Galaxy ready to battle rival Real Salt Lake
LA looking to end Salt Lake's unbeaten streak at Rio Tinto Stadium
Real Salt Lake are unbeaten in three games at Rio Tinto Stadium and have outscored opponents 12-2, including a 6-0 drubbing of New England on April 25.
Galaxy striker Mike Magee, one of the few players on the Galaxy to have played in the new stadium, which opened last October, said there definitely is a home-field advantage at the $110 million facility.
"They have great fans, they love to attack and get the crowd behind them," said Magee, who played there last season when he was a member of the New York Red Bulls. "It's a great field and they like to make it a fast-moving game. As long as we can match that intensity, I think we can get a result."
Veteran midfielder Chris Klein, who played with Real Salt Lake in 2006 and 2007, has fond memories of his time in Salt Lake and counts coach Jason Kreis among his closest friends. They often text-message each other and recently spoke to each other on the phone.
But there don't figure to be any friendly conversations this week.
"We'll talk on Wednesday ... after," Klein said with a laugh.
Galaxy midfielder Dema Kovalenko, on the other hand, didn't like anything about Salt Lake during his season there a year ago. Kovalenko, who eventually was acquired by the Galaxy for allocation money in January, has his own opinion on why Real Salt Lake is so tough at home.
"To be honest," he said, "nobody wants to go there. Teams don't want to go there. That's the honest truth. I was not happy there; that's why I wanted to leave. They have good players and coaches and know what they're doing. That's why they have a team that competes every week.
"I miss those guys, but my heart didn't want to be there from the beginning when I was traded from New York. I was happy when I left. It's going to be a tough game and it would be great to get a result."
The Galaxy (1-1-4), who have another road game on Sunday in Seattle, will be facing a team that lost its last two games, both on the road. They included a 4-1 defeat at Seattle on April 28 in a U.S. Open Cup play-in match and a 2-0 loss to Colorado last Saturday in league play.
Real Salt Lake (3-3) are led by former Galaxy member Robbie Findley, who came over from Los Angeles with Nathan Sturgis in a trade for Klein in June of 2007 and has a team-leading four goals. Jamison Olave (suspended for Wednesday after being sent off against Colorado) is next with two goals and veteran midfielder Clint Mathis has one goal and three assists.
Playmaking midfielder Javier Morales will also be suspended for the Galaxy game after a decision by the MLS Disciplinary Committee.
The Galaxy are led by Landon Donovan, who has four goals and has had a hand in each of the Galaxy's seven goals this season. They also are getting superb play from goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts, who is third in MLS with a 0.50 goals against average.
The Galaxy have yet to lose on the road this season, with ties at San Jose and Colorado, and head coach/general manager Bruce Arena has been encouraged by his team's play of late.
"I think we've had a good mentality the last month and we've positioned ourselves to go out this week and try to get three points in one these games," he said. "The victory on Saturday certainly helps for the road. When you put in the kind of effort the guys have been putting in and you have little to show for it, it's never quite where you want to be as a group.
"They've been absolutely fantastic for four or five weeks. I'm hopeful we'll continue to move forward."
Larry Morgan is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
