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COLUMBUS CREW v LOS ANGELES GALAXY
COLUMBUS CREW STADIUM, Columbus, Ohio
4 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
July 22, 2006 (WEEK 17) / MLS Game #110
The Columbus Crew are looking to pull out of their freefall, their club record winless run now at nine games after losing for the third consecutive game, 2-0 at midweek to the New York Red Bulls. Shutout five times over that stretch, they play host to a Los Angeles Galaxy club that hasn't allowed a goal in more than 8 1/2 hours - also a club record - while going unbeaten over the last five matches after a 10-game winless streak.
REFEREE: Richard Heron. SAR (bench): Craig Lowry; JAR (opposite): Adam Wienckowski; 4th: Elias Bazakos
MLS Career: 38 games; FC/gm: 33.8; Y/gm: 2.7; R: 9; pens: 10
MLS 2006: 1 games; FC/gm: 28.0 (avg: 28.8); Y/gm: 1.0 (avg: 3.44); R: 0 (MLS: 12); pens: 0 (MLS: 20)
Games involving Crew: P10 W1 L5 T4; FC/gm: 33.2; Y/gm: 1.9; R: 1; pens: 1
Games involving Galaxy: P5 W3 L1 T1; FC/gm: 31.8; Y/gm: 3.0; R: 0; pens: 0
INJURY REPORT: COLUMBUS CREW - OUT: GK Jonny Walker (lower back), DF Jed Zayner (L knee ACL); DF Frankie Hejduk (R knee ACL); GK Andy Gruenebaum (R broken hand); GK Jon Busch (R knee ACL); MF Ned Grabavoy (sport hernia); DOUBTFUL: MF Ricardo Virtuoso (groin); DF Rusty Pierce (L hamstring strain); MF Danny Szetela (L foot fracture); FW Joseph Ngwenya (R knee MCL sprain); QUESTIONABLE: FW Jason Garey (R hamstring strain) ... LOS ANGELES GALAXY - OUT: DF Kyle Veris (L knee MCL sprain); FW Cornell Glen (knee injury); QUESTIONABLE: MF Kyle Martino (R ankle sprain)
SUSPENDED: CLB: Jose Retiz (five cautions; through July 23) ... LA: Chris Albright (five cautions; through July 23), Tyrone Marshall (five cautions; through July 23)
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: none
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: CLB: Ritchie Kotschau, Brandon Moss, Joseph Ngwenya ... LA: Herculez Gomez
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
LEAGUE HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (25 meetings): Crew 12 wins (3 shootout), 35 goals ... Galaxy 8 wins (0 shootout), 29 goals ... 5 draws
AT LOS ANGELES: (10 meetings): Crew 6 wins (1 shootout), 20 goals ...Galaxy 1 wins (0 shootout), 12 goals ... 3 draws
This is the second of two meetings between the clubs, the only one set for Crew Stadium.
A year ago, the Crew won the season series, winning the first match between the two on Opening Day at Crew Stadium, then playing to a scoreless draw in the Southland six weeks later. It was the first time since 2001 the Crew won the season series; the teams did split their two meetings in 2002, each winning on home ground.
The Galaxy haven't defeated Columbus in the last five meetings, three Crew victories and two draws. Their last win came April 24, 2004 (2-0).
Coaches record: Sigi Schmid v LA: P1 W1 L0 D0 ... Frank Yallop vs. CLB: P9 W4 L4 D12006 (MLS):
4/22: LA 0, CLB 1 (Martino 90)
In the first meeting on April 22, Sigi Schmid returned to southern California for the first time as coach of the Crew and saw his team come away with a dramatic 1-0 victory.
Just when it looked as if the game would drift to a scoreless draw, Eddie Gaven put a cross into the six-yard box that Kevin Hartman couldn't catch, and Kyle Martino latched onto the ball and drove it past a pair of Galaxy defenders on the line for the winner.
Here's Steve Sampson's team (4-3-2-1): Kevin Hartman - Chris Albright, Ugo Ihemelu, Troy Roberts, Todd Dunivant - Paulo Nagamura (Herculez Gomez 66), Peter Vagenas, Ned Grabavoy (Michael Enfield 89) - Cobi Jones (Josh Gardner 75), Landon Donovan - Cornell Glen. [Substitutes Not Used: Steve Cronin, Brian Dunseth, Marcelo Saragosa, Nathan Sturgis]
Here's Schmid's team (4-4-1-1): Jon Busch - Frankie Hejduk, Marcos Gonzalez (Ritchie Kotschau 55), Chad Marshall, Rusty Pierce - Jacob Thomas (Kyle Martino 41), Brandon Moss, Jose Retiz, Eddie Gaven - Sebastian Rozental - Kei Kamara (Jason Garey 85).[Substitutes Not Used: Knox Cameron, Andy Gruenebaum, Tim Ward, John WolyniecCOLUMBUS CREW
The Columbus Crew saw their club-record winless streak reach nine games, falling 2-0 to the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday evening at Crew Stadium. The Crew fell into sixth place in the Eastern Conference with the loss, now with 18 points from 19 matches, two points behind the three-way tie for third place between the Red Bulls, Kansas City Wizards and Chicago Fire.
LAST MATCH
The Red Bulls came after having put an end to their five-game winless streak in their last game, a 1-0 win against Colorado, while the Crew were riding a club-record eight-game winless streak of their own.
While the Crew had the better of the play in the first half, it was the Red Bulls that opened the scoring five minutes after the restart. Edson Buddle slid an inch-perfect diagonal ball for Chris Henderson to run onto in the left side of the Columbus penalty area, and despite an acute angle, the MLS original knocked the ball between 'keeper Noah Palmer and the post for his 50th career goal.
Then just before the regulation 90 minutes ticked over, a long clearance was headed on by Jean-Philippe Peguero, and rookie Jerrod Laventure latched onto it. Some 30 yards from goal, he volleyed an audacious chip over a backpedaling Palmer for his first professional goal.
Jon Conway recorded a clean sheet for the second consecutive week, the first time since 2003 New York had recorded shutouts in back-to-back games.
Crew head coach Sigi Schmid made four changes to the team that lost 3-2 to D.C. United at RFK Stadium the previous Saturday. Recent signings Marc Burch and Ryan Coiner were given their first MLS starts, while Eric Vasquez also received his first start of the season, and Marcos Gonzalez returned from suspension. Chad Marshall, Leonard Bisaku, Tim Ward and Kei Kamara all returned to the substitutes' bench.
Here's Schmid's team (4-1-3-2): Noah Palmer - Ezra Hendrickson, Marcos Gonzalez, Ritchie Kotschau, Chris Leitch - Jose Retiz - Jacob Thomas (Kei Kamara 68), Eric Vasquez, Marc Burch (Sebastian Rozental 81) - Eddie Gaven, Ryan Coiner (Knox Cameron 62). [Substitutes Not Used: Leonard Bisaku, Bill Gaudette, Chad Marshall, Tim Ward]
"It's the same old song and I'm tired of singing it. We had a great chance at the end of the first half and if we finish that chance then the whole game goes different," Schmid said.TEAM NEWS
It was another disappointing result for the Crew, who controlled the opening 45 minutes, only to go into the halftime interval scoreless - then give up the lead goal five minutes after the restart.
"I thought a lot of things looked positive coming into halftime. We showed a lot more patience with the ball," said Schmid. "We were much better at possessing the ball. We got wide. We created chances. Added Crew captain Ritchie Kotschau: "In the first half, there wasn't much pressure from their top forwards. We were able to move the ball around with ease."
When he was in charge of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Schmid saw his team endure an eight-game winless run. But that was all on the road, to start the 2003 season, while The Home Depot Center was being built.
"For sure it's frustrating for me. It's virgin territory," Schmid said. "For us it's still in critical situations at critical moments when critical decisions need to be made, it seems like we pull the wrong option at the wrong time. I'm not going to stop working. My assistant coaches aren't going to stop working, and I promise that the team's not going to stop working."
The first goal came on a combination between former Crew players Edson Buddle and Chris Henderson - both of whom were dealt before the start of the season to the Red Bulls by Schmid. But neither harbored any resentment.
Just days after both were signed, Schmid gave MLS debuts to Coiner and Burch. Coiner nearly celebrated his first game in Black & Gold with a goal.
"It was disappointing from top to bottom for team and for myself. Individually, I showed some good things but also blundered a good chance," said Coiner. "I think I had a chance to really help the team with the goal, but unfortunately it didn't go in."
Then when the Crew went down a goal, they weren't able to get the equalizer - something that has bothered Schmid.
"There is nobody on the field that says we can get this back," said Schmid. "Even down 1-0, we had plenty of time to get the game back .... To win games, you have to take care of your job. When we go down a goal, guys start thinking that they need to do someone else's job and they forget doing their job. When you go down, it means that you have to do your job even better."LOS ANGELES GALAXY
The Los Angeles Galaxy extended their unbeaten streak to five games and also lengthened their long shutout streak, but couldn't get the better of their in-stadium rivals, playing to a scoreless draw with Chivas USA at The Home Depot Center on Saturday evening. The Galaxy have 19 points from 19 matches, fifth place in the Western Conference, still four points behind Chivas USA and Colorado Rapids and now three points ahead of Real Salt Lake.
LAST MATCH
The Super Clasico had developed into a true rivalry, each team with a victory in their two meetings this season and some added urgency with Chivas USA five points ahead of the Galaxy in the Western Conference.
While there were no goals, it wasn't through lack of trying. Juan Pablo Garcia and Sacha Kljestan each rattled the woodwork for Chivas, and Galaxy 'keeper Kevin Hartman also made a terrific save, getting down to his right to save an angled shot from Garcia.
The draw put an end to the Galaxy's three-game winning streak, though they have now not allowed a goal in their last 512 minutes of play. Chivas have lost just once over the last month, a span of eight games.
Galaxy head coach Frank Yallop made one change to the team that defeated Real Salt Lake 2-0 the weekend before at home. Ugo Ihemelu was out through suspension, so Nathan Sturgis moved into central defense and Paulo Nagamura returned to the team in a central midfield role.
Here's Yallop's team (4-4-2): Kevin Hartman - Chris Albright, Troy Roberts, Tyrone Marshall, Nathan Sturgis - Quavas Kirk (Cobi Jones 55), Paulo Nagamura, Peter Vagenas, Josh Gardner - Landon Donovan, Herculez Gomez. [Substitutes Not Used: Benjamin Benditson, Steve Cronin, Michael Enfield, Alan Gordon, Kyle Martino, John Wolyniec]
"It was probably our worst performance since I've been here. It was kind of a down game for us. We just couldn't quite get it together," said Yallop. "Chivas has a game off last weekend and got beaten 3-1. We had a game off and we tied nil-nil, so that's a positive."
TEAM NEWS
Chivas outshot the Galaxy 10-3, and goalkeeper Kevin Hartman made four saves on the night and saw his goalpost make two more. But even with the lengthy shutout streak that has confidence high defensively, he said there is still a lot of work to be done in Los Angeles.
"As a group we're not necessarily satisfied with how we played. But at the end of the day we didn't allow Chivas to get three points," said the veteran 'keeper. "We were able to keep our shutout streak going. That's what you want to do really when you're not playing your best soccer. We definitely have things we need to work on."
The 512 minutes without allowing a goal is the most in club history, and the Galaxy are now less than two full matches away from the MLS record of 688 minutes set by the Kansas City Wizards in 2000.
"It seems like we're creeping slowly toward Kansas City," Hartman said. "It would be nice to get, but just the fact we're more solid as a unit is something to be proud of. You always want to attain records like those. Guys take a lot of pride, but not necessarily a lot of pride in the way we played [Saturday]."
Yallop also thought his team was suffering from a bit of fatigue, which hampered the buildup play. "I think we've created a ton of stuff wide. [Saturday] we couldn't do that. We need to just pass the ball better," said Yallop. "The midfield wasn't connected with the front two. We were too far away from each other."
In addition, the move of Nate Sturgis to the back four from the center of midfield with the suspension on Ugo Ihemelu - Sturgis had played in the midfield the last three matches - was possibly an effect.
"Having to pull Nate out of the center of midfield, he's been really good in there as of late, he's been able to possess the ball for us," said Hartman. I don't really think we showed the possession in the center of midfield that we sometimes do. Nate has been sharp lately, so I think we miss him in midfield."
The result was yet another example of how things have turned around from the woes over the first three months of the season. "It's good knowing that sometimes you played bad, and you still come out with something, it's a point on the road," Herculez Gomez said. "And defensively we're phenomenal right now."
On Wednesday, the Galaxy and Crystal Palace of England's Coca-Cola Championship played to a 1-1 draw in Richmond, Va. in a match abandoned at halftime because of a fierce thunder and lightning storm. Jon Mackem put Palace ahead after just five minutes, but Paulo Nagamura pulled the Galaxy level in the 28th minute.
Here's Yallop's team: Steve Cronin - Chris Albright, Ugo Ihemelu, Tyrone Marshall, Ben Benditson - Cobi Jones, Paulo Nagamura, Mike Enfield, Kyle Martino - John Wolyniec, Alan Gordon
