for the visitors. In the 25th minute, a terrific ball from Brandon McDonald from the center circle freed Chris Klein all alone down the right flank, and he finished with aplomb for the opener.
• Edson Buddle started his goal-scoring bonanza six minutes later. Taking the ball outside the area, he raced forward, powered through a trio of FCD defenders and lashed a left-footed shot home.
• The score was 3-0 in the 34th minute when Duilio Davino deflected a Landon Donovan cross from the left side into his own goal, then five minutes later, Davino popped up a corner kick clearance in the goal area and Buddle came in to poke it home from close range.
• FC Dallas pulled a goal back after the break when Kenny Cooper stood up his defender on the left and popped in a cross from Dominic Oduro to head home for his first goal on the campaign. But 10 minutes after FCD were left a man down when Adrian Serioux was sent off for a hard tackle on David Beckham, Buddle completed his hat trick when he headed home a classic Beckham outswinging early cross from the right flank.
• Then on July 27, FC Dallas gave Schellas Hyndman his first league victory as head coach in impressive fashion, rolling to a 4-0 victory at Pizza Hut Park.
• It didn't take long for Kenny Cooper to show the first meeting was in the minds of the FCD players, with two goals in three minutes.
• First, in the 15th minute, he cut across the top of the area from the right before lashing a low drive that took a slight deflection before sailing inside the near post. Then in the 17th minute, he dispossessed a defender before playing a one-two with Dominic Oduro, side-footing home a terrific strike from outside the area.
• Oduro made the lead 3-0 in the 36th minute. Arturo Alvarez split the Galaxy defense with a pass from the center circle and Oduro raced in alone on goal, rounding Galaxy 'keeper Steve Cronin in the box before tucking home the ball from a tight angle. Abe Thompson completed the rout in the 89th minute, curling home a wonderful long-range strike into the upper right corner.
• Here's Hyndman's team (4-4-2): Dario Sala - Drew Moor, Duilio Davino, Aaron Pitchkolan, Adrian Serioux - Andre Rocha (Michael Dello-Russo 66), Eric Avila, Pablo Ricchetti, Arturo Alvarez (Chase Wileman 75) - Kenny Cooper, Dominic Oduro (Abe Thompson 72). Substitutes Not Used: Ricardinho, Mike Graczyk, Bobby Rhine, Blake Wagner
• Here's Ruud Gullit's team (4-4-2): Steve Cronin - Chris Klein, Eduardo Dominguez, Greg Vanney (Alan Gordon 80), Ante Jazic - David Beckham, Alvaro Pires (Sean Franklin 46), Peter Vagenas, Landon Donovan - Edson Buddle, Carlos Ruiz. Substitutes Not Used: Ely Allen, Mike Randolph, Josh Tudela, Josh Wicks
LOS ANGELES GALAXY
The Los Angeles Galaxy were eliminated from playoff contention for the third consecutive season, the Houston Dynamo scoring three goals in the opening quarter of the match for a 3-0 win on Saturday evening at Robertson Stadium. The Galaxy have 32 points from 29 matches, sitting in sixth place in the Western Conference.
LAST MATCH
• The Dynamo had extended their league unbeaten streak to seven games after two goals from Stuart Holden, the second in stoppage time, gave them a 2-1 win against San Jose at midweek. The Galaxy were coming off a second win since mid-June, which followed back-to-back losses.
• The game was put away with a three-goal blitz in a 10-minute span very early on. In the 14th minute, Nate Jaqua's cross from the right flank was aimed for Brian Ching, but deflected off LA's Bryan Jordan into his own goal.
• Then in the 20th minute, Jaqua again latched onto a ball on the right and sent into the box. It caromed between a trio of Galaxy defenders before Dwayne De Rosario charged through the group and poked home, his sixth goal on the season and the 50th of his MLS league career.
• And three minutes later, the Dynamo rounded off the match. A long ball from Bobby Boswell was flicked on by Nate Jaqua and Ching raced onto it behind the Galaxy defense, slotting home under the left hand of goalkeeper Josh Saunders for his 13th goal.
• Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena made two changes to the team that defeated the Colorado Rapids 3-2 at The Home Depot Center. Brandon McDonald came in for Peter Vagenas in the midfield and Landon Donovan replaced Alan Gordon at forward.
• Here's Arena's team (4-4-2): Josh Saunders - Chris Klein, Sean Franklin, Troy Roberts, Greg Vanney (Mike Randolph 46) - Bryan Jordan (Alan Gordon 40), Joe Franchino, Brandon McDonald (Alvaro Pires 79), Eddie Lewis - Landon Donovan, Edson Buddle. Substitutes Not Used: Ely Allen, Ante Jazic, Julian Valentin, Josh Wicks
• "There were segments in the first half where we were just physically manhandled," Arena said. "It wasn't as much about the soccer as it was about running harder, competing better. ... They were more alert, more physical, more aggressive."
TEAM NEWS
• The Galaxy were once again hit by a blitz of goals, and have now gone 17 games without keeping a clean sheet. They have allowed just a single goal on just three occasions in that span dating back to the 3-0 win at San Jose on June 14.
• "At least since I've been here, it seems like in every game within 15 minutes, the other team has two or three or four chances," Eddie Lewis said. "Whether the other team scores or not is different every game, but the amount of chances that we allow early on in games, is almost suicidal."
• The Galaxy had their chances after the three-goal outburst, but were not able to break through the Dynamo defense and suffered a second offensive shutout in three games, and fourth since Arena took over.
• "The second half was good," Arena said. "However, I'm not foolish enough to not understand it was 3-0 at halftime, and that takes a step out of the Houston team because they understand what the score is, as well. I think our guys certainly had a better performance in the second half, but that's not enough."
• After being the only team in MLS history to reach the playoffs in the first 10 seasons of league history, the Galaxy have now gone three years without a postseason appearance. Just once has a club gone four consecutive years without reaching the playoffs - San Jose from 1997-2000; the Galaxy are the fourth team to fail to make it three years running (DC, 2000-02; CLB, 2005-07; RSL, 2006-08)
• "It's tough," said forward Landon Donovan. "We were hopeful that we would have been more competitive tonight, under the circumstances, but things didn't go our way. We didn't compete well in the first part of the game. In the second half of the game, we needed to have some bounces go our way that didn't go our way, and that was it."
• Heading into the season finale, Landon Donovan can win the Golden Boot, and with a goal will become the first player in league history to record 20 goals and 10 assists in a single season - which, in most years, would all but secure a Most Valuable Player award as well.
• "(The team's performance) probably does matter, but I can't worry about that. I don't want to be in the conversation, I want to win (MVP)," said Donovan. "In my mind, up to now, I think I've done enough. I've done what I wanted to do this year and I'm proud of that."
FC DALLAS
FC Dallas were eliminated from playoff contention, Real Salt Lake coming from behind for their first-ever victory at Rio Tinto Stadium, a 3-1 win last Saturday. FCD has 35 points from 29 games, four points behind RSL for third place in the Western Conference with one match left to play.
LAST MATCH
• Real Salt Lake were playing their second game in their new Sandy home, after a draw with the New York Red Bulls in the grand opening was their second in a row. FC Dallas needed to win to stay in the playoff chase, with two wins and three draws in their last five games.
• The visitors got off to the best possible start. A long throw-in from Adrian Serioux on the right touchline found Marcelo Saragosa in the area, and his sharp header bounced up off Nick Rimando's hands and into the roof of the goal for the seventh-minute opener.
• But the game took a real turn on the half-hour, when Saragosa was sent off by referee Kevin Stott after receiving a second booking in a nine-minute span.
• It took RSL just five minutes to take advantage. Javier Morales crossed to Yura Movsisyan at the left side of the area, and he spun around a defender before lashing home a drive that beat FCD 'keeper Dario Sala inside the far post for the equalizer.
• Real then took the lead eight minutes after the second-half restart. Taking a short centering pass, Will Johnson popped the ball up and hammered a stunning full volley on the turn inside the left-hand post for his second goal.
• Then with four minutes left, RSL put the game away. Robbie Findley took a pass on the left, cut inside an FCD defender at the top of the area and curled a masterful shot inside the right-hand post to seal FCD's fate for the postseason.
• FCD head coach Schellas Hyndman made one change to the team that played to a 2-2 draw with Toronto FC the Saturday before. Andre Rocha was suspended, so Victor Sikora came back into a wide midfield role.
• Here's Hyndman's team (4-3-1-2): Dario Sala - Adrian Serioux (Eric Avila 58), Duilio Davino, Drew Moor, Blake Wagner - Victor Sikora (Dominic Oduro 71), Pablo Ricchetti, Marcelo Saragosa - Bruno Guarda - Jeff Cunningham, Kenny Cooper (Jamie Watson 79). Substitutes Not Used: Ray Burse, Michael Dello-Russo, Aaron Pitchkolan, Bobby Rhine
TEAM NEWS
• The most difficult event from the RSL loss was not the defeat, but rather that it came with 10 men. "This was a must-win game for us, obviously, and that's the frustrating part," said Hyndman. "One of the things we said, we go on the field with 11 players, we come off with 11 players. We knew emotions were going to be quite high here, and we weren't able to do that."
• One bright spot was that Hyndman was able to count on Victor Sikora, making his first start in seven games, since Aug. 23.
• "I thought he did fine," Hyndman said of Sikora. "He just ran out of gas, he was working awfully hard on both sides of the ball, and that made it a little bit difficult. We were in desperation. Going with three in the back, and trying to get fresh legs up front. Trying to get some speed up there and make something out of nothing."
• Sikora will certainly be needed again, with FCD down two midfielders with the suspensions of Saragosa and Pablo Ricchetti. Out for the final game, Saragosa underwent knee surgery during the week that will keep him out of action for 3-4 months.
• With Landon Donovan (19 goals) and Kenny Cooper (18) on opposite sides of the field, it's just the third time in league history where the MLS goal-scoring title will be decided by two players opposing each other. In 2006, Jeff Cunningham (16 goals) and Ante Razov (14) faced off as Real Salt Lake met Chivas USA in the season finale; neither scored). In 2004, entering the final weekend, there was a six-way tie for the scoring lead. Brian Ching (San Jose) and Eddie Johnson (Dallas) each scored in their 2-2 draw, and shared Golden Boot honors. Pat Noonan (NE) and Damani Ralph (CHI) did not score as their teams faced each other. The only other time the top two goalscorers met in the season finale was 1998, when Stern John scored twice in a win against D.C. United, his 23rd and 24th goals of the season, to outdistance Roy Lassiter (DC). On that day, Cobi Jones scored while Lassiter did not, giving him 19 goals and one more than Lassiter for second place.
• "I think it's really a huge reflection on my teammates and the service I've been getting this year," said Cooper. "... As a striker, you're really dependent on your teammates for service. For this weekend, the focus is still on the team. We want to get a win and finish the season off right. If I'm able to get a couple of goals, that would be great. But the team is first."
