The two MLS Cup Finalists evenly split their two regular-season meetings this year, playing to a pair of 1-1 draws just 23 days apart midseason. Both games were also marked by quick answering goals. On July 4 in Carson, Calif., Michael Enfield gave the Galaxy an 87th-minute lead, but Andy Dorman hit for the equalizer four minutes deep into second-half stoppage time. At Gillette Stadium on July 27, Herculez Gomez gave L.A. a 16th-minute lead, but Shalrie Joseph leveled the match from the penalty spot just 10 minutes later.
July 4, 2005 -- The Home Depot Center
LOS ANGELES GALAXY 1, NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION 1 (HT: 0-0)
The New England Revolution came back to claim a miracle 1-1 draw with the Los Angeles Galaxy at The Home Depot Center on July 4.
Both the Galaxy and Revolution saw their first-choice lineups hit hard by national team call-ups and injury and the final pass was just off all night long as teams labored to create any quality chances. That changed three minutes from time when Herculez Gomez collected a pass on the right and swung in a perfect cross to the far post where rookie Michael Enfield -- making just his second professional appearance -- dove to seemingly head home the winner.
But the Revolution showed their resilience. Four minutes deep into stoppage time, Joe Franchino swung in a free kick from the left that Taylor Twellman -- back after missing four games with a hamstring injury -- headed down. Sharlie Joseph slipped it past a defender with the slightest of touches and Andy Dorman was there to sweep it past Kevin Hartman. Still, the Revolution haven't won at the Galaxy since a July 4 win in the inaugural MLS season of 1996.
"It could've been very special tonight. It could've been very special for Mike Enfield. It could've been very special for the Galaxy to have beaten the Revolution. One lapse of concentration, one mistake, and we tie the match. It seems a bit unfair but that's the reality of this game," Galaxy head coach Steve Sampson said. "We can't continue to make silly mistakes in the back. I don't care if it's in the 40th minute or the 90th minute. It's a very disappointing evening for us. We basically threw away two points. So to say that I'm disappointed is an understatement and the way it was done even more so."
Said Revolution coach Steve Nicol: "We stole a point. We had the two best chances in the game and we didn't get anything. We didn't play well. We didn't pass the ball well. The quality wasn't there tonight. But that resilience ..."
Scoring Summary:
LA -- Enfield 1 (Gomez 1, Dunivant 2) 87
NE -- Dorman 2 (Joseph 3, Twellman 4) 94+
LOS ANGELES GALAXY (4-4-2): Kevin Hartman - Ugo Ihemelu, Pablo Chinchilla, Tyrone Marshall, Todd Dunivant - Cobi Jones (Michael Enfield 81), Ned Grabavoy, Paulo Nagamura, Guillermo Ramirez (Mubarike Chisoni 62) - Ednaldo da Conceicao, Alan Gordon (Herculez Gomez 64).
TOTAL SHOTS: 12 (Ramirez 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (Enfield 2, Ramirez 2); FOULS: 14 (Gordon 4); OFFSIDE: 8; CORNER KICKS: 7; SAVES: Hartman 4; CAUTIONS: Nagamura 86, da Conceicao 95+; EJECTIONS: None.
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (3-4-1-2): Matt Reis - Jay Heaps, Michael Parkhurst, Joe Franchino - James Riley, Andy Dorman, Shalrie Joseph, Marshall Leonard (Ryan Latham 75) - Jose Cancela - Khano Smith (Connally Edozien 70), Taylor Twellman
TOTAL SHOTS: 10 (Twellman 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Cancela 2, Twellman 2); FOULS: 12 (Joseph 2, Smith 2); OFFSIDE: 6; CORNER KICKS: 3; SAVES: Reis 4; CAUTIONS: Joseph 81; EJECTIONS: None.
Referee: Michael Kennedy
Referee's Assistants: George Gansner, Emiliano Monje
4th Official: Richard Heron.
Attendance: 27,000.
Temperature: 69 and Clear.
July 27, 2003 -- Gillette Stadium
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION 1, LOS ANGELES GALAXY 1 (HT: 1-1)
The Revolution and Galaxy shared the points in an entertaining 1-1 draw in their final match before the All-Star break, both goals coming 10 minutes apart in the first half.
The Galaxy took the lead after 16 minutes, Herculez Gomez scoring for a fourth consecutive game. Landon Donovan split the defense with his through ball to find Gomez, and he raced into the area before widely rounding Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis and rolling the ball home.
The Revolution drew level in the 26th minute from a Shalrie Joseph penalty. A cross was whipped in from the right, and as Ugo Ihemelu bent forward to head clear, the ball struck his hand and referee Marcel Yonan pointed to the spot. Joseph, captain for the night in place of the suspended Joe Franchino, struck his penalty to the lower left-hand corner just past the dive of Kevin Hartman.
"If you consider the record that L.A. had away, then we were obviously looking to get a win. The first half clearly they were sitting in. It was tough for us, because we didn't have a lot of places to go. We didn't help ourselves in the final," Nicol said. "We passed the ball around pretty well - maybe we could have passed it a little bit quicker, which we talked about at halftime. We never really created enough. We were relying on stuff from the middle, which was clogged up."
Said Sampson: "I was very pleased with the overall approach to the game. They kept the ball for long stretches. I was very pleased with the combination of Herculez (Gomez) and Landon [Donovan]. It was a great goal by Herculez. ... He continues to put himself in positions to score. I thought our backline did a great job of defending. I felt for the first time in a long time that we didn't panic at all. We kept our composure and played intelligently. It was nice to have Landon back. There are a lot of people around him that worked very, very hard and deserve a lot of credit tonight."
LA -- Gomez 4 (Donovan 5, Ihemelu 1) 16
NE -- Joseph 2 (penalty kick) 26
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (3-4-1-2): Matt Reis - Jay Heaps, Michael Parkhurst, Avery John - James Riley, Andy Dorman (Connally Edozien 77), Shalrie Joseph, Marshall Leonard (Ryan Latham 64) - Jose Cancela - Taylor Twellman, Clint Dempsey
TOTAL SHOTS: 6 (6 tied with 1); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (5 tied with 1); FOULS: 12 (Joseph 4); OFFSIDE: 0; CORNER KICKS: 6; SAVES: Reis 2; CAUTIONS: Heaps 21, Dempsey 82, Riley 87; EJECTIONS: None.
LOS ANGELES GALAXY (4-4-2): Kevin Hartman - Troy Roberts, Ugo Ihemelu, Tyrone Marshall (Michael Umana 5), Todd Dunivant - Chris Albright (Guillermo Ramirez 75), Paulo Nagamura, Peter Vagenas, Cobi Jones - Herculez Gomez (Joseph Ngwenya 81), Landon Donovan
TOTAL SHOTS: 10 (Gomez 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Gomez 2); FOULS: 9 (3 tied with 2); OFFSIDE: 1; CORNER KICKS: 3; SAVES: Hartman 4; CAUTIONS: Donovan 69, Vagenas 90; EJECTIONS: None.
Referee: Marcel Yonan
Referee's Assistants: Kermit Quisenberry, Bill Dittmar
4th Official: Gus St. Silva.
Attendance: 8,954.
Temperature: 93 and Cloudy.
