Landon Donovan had only himself to blame after picking up his fifth yellow card this season in the LA Galaxy's 2-2 draw Wednesday night in Montreal, an error in judgment that will deny him the ability to play in his final California Clasico.
Donovan was booked for dissent in the 44th minute after complaining to referee Hilario Grajeda after Ignacio Piatti gave the Impact a 2-0 advantage. Donovan, who is retiring when the season ends, was unhappy that Grajeda had not called a handball in Montreal's box moments before the goal.
“I'm frustrated at myself,” Donovan told reporters at Stade Saputo. “I should know better, and I should have let it go. It's frustrating when we see a pretty clear hand ball that's not called, and then they go down and score. As a player in a game, it's frustrating, but I should know better, and I should have done a better job letting it go.”
He will sit out Sunday afternoon's clash at San Jose. Making the yellow card even more frustrating was the fact that Donovan was one game away from the league's good-behavior incentive (three consecutive games without a yellow card for a player one yellow card away from suspension). If Donovan had completed the Montreal match without receiving a yellow card, his yellow-card total would, for disciplinary purposes, have been reduced by one, lessening the likelihood of a suspension.
Donovan was also cautioned on June 1, June 28, July 28 and Aug. 27. The one that probably stings the most came in the 1-0 win over the Earthquakes on June 28, where referee Baldomero Toledo showed him a yellow card for time-wasting on a throw-in.
The suspension deprives fans in San Jose, where Donovan played from 2001-04 and won two MLS Cup titles, a chance to see him one last time in the Bay Area.
It also leaves Donovan, who picked up his 132nd career assist against the Impact to move within three of Steve Ralston's MLS record, just six more games to overtake the former Tampa Bay Mutiny/New England Revolution star, now an assistant coach with the Houston Dynamo.
Another yellow card Wednesday night might have been costlier. Right back Dan Gargan, also a former San Jose player, was cautioned for a foul in the 37th minute and also will miss Sunday's game through suspension. The Galaxy are thin at outside back – Gargan was the only fullback on the game-day roster Wednesday capable of playing the full 90, which prodded head coach Bruce Arena to try a three-man backline that did not work well.
Robbie Rogers, who came on at halftime, might be ready for a full game at left back, but James Riley, who was on the bench for the second straight game, has not played a minute since rupturing his meniscus in late March. There has been no word on whether AJ DeLaGarza, on a leave of absence following his infant son's death, will return to LA for Sunday's game.
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“Of course, you're missing another guy from the back, so depends which personnel is ready for the game,” captain Robbie Keane responded when asked on the Galaxy's Time Warner Cable SportsNet post-game show about the suspensions. “Landon is playing on the left, and we've got Ishi [midfielder Stefan Ishizaki] and Baggio [Husidic] who can do that. Gyasi [Zardes] can do that as well; maybe [Alan] Gordon can go up front [in Zardes' usual spot]. We certainly have options, there's no question about that.”
Head coach Bruce Arena took it all in stride.
“We knew we were going to lose Dan at some point anyway,” he said. “Landon, we would have liked to have around for another game. … We'll figure it out. We'll worry about it as we get closer to Sunday.”
