The LA Galaxy are back at home this week following their 2-2 draw at Real Salt Lake. Ruud Gullit's club will look to extend their unbeaten streak to four when they host the New York Red Bulls on Saturday, May 10 at The Home Depot Center. This match, which is presented by Infinity Insurance, kicks off at 7:30 p.m., with the first 4,000 fans in attendance receiving the second of three Galaxy Collector's Series T-Shirts. Fans who cannot make it out to the stadium can watch the game live on FSN West (starting with the 'Galaxy Live' pregame show at 7 p.m.) and HDNet. KTLK 1150 AM and KWKW 1330 ESPN Deportes Radio will also carry the match live beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Galaxy Injury Report
OUT
- Charles Alamo (R-Knee Surgery)
DOUBTFUL
- Ely Allen (R-Hamstring), Edson Buddle (R-Hamstring), Alvaro Pires (L-Knee), Carlos Ruiz (R-Knee Surgery), Peter Vagenas (R-Quad)
QUESTIONABLE
- Ante Jazic (R-Ankle Surgery), Abel Xavier (L-Knee)
PROBABLE
- None
Buddle and Vagenas each suffered injuries this past weekend and will visit with the club's doctors on Monday.
Jazic and Xavier each missed the game in Salt Lake but are expected to train all week.
Allen, Pires and Ruiz will all continue their strengthening exercises while also increasing the intensity of their running, as well as the agility and lateral movement exercises that they have been doing with Chris Neville
Alamo continues on the second phase of his rehabilitation process after increasing his strengthening program and starting to work on the elliptical last week.
The Week That Was...
LA Galaxy
Saturday, May 3; Galaxy 2 - Real Salt Lake 2
David Beckham recorded the first multi-goal game of his MLS career as he scored twice in four minutes late in the first half to erase a two-goal deficit and earn LA a point at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Despite allowing a pair of early goals, Steve Cronin kept the Galaxy in the game with five saves, tying a career-high and improving the Galaxy's record to 2-2-2 on the season, leaving them in third place in the Western Conference with eight points.
LA Galaxy Reserves
Sunday, May 4; Galaxy 2 - Real Salt Lake 5
The Galaxy Reserves dropped their third straight on Sunday, falling 5-2 to Real Salt Lake in Park City, Utah. The Galaxy fell behind 4-0 at halftime before Bryan Jordan scored his team-best third goal of the season and Josh Tudela added his first of the season. LA's record now stands at 0-3-1. They are back in action on June 8 when they host the Colorado Rapids.
Galaxy In The Community
Players: Edson Buddle, Steve Cronin, Ante Jazic, Mike Randolph and Carlos Ruiz
What: Players will help run drills and sign autographs for participants at the clinic.
When: Tuesday, May 6; 4:30-6 p.m.
Where: The Home Depot Center; Field #5
Players: Michael Gavin, Brandon McDonald, Alvaro Pires, Julian Valentin and Josh Wicks
What: Players will assist coaches in running a clinic for the Long Beach Youth Soccer Organization while also signing autographs for the participants.
When: Tuesday, May 6; 6-7:30 p.m.
Where: Heartwell Park; 5801 E. Parkcrest Street; Long Beach, Calif.
Players: Joe Franchino, Sean Franklin, Alan Gordon, Troy Roberts and Josh Tudela
What: Galaxy players will assist coaches from the AYSO 106 in running a soccer clinic while also signing autographs for the participants.
When: Tuesday, May 6; 6-30-8 p.m.
Where: The Home Depot Center; Field #5
Players: Charles Alamo, Ely Allen, Vito Higgins, Bryan Jordan and Israel Sesay
What: Players will help to run a soccer clinic for the Carlsbad Wave Football Club while also signing autographs and posing for pictures with the participants.
When: Tuesday, May 6; 6-30-8 p.m.
Where: Pine Avenue Park; 3205 Harding Street; Carlsbad, Calif.
Players: Mike Randolph and Player TBD
What: Players will sign autographs and pose for pictures with the Conservation Corps of Long Beach
When: Thursday, May 8; 4:30-5:30 p.m.
Where: Dooley Elementary; 5075 Long Beach Blvd; Long Beach, Calif.
Galaxy Team Notes
BECKHAM NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Following his two goal performance against Real Salt Lake, Galaxy midfielder David Beckham has been named the MLS Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters. Beckham had the first multi-goal game of his MLS career, scoring from 25 yards out in the 36th minute before beating RSL goalkeeper Nick Rimando with a freekick from 30 yards out to earn LA a 2-2 draw at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
It is the second time this season that Beckham has been named the Player of the Week after earlier capturing the award in Week 2 following a 2-0 win over San Jose in which he scored once and set up another. This is the fourth time this season and the third straight week that a Galaxy player has been named Player of the Week, with Landon Donovan winning the award each of the last two weeks.
BECKHAM UP FOR GOAL OF THE WEEK... TWICE: David Beckham has been nominated for the Sierra Mist MLS Goal of the Week this week as each of his goals from the 2-2 draw at Real Salt Lake have been nominated for the award. Beckham finished second in the voting after his first goal of the season and is now looking to win the award for the first time in his career. Along with his two goals, tallies from Fabian Espindola, Chris Rolfe and Dave van den Bergh have also been nominated for the award.
A COUPLE OF LEAGUE LEADERS: Despite seeing his four-game goal scoring streak come to an end, Landon Donovan still leads MLS in goals scored with eight, four more than any other player in MLS this season and matching his output for the 2007 MLS season. He is joined at the top of the leaderboard with David Beckham who scored twice but saw his streak of two straight games with an assist come to an end. He is currently tied with Guillermo Barros Schelotto and Javier Morales for the MLS lead with four assists.
STAT OF THE WEEK: Of the players who rank in the top six in shots this season in MLS, only the Galaxy's Landon Donovan has placed more than half of those shots on goal. Donovan's 20 shots this season are the third most while his 16 shots on goal are the most in MLS.
Here is a look at the top six players in terms of shots this season in MLS and the percentage of shots that they have placed on goal.
PLAYER (TEAM) |
SHOTS |
SHOTS ON GOAL |
PERCENTAGE |
|---|---|---|---|
Dwayne DeRosario (HOU) |
23 |
9 |
39.1% |
Robbie Rogers (CLB) |
23 |
11 |
47.8% |
Landon Donovan (LA) |
20 |
16 |
80% |
Claudio Lopez (KC) |
20 |
7 |
35% |
Luciano Emilio (DC) |
16 |
8 |
50% |
Kei Kamara (SJ) |
16 |
7 |
43.8% |
LOOKING AT THE OPPOSITION: The New York Red Bulls head into this weekend's match with a 2-1-2 record, leaving them alone in sixth place in the Eastern Conference. They earned a 1-1 draw in Toronto last week as Dave van den Bergh scored his second goal of the season. The draw marked New York's first point of the season away from Giants Stadium as the Red Bulls now have a 0-1-1 record on the road.
The two sides met twice last season, with New York earning a 5-4 win in a thrilling match at Giants Stadium in August and sharing the points with a 1-1 draw at The Home Depot Center in the Galaxy's regular season home finale. The Galaxy did earn a win over New York in a U.S. Open Cup Play-In Game last year, winning 3-1 in extra time at The Home Depot Center.
All-time the Galaxy are 12-13-4 against New York, making them the one of three clubs that the Galaxy do not having a winning record against in MLS history.
GALAXY HOST NOTHING BUT NETS CHALLENGE: Nothing But Nets is a grassroots campaign to save lives by preventing malaria, a leading killer of children in Africa, by providing an anti-malaria bed net for a child in Africa. Join Galaxy Nothing But Nets Ambassadors Chris Klein and Carlos Ruiz and the Galaxy Foundation by making a $10 contribution to buy one bed net for a child. Fans may visit the Galaxy Foundation booth on the Southwest Concourse at The Home Depot Center on May 10 or May 24 to make a $10 contribution or contribute online at http://www.nothingbutnets.net/mlsworks.
BRITWEEK COMES TO THE HOME DEPOT CENTER: The Galaxy will help celebrate BritWeek 2008 on Saturday night when they host the New York Red Bulls. Prior to the game, the Galaxy will host a "Showbiz" soccer game featuring a number of top stars from the worlds of sport, film, music and television. For a complete list of the celebrities who are scheduled to participate in the match, visit www.britweek.com or www.lagalaxy.com. There will also be a pair of British bands, I-94 and Delta Fiasco, performing at the stadium as well as a wide array of food and drink specials that are catered to the typical British palette
COPA LA RETURNS: Registration is now open for the seventh annual Copa LA, which will be held on May 24-26 at the San Bernardino Soccer Complex. Teams in all age brackets from 1999 to 1989 (boys) and 1993 and 1989 (girls) can register now for what is annually one of the top youth soccer tournaments in Southern California. Registration is open now at www.lagalaxy.com costs just $250 per teams and all participants receive ticket deals for future Galaxy games and the chance to play against some of the top teams in this region, as well as the opportunity to play in front of Galaxy scouts and select members of the current Galaxy team.
For more information about this tournament or how to register, please contact Blane Shepard by phone at (310) 630-2227 or email bshepard@lagaalxy.com.
DON'T MISS GALAXY DEPORTIVO EVERY WEEKEND: Galaxy Deportivo, the Galaxy's official weekly half hour show, is back for another year and can now be seen every weekend on two different stations. The show will first air on KWHY-22 every Saturday night at 6 p.m. with a series of features and interviews that provide insight into the weekend's game. Then on Sunday morning, Galaxy Deportivo will air again, this time on Telemundo-52 with the same in depth access, as well as highlights from Saturday night's match.
For the third straight year, Alejandro Navarro and Elmer Polanco will serve as hosts for the show, giving viewers an unprecedented level of access and insight to the 2008 Galaxy team.
PURO GALAXY HITS ESPN DEPORTES RADIO: ESPN Deportes Radio KWKW 1330 AM, the Galaxy's official Spanish language radio partner, is the place for all of your Galaxy news and information. The best place to get that information is on Puro Galaxy, the network's weekly, hour-long show that can tell you all you need to know and more about the Galaxy, airs every Saturday from 2-3 p.m., just in time to get you ready for the Galaxy's game on the weekend.
Rolando Gonzalez, who serves as the play-by-play voice of the Galaxy on broadcasts on KWKW, is the host of Puro Galaxy, and he will be joined by his fellow broadcasters and a series of special guests. So tune in each and every week and stay up to date with everything that is going on in the Galaxy.
