As the San Jose Earthquakes, they were the Los Angeles Galaxy's fiercest rivals. The club might have moved to Houston, but old memories die hard.
The Galaxy managed to avoid the loss column in the first-ever visit by Houston Dynamo to The Home Depot Center, but both teams also failed to find the back of the net, playing to a scoreless draw Saturday night.
A first half flurry from both teams saw scoring opportunities fall one after another. For the Galaxy, the final pass was usually the issue as crosses made their way to defenders rather than players in Galaxy uniforms. When the Galaxy did manage shots, they were either off target or fired right at Houston 'keeper Pat Onstad.
The pace of the game eventually took its toll and ground down to a drab affair as the second half wore on. Again it was a lack of quality finishing that did in the home side, as the Galaxy managed six shots in the opening 45 minutes, but never really forced Onstad into making any difficult saves.
"The clean sheet was good for us, but when you're at home you want to score a goal," said Galaxy head coach Frank Yallop. "I think in the first half when we had the chances to score, we didn't. I thought we ran out of steam a little bit in the second half."
The Galaxy head coach again praised the effort of his players on the night, but fans were left lamenting more wasted opportunities.
The best chance of the night actually fell in favor of Houston. Brian Ching, who rejoined Dynamo the day before from the U.S. national team and the World Cup in Germany, hit a driven header towards the lower corner of the net from point-blank range in the first half.
Only a diving save from Kevin Hartman kept him off the scoresheet. That save preserved his first clean sheet of the season, and the Galaxy's first shutout as well, and said center back Tyrone Marshall, it also helped to lift the play of his teammates.
"I thought Kevin (Hartman) did well in the first half not to give up any goals. That's a good building block for us," said Marshall. "As defenders we see Kevin getting out there and making some great saves, that in turn helps us to lift our games."
The Galaxy still have yet to put together a complete game. The defense did its part tonight, but the offense once again failed to do its part, getting shut out for the eighth time in 15 games. This is the first time Los Angeles has been blanked under Yallop though, and he views tonight's performance as just a bump in the road.
"In MLS you can't just sort of wave a magic wand and change things. We get in the right positions, but the quality has not been there," said Yallop. "This is the only game we haven't scored since I've been here. We've had some good chances to score in all the games we had."
The Galaxy needs a boost of some sort on the offensive side of the ball, and that boost will suit up next weekend in the form of Landon Donovan. After a disappointing performance in Germany, the Galaxy's star performer should have something to prove, and that is something his teammates are counting on.
"We have players coming in like Landon (Donovan). I'm sure he has a lot to prove," said Herculez Gomez. "He's a true champion. He's going to show everyone he still has it, and I'm here to be a part of that."
The Galaxy did get one World Cup performer back, as Chris Albright was back in green and gold. Albright started at right back, but left early in the second half after finding out that his wife was giving birth to their first child.
After the game Yallop joked that Albright had a pretty good night, referring to his play on the field, and the events unfolding off of it.
It's that kind of positive attitude that has the Galaxy believing that they can turn things around in the Southland sooner rather than later. In fact, according to Gomez, their opponents are already noticing the difference.
"At the end of the game Pat Onstad came at me and he was like 'Hey, a lot better with Frank (Yallop), huh?'" Gomez said. "People respect (Frank) and they know where we're going and that we're going to be a good team. It's a good feeling."
That feeling could get a whole lot better if Donovan can lead the Galaxy offense to increased goal scoring production. The Galaxy is the lowest scoring team in MLS so far this season. Hopefully for the Galaxy, Donovan is the missing link in the Yallop system that will turn things around in Los Angeles before it gets too late.
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
