LOS ANGELES GALAXY vs. COLUMBUS CREW
THE HOME DEPOT CENTER, Carson, Calif.
June 21, 2008 | 7:30 p.m. PT (FSN-PT; ONN)
WEEK # 13 | GAME # 91
Their attack in irresistible form recently, the Los Angeles Galaxy return home to take on high fliers in their own right, the Columbus Crew, at The Home Depot Center. With by far the most potent offensive production in the league, the Galaxy have won four of their last five games to move to the top of the Western Conference, scoring 14 goals in that time. The Crew put an end to a long winless and goalless drought in their last match, a 3-0 win at Kansas City, but still second in both the Eastern Conference and MLS overall table.
REFEREE: Mark Geiger. SAR (bench): Darren Clark; JAR (opposite): Emiliano Monje; 4th: Ramon Hernandez MLS Career: 40 games; FC/gm: 31.3; Y/gm: 4.1; R: 7; pens: 15
INJURY REPORT: LOS ANGELES GALAXY - OUT: GK Charles Alamo (R knee surgery); GK Josh Wicks (L knee); DOUBTFUL: MF Peter Vagenas (R quadriceps) ... COLUMBUS CREW - OUT: DF Ezra Hendrickson (L groin strain); MF Stefani Miglioranzi (L quad strain); MF Adam Moffat (L knee ACL tear); MF Eddie Gaven (L ankle sprain)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: LA: Carlos Ruiz (Guatemala, v St. Lucia, June 21)
SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: CLB: Frankie Hejduk
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: LA: Alan Gordon, Brandon McDonald, Greg Vanney ... CLB: Adam Moffat
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (35 meetings): Galaxy 9 wins (0 shootout), 34 goals ... Crew 13 wins (3 shootout), 40 goals ... Ties 6
AT LOS ANGELES (16 meetings): Galaxy 7 wins (0 shootout), 19 goals ... Crew 7 wins (2 shootout), 18 goals ... Ties 2
• This is the first of two meetings between the clubs this season, the only one set for The Home Depot Center. They conclude their season series on Oct. 4 at Crew Stadium.
LAST YEAR (MLS):
6/23: LA 2, CLB 3 (Glinton 66; Buddle 90 - Marshall 15; Grabavoy 58; Moreno 84)
9/30: CLB 1, LA 2 (Moreno 2 - Roberts 13; Martino 16)
• A year ago, the teams split the season series, each winning on their home ground. The Galaxy have not won the season series between the clubs since 2003, when they won two of the three encounters on the year.
• In the Galaxy's 2-1 win in Carson last Sept. 30, it was the first time Sigi Schmid had lost to his former club. In his first three meetings while in charge of the Crew, he had seen his team victorious on each occasion against the club he coached from 1999-2004.
• The Galaxy victory also snapped a seven-match winless run in league play against the Crew. Their last prior victory came on April 24, 2004 at The Home Depot Center, though LA did claim a U.S. Open Cup play-in match in Columbus in April of last year.
• The Crew have not lost on their last four trips to face the Galaxy on Victoria Street. The Black and Gold have won the last two; the two before that both ended in scoreless draws.
• Coaches record: Ruud Gullit v CLB: first game ... Sigi Schmid vs. LA: P4 W3 L1 D0
LOS ANGELES GALAXY
The LA Galaxy won the second California Clasico of the season, rolling past the San Jose Earthquakes 3-0 in Oakland last Saturday evening. With their fourth victory in the last five matches, the Galaxy moved to the top of the Western Conference with 20 points from 12 matches, now leading the Houston Dynamo by three points and FC Dallas by four.
LAST MATCH
• The Earthquakes and Galaxy were meeting in the first California Clasico in northern California in more than two years. The Galaxy were winners of three of their last four, while the Quakes had rebounded to win two of their last three.
• But the visitors were in a rampant mood from the start, and took just six minutes to open the scoring. David Beckham floated a cross from the right flank, Josh Tudela provided a knockdown header and Edson Buddle hammered a full volley inside the left-hand post for the opener.
• After the break, the Galaxy put away the game with two goals in six minutes. In the 63rd minute, Ante Jazic was freed down the left touchline and swung in a pinpoint cross from the corner. Buddle stuck his head in in front of Quakes defender Ryan Cochrane to nod home the second.
• Then in the 68th, Buddle completed his second hat trick of the season. Again it was from a cross, this time provided by Mike Randolph on the left flank, which Buddle clinically finished for his eighth goal on the campaign, all in the last five games.
• Galaxy boss Ruud Gullit made two changes to the team that defeated the Colorado Rapids 3-2 the previous weekend. Alan Gordon was suspended and Peter Vagenas injured, so Ante Jazic was given his first start of the season and Josh Tudela his second in a new-look midfield.
• Here's Gullit's team (4-4-2): Steve Cronin - Chris Klein, Sean Franklin, Abel Xavier, Mike Randolph - David Beckham (Troy Roberts 88), Alvaro Pires, Josh Tudela, Ante Jazic - Ely Allen, Edson Buddle. Substitutes Not Used: Michael Gavin, Vito Higgins, Bryan Jordan, Brandon McDonald, Julian Valentin, Greg Vanney
• "I think we played well tonight. The team performance was good. We trained all week on certain things and we accomplished them tonight," Gullit said. "Because a lot of players that normally don't play were in there tonight, we tried some new schemes for the team and the players that played today did a good job."
TEAM NEWS
• For Buddle, it was his second hat trick after hitting for three in the Galaxy's 5-1 win against FC Dallas on May 18. Before this year, his last hat trick had come for the MetroStars in a win against Real Salt Lake on Aug. 26, 2006. Buddle once scored four goals in a game for Columbus, Sept. 18, 2004 against the MetroStars.
• "We have a lot of quality players on this team and we are capable of playing like this every week. I got some great service tonight and I was able to finish," Buddle said. "I have been working hard in training and just getting a lot of repetitions in. The balls that I get in training and in the game are on time and if I time my runs well I will have opportunities."
• All eight of Buddle's goals have come since he returned to the starting lineup following a one-match absence for the New York game (May 10) due to injury.
• "Edson's finishing tonight showed what a quality player he is and what he can do. Edson is a player that is getting better all the time. He is a hard worker. He proved tonight how good he is and he proves it in training every day. He is scoring goals and creating opportunities. He is a handful to play against," David Beckham said.
• Buddle is now second in the MLS Golden Boot standings to LA teammate Landon Donovan. The 17 goals combined from the pair equaled or better the season output for nine of the league's 13 teams entering the week.
• "Goals come from the whole team, so it is a credit to everyone to have two scorers like that," Gullit said. "I think it was a team effort. We practiced all week on certain things, and of course I'm happy with the development of Edson Buddle. We worked very hard with certain individuals. I think the best example of improvement would be the third goal, how Mike Randolph crossed the ball. We practiced a lot on that."
• While the Galaxy, by far, lead the league in goals scored, their rate recently has been amazing. They have hit for three or more goals in five of their last eight games, including two five-goal outings.
• "We showed togetherness tonight. We were missing quite a few players due to national team duty, as well as suspension and injury, so we came together as a team," Beckham said.
COLUMBUS CREW
The Columbus Crew put an end to their winless and goalless streak, starting off with a couple of quick goals on their way to a 3-0 victory against the Kansas City Wizards on Saturday at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. The Crew have 22 points from 12 matches and come into the week still in second place in the Eastern Conference, four points behind the New England Revolution.
LAST MATCH
• Both teams came in trying to put an end to recent misery. The Wizards were playing their first home game for more than two months, ending a six-game road swing winless in their last five. The Crew had been shutout for a club-record four consecutive matches.
• But it didn't take the visitors long to put an end to their goalless streak. In just the third minute, Chad Marshall rose up in the heart of the Kansas City penalty area to head home a Guillermo Barros Schelotto corner kick, the first Columbus goal in 370 minutes.
• The Crew doubled their lead in the 21st minute. Danny O'Rourke sent a high cross-field ball from the right touchline, and Alejandro Moreno tracked it down outside the left corner of the box. With Kevin Hartman ranging well off his line to try and clear, Moreno hooked a shot back across his body and inside the right post for his first goal since April 26.
• Columbus finished off the match at the three-quarter mark of the contest. Schelotto took a pass from Rogers and chipped it into the area, it falling to the left of goal. Moreno steamed in and hammered a first-time drive inside the near post, past Hartman, for his sixth goal on the campaign.
• Crew head coach Sigi Schmid made four changes to the team that lost 2-0 at home to the San Jose Earthquakes the previous weekend. Danny O'Rourke, Andy Iro and Ryan Junge all came into the back, with Frankie Hejduk on international duty, Ezra Hendrickson out injured and Jed Zayner returning to the substitutes' bench. Duncan Oughton made his first start of the year, in place of the suspended Brian Evans.
• Here's Schmid's team (4-4-1-1): William Hesmer - Danny O'Rourke, Chad Marshall, Andy Iro, Ryan Junge - Emmanuel Ekpo (Cory Elenio 81), Duncan Oughton, Brian Carroll, Robbie Rogers - Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Jason Garey 79) - Alejandro Moreno (Nicolas Hernandez 89). Substitutes Not Used: Andy Gruenebaum, Steven Lenhart, Gino Padula, Jed Zayner
TEAM NEWS
• While Schmid was pleased his team finally found the back of the net for the first time in a league game since May 10, he was more thrilled with a clean sheet kept with a makeshift back four.
• Andy Iro partnered with Chad Marshall in the middle; Junge was at left back while Danny O'Rourke patrolled the right side in the makeshift lineup because Frankie Hejduk is away with the U.S. national team and Ezra Hendrickson, Stefani Miglioranzi and Gino Padula were injured.
• "I thought Chad and Iro were a good combination. They played well in the middle. Ryan, a young player, handled the situation well," Schmid said. Said Will Hesmer: "The guys played great in front of me. We had some new people in there but everyone stayed compact and focused. It was a really good effort all around."
• The early lead and defensive performance also allowed Schmid to give some minutes to players who haven't seen much time. Duncan Oughton played the full 90 minutes and forward Jason Garey played the final 11 minutes in the league season debut for both after stints on the disabled list. Reserve forward Nicolas Hernandez also returned from injury and rookie midfielder Cory Elenio made his pro debut.
• "Jason Garey came on and did well," Schmid said. "It was good to get Nico back on the field, he's been out a while and it was good get Cory into the match. He's a good player."
• Perhaps the best news for the Crew was where they came out of the long winless and scoreless stretch. After going more than four full games without a goal, going more than a month without a victory, they still had the second-best record in MLS.
• "I think we believe in what we're doing a little bit more. I think we're a little more consistent in the way we are playing. We're more organized in the back. The team believes we are capable of getting results whether it is at home or on the road," Moreno said. "It's good to start out the season the way we did. It gave us confidence. We hit a patch there that last month or so but we're back on it with a good result tonight I'm looking forward to next week."
