whatever reason, right now we're not getting it going, we're not getting any breaks, we're winding up down in almost every game we play and it's tough to play from behind."
On Landon Donovan's performance:
"He's sharp right now. We were too wide open; when we'd lose balls he was just running like crazy at us. He's a good player and we didn't deal well with him tonight as a group. He made a lot of plays."
On if emotions got the better of the team:
"Some of our emotion kept us in the game when we were down. We kept clawing back, and in that way I thought our team put a lot into it and tried to stick to the game. In the end it just caught up with us. It was a very emotional game and a very emotional loss."
CHIVAS USA MIDFIELDER SACHA KLJESTAN:
On if the loss hurts more because it's the Galaxy:
"To give up five goals is tough whoever we're playing. It's one of the hardest games I've been a part of, to just be demoralized out on the field. Every time they scored we'd come back, they scored again, we came back, and then three unanswered."
On what the team takes out of the match:
"I don't know if we can take much good out of tonight. Obviously we possessed the ball well, we hit it on the goal, but we're not sharp enough around the goal yet. Defensively we're not tight enough."
On if the changing lineup has an effect:
"I think that has a little to do with it. When we went on our big run last year we had the same starting 11 for a lot of the time. It's been tough not having Ante in there, somebody who keeps the ball real well for us up front. It's tough, I don't think we're 100 percent fit yet. We have a lot of guys that aren't match fit yet and that hurts us."
