but in a completely different way -- when Wizards defender Jimmy Conrad was sent off for a second bookable offense 13 minutes from the end. It was Conrad's second game back with the Wizards; in his first, a 3-2 midweek loss to D.C. United, he conceded an own goal to open the scoring.
Then in second-half stoppage time, Donovan completed his double with an easy finish. Quavas Kirk got free on the right flank and raced in unmolested, picking out Donovan at the far post with a rolling pass through the area and Donovan had only to side-foot it into the empty goal.
Here's Gansler's team (4-4-2): Bo Oshoniyi - Matt Groenwald (Jack Jewsbury 65), Jimmy Conrad, Nick Garcia, Jose Burciaga Jr. - Alex Zotinca, Sasha Victorine, Kerry Zavagnin, Davy Arnaud - Scott Sealy (Yura Movsisyan 72), Josh Wolff. [Substitutes Not Used: Will Hesmer, Will John, Shavar Thomas, Tyson Wahl, Lance Watson]
Here's Yallop's team (4-4-2): Kevin Hartman - Chris Albright, Ugo Ihemelu, Tyrone Marshall, Troy Roberts - Quavas Kirk, Nathan Sturgis, Peter Vagenas, Josh Gardner (Marc Burch 83) - Herculez Gomez (John Wolyniec 71), Landon Donovan. [Substitutes Not Used: Benjamin Benditson, Steve Cronin, Michael Enfield, Alan Gordon, Dan Paladini]
LOS ANGELES GALAXY
The Los Angeles Galaxy saw their two-game winning streak come to a sudden end, falling 1-0 to Real Salt Lake on Wednesday evening at Rice-Eccles Stadium. The Galaxy now find themselves all alone at the foot of the Eastern Conference table with 29 points from 25 matches, three behind the tie for fourth place between RSL and the Colorado Rapids.
LAST MATCH
Both Real and the Galaxy came into match needing the full three points if they were to maintain their playoff drive. Real saw their club record four-game winning streak come to a crashing halt in a 6-0 loss to New York in their last game, while the Galaxy won for the third time in four games with a dominant 5-2 win against D.C. United.
Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman had done his part to keep his team in the match, then was victimized in the 60th minute. Jeff Cunningham brought down a cross before rounding Chris Albright and racing to the endline. From a sharp angle he shot -- the ball slipping through Hartman's hands and between his legs before rolling into the goal.
In stoppage time, substitute Atiba Harris was tackled from behind by Tyrone Marshall, and referee Terry Vaughn pointed to the spot. But Hartman dove to his right to turn aside Andy Williams' penalty, though the Galaxy couldn't find an equalizer in the remaining seconds.
Galaxy head coach Frank Yallop made four changes to the team that defeated D.C. United 5-2 at RFK Stadium the previous Saturday evening. Ugo Ihemelu was suspended and Troy Roberts injured, meaning there was a new central defense partnership in Tyrone Marshall - making his first start since July 15 - and Kyle Veris (his first since May 31). Quavas Kirk also came back into the team, in place of Cobi Jones, while Peter Vagenas failed a late fitness test and was replaced by Paulo Nagamura in the center of midfield.
Here's Yallop's team (4-4-2): Kevin Hartman - Chris Albright, Tyrone Marshall, Kyle Veris, Ante Jazic - Quavas Kirk (Cobi Jones 71), Paulo Nagamura, Nathan Sturgis (Herculez Gomez 66), Santino Quaranta (Josh Gardner 56) - Landon Donovan, Alan Gordon. [Substitutes Not Used: Steve Cronin, Michael Enfield, Peter Vagenas]
"Salt Lake edged the game, to be honest. I thought we had a spell the first half and a little spell the second half where we could have got a goal, but we never got to grips with the field. I'm not trying to make excuses, but we never got our game going," Yallop said.
TEAM NEWS
Playing in their second consecutive game in less than a week away from The Home Depot Center, it looked as though the Galaxy used all their energy in their impressive 5-2 result at D.C. United just four days earlier.
"As a team maybe we didn't react well to [the goal] as perhaps we should have," said Hartman. "Sometimes stuff like that happens in soccer and unfortunately you have to get back up on the horse and really push and push. I don't think it was really happening for us tonight. There's 21 points still on the table and that will definitely get us into the playoffs."
Then once they got the opener, Real Salt Lake held on for the victory - something they haven't always been able to do this season.
"They squeaked that goal in, which is what they were looking for, and then they put everybody back and just waited to counter because they knew we were going forward," said Herculez Gomez. "They waited for us and if we didn't capitalize they were coming right back down our throats. It was up and down the last 20 minutes."
Added Yallop: "We didn't play well tonight. The reasons why, I'm not too sure. You've got to give Salt Lake the credit. They came at us and got their goal and they hung on to the lead and got the result."
Two missing pieces from the United victory will likely be unavailable for the Wizards match. Ihemelu will be suspended for the second game of his two-match ban after it was upheld, and Peter Vagenas suffered a strained thigh in training the day before the RSL match.
The Galaxy now face the homestretch of the season where they have five of their final seven games at The Home Depot Center, facing only road trips to Chicago and FC Dallas.
"I didn't play very well," he said. "I'm at my best when I have a lot of energy, like I said, and we just never seemed to get going. That being said, we had enough chances to tie the game. And if we want to be a great team, this is the kind of game we've got to get a point out of, and we didn't."
KANSAS CITY WIZARDS
The Kansas City Wizards retained possession of fourth place in the Eastern Conference, overcoming a late New York Red Bulls advantage before settling for a 2-2 draw on Wednesday evening at Arrowhead Stadium. The Wizards now have 30 points from 26 matches, one ahead of fifth-place New York and just two behind second-place Chicago Fire, though they've played more games than anyone in MLS.
LAST MATCH
The teams came in separated by just a point in the Eastern Conference, with the Wizards having two wins in their last four games after a nine-game winless run, while the Red Bulls were coming off their first league victory with Bruce Arena in charge.
Neither team could hold onto the lead before settling for the share of the points. The Wizards took the lead in the 28th minute when a long ball out of the back was flicked on, and Scott Sealy ran onto it before cruising in alone on Tony Meola, slotting the ball underneath the Red Bulls 'keeper as he came off his line.
But just two minutes later the Red Bulls pulled level through some magic from Amado Guevara. The Honduras international skipped through a Wizards defender and around 'keeper Bo Oshoniyi in close quarters in the area before pulling a pass back for John Wolyniec to gleefully pound into an unguarded goal.
Then eight minutes after the restart -- after a couple of tremendous saves from Oshoniyi -- the visitors pulled ahead. Youri Djorkaeff whipped in a cross from a short corner and Todd Dunivant rose above substitute Tyson Wahl at the back post to head home the go-ahead goal.
Yet the Wizards leveled the score in the 71st minute. Sasha Victorine set Jose Burciaga Jr. free in the left corner, and he pulled back a rolling cross that Josh Wolff turned home from the heart of the area to leave both teams in the same place they were at the start of the night.
Wizards interim head coach Brian Bliss made no changes to the team that defeated FC Dallas 1-0 the Sunday before at home.
Here's Bliss's team (4-2-1-3): Bo Oshoniyi - Matt Groenwald (Alex Zotinca 74), Nick Garcia (Tyson Wahl 11), Shavar Thomas, Jose Burciaga Jr., Kerry Zavagnin, Sasha Victorine - Davy Arnaud - Scott Sealy, Eddie Johnson, Dave van den Bergh (Josh Wolff 54). [Substitutes Not Used: Will Hesmer, Jack Jewsbury, Will John, Ryan Pore]
"You know Saturday-Wednesday is tough enough but when you throw Sunday-Wednesday in there it makes it even that much more difficult and I think our guys showed some fatigue there with some of the mistakes that were being made," Bliss said. "It certainly wasn't out of wanting to make plays but those guys fought and found something extra in the last 20 minutes that enabled them to get the goal. I'm proud of the guys the way they fought and came back. You know at the end of the day we're right where we started the day at you know so it is still in our hands."
TEAM NEWS
Bliss saw his team undergo a sudden change when Nick Garcia was forced off after just 10 minutes with an apparent groin injury.
"Yeah it's always tough when you have to replace a guy like Nicky or any of the guys across the back line," Bliss said. "They've played as a unit pretty well in the last month and I would say Nicky is our guy with the tenacity and the speed and all that back there but give credit to Tyson (Wahl) who comes in cold and did an admirable job and I'm proud of his performance under the circumstances."
That means the first-choice center back pairing of Garcia and Jimmy Conrad will likely both be unavailable for the Galaxy match. "Jimmy (Conrad)'s gone down with the injury that he's got and a lot has been thrown on Shavar's back, and Nick's back for that matter, and both of them I think have responded well. Now Nicky's out for probably at least a weekend, Shavar (Thomas) has got to be that much better and I suspect he will be," Bliss said.
Bliss continued with his three-pronged attack of Sealy, Johnson and van den Bergh with Arnaud playing underneath at the point of a midfield triangle. It was a fifth consecutive game he's used that scheme.
"We've been working on that you know that those guys get closer to one another during the attack meaning Eddie and Scott and then getting the support underneath from Sasha and Davy in order for us to keep the ball up higher up the field," Bliss said. "Scott was able to run off the flick down ball from Eddie and was able to put it away. So that stuff comes when guys play closer to one another as opposed to further apart on the field and that was the result of it."
Then, the equalizer came from the addition of Josh Wolff, who had missed five matches in a row with a hamstring strain. "We sensed the moment of urgency there when we were down a goal," Bliss said. "There is nothing that I can say from the bench or there is nothing anyone else can say from the bench. You insert a player and hope he gives you life. And I thought Josh did give us the life plus the goal."
"There is no secret to what Josh brings to the team. Josh is a very crafty player. And when the three of us are out there together, it's a nightmare for a defender. They have to contend with speed, size and skill," said Sealy: "We missed for him for the past (five games) he has been out," Arnaud said. "He definitely came in and gave us a spark. He dangerous when he gets the ball. He makes things happen. He gets other people into the play. And he got a big goal for us at the end."
The Wizards have just two of their remaining six games against Eastern Conference opponents, one against New England and one against New York (on the final day of the season).
"We've been talking about this game since we got back from that long road trip (to Chicago and Los Angeles)," Bliss said. "Not that we were overlooking Dallas or overlooking any other opponent. But we knew this game was bigger than big. Basically, at the end of the day, we're right where we started."
