Galaxy head to Seattle to face Sounders FC
LA look to extend unbeaten streak in clash at Qwest Field
QWEST FIELD, Seattle, Wash.
May 10, 2009 (WEEK 8) / MLS Game #61
12 noon PT (TeleFutura; KONG; FSN-W)
The Los Angeles Galaxy conclude their two-game road swing against Western Conference opposition with another difficult test, facing Seattle Sounders FC at Qwest Field on Sunday afternoon. The Galaxy are riding a five-game unbeaten streak after putting an end to Real Salt Lake's perfect home record at midweek. Sounders FC have lost just once at home on the season (that after going a man down in the first half); the expansion club has a win and a tie after seeing a three-game winning streak come to an end with back-to-back losses.
REFEREE: Tim Weyland. SAR (bench): Darren Clark; JAR (opposite): Emiliano Monje; 4th: Yader Reyes MLS Career: 93 games; FC/gm: 30.1; Y/gm: 3.7; R: 29; pens: 22
INJURY REPORT: SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC - DOUBTFUL: MF Peter Vagenas (knee surgery) ... LOS ANGELES GALAXY - OUT: DF Leonard Griffin (sports hernia surgery); DF Yohance Marshall (R MCL sprain); QUESTIONABLE: FW Tristan Bowen (L knee sprain); MF Kyle Patterson (R knee irritation)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none SUSPENDED: SEA: Fredy Montero (through May 10) WARNINGS: SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: none SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: SEA: Osvaldo Alonso
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME: First meeting.RETURN MATCHES: 8/15: Seattle Sounders FC at Los Angeles Galaxy, 8 p.m. PT
• Coaches record: Sigi Schmid vs. LA: P6 W3 L1 D2 ... Bruce Arena v SEA: first game
SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC
Seattle Sounders FC played to a draw for the first time in club history, coming back for a 1-1 draw with the undefeated Chicago Fire after going down a man on Saturday evening at Toyota Park. Sounders FC now have 13 points from seven matches, trailing Western Conference and MLS overall leaders Chivas USA by six points.LAST MATCH
• The Fire were still undefeated on the season, yet had played to draws in three consecutive games. Sounders FC returned to their winning ways against San Jose at home the weekend before, following two losses in succession.
• The game burst into life after the break. Sounders FC striker Fredy Montero was sent off in the 48th minute after striking Fire defender Gonzalo Segares with an elbow.
• The home side then took the lead six minutes later. Cuauhtemoc Blanco tracked down a loose ball to the right of the area, and after a spin move inside the box, laid the ball back to Marco Pappa. The Guatemalan lashed home a low drive from just outside the box inside the near post for his third goal on the season.
• But Sounders FC hit back for the leveler just six minutes later. A corner kick was swung in from the right and fell right in the heart of the six-yard box where Tyrone Marshall side-footed it home for his first goal with the expansion club.
• Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid made no changes to the team that defeated the San Jose Earthquakes 2-0 at Qwest Field the previous weekend.
• Here's Schmid's team (4-3-1-2): Kasey Keller - James Riley, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Tyrone Marshall, Nathan Sturgis - Brad Evans, Osvaldo Alonso, Steve Zakuani (Sebastien Le Toux 56) - Freddie Ljungberg (Stephen King 81) - Fredy Montero, Nate Jaqua. Substitutes Not Used: Chris Eylander, Taylor Graham, Patrick Ianni, Sanna Nyassi, Zach Scott
TEAM NEWS
• The goal allowed by Keller was his first after 457 minutes, the longest to start a season in MLS history - and the first by Keller since his arrival in Major League Soccer.
• "Credit to everybody that they continued to battle, got the corner kick, scored on it and we just closed up shop. It's a great point for us and one we're very happy about it," Keller said. "It's just nice that we fought back and got a point. You go a man down, you go a goal down and to come back and get something out of it is tremendous. Anytime you can do that you have to be proud."
• Marshall's goal was the first for Sounders FC off a standard situation. Of the club's first nine goals ever, all came from the run of play, two coming from crosses within open play.
• "We've been training on it. We've got size and we haven't scored a goal yet," Marshall said. "Sigi wanted us to be more aggressive in the box and said we can get more goals off set plays in general." Said Schmid: "We still have to get better. I'm happy we scored our first goal but we need to get better."
• After being sent off, Montero will miss his second game of the season; he missed Sounders FC's trip to Toronto on April 4 due to illness. In that game, Freddie Ljungberg made his first MLS start, partnering Nate Jaqua in attack.
• "There's different ways we can go. Certainly in Toronto, we played Freddie Ljungberg as the second forward and brought Brad Evans into the middle of the field, and Seba (Le Toux) wide. So that's an option. There's an option of either Roger (Levesque) or Jarrod Smith stepping in up front. There's an option of Sebastien stepping in up front," said Schmid. "So there's different ways that we can go. So we'll decide that this week."
• Before scoring his goal, Marshall was booked - but managed to avoid a second that would have potentially left his side two men down.
• Tyrone is an aggressive player, and an aggressive defender, and he was able to maintain his approach through the game and not pick up another card, which is not the easiest thing to do," Schmid said. "I was happy with how he's played. Tyrone has been pretty consistent. Him and Jhon Kennedy have been very consistent in the middle of the defense for us all year. And Tyrone scoring a big goal for us as well, I'm very pleased."
• On Tuesday, Sounders FC faced Seattle Pacific University in a game mainly designed to give the reserves a run-out - including Jarrod Smith, who has yet to make his first-team debut for Seattle.
• "Jarrod today got almost 60 minutes in. So he's getting better and sharper. And he ended up scoring two goals in his last 10-15 minutes of the game when he was probably most fatigued. So I think he's getting sharper and stronger all the time," Schmid said.
LOS ANGELES GALAXY
The Los Angeles Galaxy extended their undefeated streak to five games in the most breathtaking of fashions, twice tying the game in stoppage time before settling for a 2-2 draw with Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium on Wednesday night. The Galaxy have eight points from seven matches on the season, now tied for fifth place in the Western Conference with the Houston Dynamo, 11 points behind Chivas USA.LAST MATCH
• Real were coming off another 2-0 league loss on the road, this time at Colorado, while the Galaxy had finally recorded their first victory of 2009, a 1-0 win at home against the New York Red Bulls.
• At home, it was a different story though for RSL, with three wins in as many games, and they got off to a good start. Clint Mathis swung in a corner from the left and Robbie Findley dove at the near post, flicking the ball inches from the ground back into the far corner for his fifth goal on the campaign.
• With the game entering stoppage time, suddenly it blew apart. First, a ball bounced up and Will Johnson was adjudged to have played it with his arm, referee Michael Kennedy awarding the penalty kick. Landon Donovan slid it under Chris Seitz for the leveler, his league-leading fifth goal on the year.
• Yet barely a minute later, RSL was back ahead - from the penalty spot, after substitute Bryan Jordan was ruled to have pulled down RSL's Fabian Espindola. Johnson made amends for his earlier action by converting for his first goal on the season.
• But four minutes in stoppage time, the Galaxy pulled out another improbable equalizer. RSL couldn't clear their lines and a deflected shot from the edge of the box fell right to Mike Magee at the left post, and he pushed it between Seitz's legs for his first LA goal.
• Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena made one change to the team that defeated the New York Red Bulls 1-0 at home the previous weekend. Stefani Miglioranzi came back into the midfield in place of Josh Tudela.
• Here's Arena's team (4-4-2): Donovan Ricketts - Sean Franklin, Gregg Berhalter, Omar Gonzalez, Todd Dunivant - Chris Klein (Bryan Jordan 61), Dema Kovalenko, Stefani Miglioranzi (Mike Magee 76), Eddie Lewis (Alan Gordon 69) - Edson Buddle, Landon Donovan. Substitutes Not Used: Jovan Kirovski, Tony Sanneh, Josh Saunders, Josh Tudela
TEAM NEWS
• It was the third time in MLS history three goals were scored in added time, and the second time two penalties came after the 90th minute ticked over, the last occurring in 2000. As well, it was the ninth time three goals had been scored in a three-minute span, one minute short of the league record.
• "It's not easy being a referee; I think we could tell that today. A clear penalty for us, a handball. He calls it, and then it just seems to me that the second one was a make-up call, which seemed odd," Arena said. "But we were fortunate to get the second goal, a great finish by Mike Magee."
• It's the fourth time this season the Galaxy were able to get the tying goal in the final quarter-hour (or more) of the match. It's also the fourth time the Galaxy were able to scramble out a result after conceding the opening goal, which they've done five times.
• "It says a lot about them. We're starting to grow into a unit. This is about the third game where we've been able to play a fairly consistent first 11," Arena said. "I'm proud of them, they played a good game tonight. I would have hated to have lost this game, but I'm pleased with this point, there's no question about it."
• The five-game unbeaten run is the longest for the Galaxy since going seven games without a defeat (5-0-2) at the end of the 2007 season, a run from Sept. 19-Oct. 18 that ended just short of snatching a playoff berth.
• "We could have had a couple of more wins, but to only lose one game in seven to start off the season says a lot about the team," said Mike Magee. "Especially with a bunch of new guys and after the season we had last year I think we gave too many games. In this year, to have only dropped one game is huge."
• The Galaxy started their two-game road swing over five days by handing RSL its first loss on home turf this season, and now head to Seattle, where Sounders FC have lost just once - that a 1-0 loss to Kansas City after playing a man down for more than an hour.
• "We haven't lost a game on the road, and that's important not only for our psyche, but also we've played three Western Conference teams and kept them from getting two more points. And that's huge," said Landon Donovan. "We've got to do a better job, and we started last week, of winning our games at home, but if we can keep playing this way we're going to be in every game we play and have the chance to win them."
