The San Jose Earthquakes put the finishing touches on their best-ever regular season with a thorough 3-1 thrashing of the in-state rival Los Angeles Galaxy at The Home Depot Center on Saturday.
The victory gives the Quakes an 18-4-10 mark, and their 64 points were plenty good for the MLS Supporters' Shield. Also, the win sets up a rematch next week in Carson as the first-place Quakes play the fourth-place Galaxy in the Western Conference Semifinal Series.
The Quakes were without Wade Barrett, who missed the match with a strained hamstring. Aside from Barrett's absence, coach Dominic Kinnear fielded a full-strength lineup.
Kevin Goldthwaite, who started in Barrett's place, was booked in the ninth minute after dragging down the Galaxy's Herculez Gomez some 40 yards out. Landon Donovan sent a dangerous high-arching free kick but san Jose goalkeeper Pat Onstad plucked it out of mid-air.
Earthquakes forward Alejandro Moreno went down in apparent pain after a rough challenge, but in the 17th minute he was the victim of a harsher attack. Moreno went down near midfield after getting tangled up with Galaxy defender Tyrone Marshall. With Moreno on the pitch, Marshall stepped on Moreno. Referee Jair Marrufo immediately pulled out a red card and sent off the Jamaican international.
The playing field was leveled soon enough. Goldthwaite was booked for the second time after tripping up Gomez on a breakaway near midfield. The red card means Goldthwaite -- like Marshall -- will not be available for the first leg of the Western Conference Semifinals.
After the red card, the Quakes had to shuffle the formation a bit. Mark Chung dropped back to left back at times, leaving Dwayne De Rosario and Ricardo Clark to man the middle.
The beating Moreno took proved too much to handle. Julian Nash came on for Moreno, who hobbled off the field with the help of a trainer, in the 26th minute.
Chung proved to be ever so versatile in the 42nd minute. After a scramble inside the penalty area, the ball squirted to the right side of the field. Brian Mullan pounced on the ball outside the Galaxy's area and sent a curving cross to the far post. Chung, who had been playing deep, walked in virtually unnoticed and sent the ball off the inside of left post with a diving header, much to the chagrin of a stunned Galaxy backline.
De Rosario doubled the lead at the stroke of halftime with a wicked laser beam free kick from 25 yards out. De Rosario ran onto the ball and unleashed a wicked blast to the right of the wall and hooked into the upper corner to cleanly beat Galaxy 'keeper Kevin Hartman. Even The Home Depot Center's sellout crowd marveled at the goal, as the crowd said "Ooooh" almost in unison.
The Quakes withstood the Galaxy's pressure in the second half but the host's perseverance paid off. Chung was whistled for a penalty kick after taking down Galaxy defender Chris Albright inside the penalty area. Donovan converted the spot kick to slice into the Quakes' lead.
With the Galaxy within one goal, the Quakes often dropped nine men behind the ball. The Quakes, who had the league's stingiest defense this season, gave up possession infrequently.
De Rosario nearly completed his double when he broke free on a counterattack and rattled the woodwork from 17 yards out. But Mullan put the Quakes back ahead by two in the 77th minute.
Chung whipped a cross from the left corner of the penalty area. At the far post, Ching headed the ball down in front of the six-yard box. Mullan came charging unmarked toward the ball and blasted a seven-yard bomb into the roof of the goal.
MLSnet.com Man of the Match: Dwayne De Rosario (San Jose Earthquakes)
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
