The Wizards' Josh Wolff has scored five goals this season. (Edward Zurga Jr./MLS/WireImage.com)
The Kansas City Wizards rebounded from a bitter midweek loss and won on the road for the first time this season, a late goal from Diego Gutierrez given them a 2-1 victory against the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday night at The Home Depot Center.
The Wizards came into the match without having scored a goal in three away matches, but Francisco Gomez ended that streak early in the second half when he answered Alejandro Moreno's goal. Gutierrez then hit home four minutes from time to give the visitors the full three points, after they allowed two goals in the final four minutes in a 3-2 loss to the New England Revolution on Wednesday.
Los Angeles looked strong going forward in front of 22,774 on a perfect Southern California night, being well-orchestrated by league assist leader Herzog, who proved a better provider than a finisher. Herzog missed a couple of half-chances that he may have been better served finding Cobi Jones who was, on both occasions, wide open at the back post when the Austrian elected to shoot.
Jones, when given the opportunity, opened up Kansas City defender Jose Burciaga Jr. with some neat footwork and delivered a low center that was only parried by Meola’s hand and Shavar Thomas scrambled the ball away.
The Wizards defended with numbers, their back four stifling the Galaxy's attempts to find the target tandem of Moreno and Kirovski. Their willingness to sit back and settle with the counterattack opportunity gave L.A. plenty of time to exploit their passing ability in the midfield third.
But the strategy seemed to have paid off for the Wizards on a breakaway attempt by Davy Arnaud, thanks to a neat pass from Chris Klein. However, the move was broken up by a perfectly-timed tackle by Chris Albright when it looked like the Wizards forward was certain to open the scoring. The half ended with a series of dangerous corners for the Galaxy, with Meola making a neat save at the near post on Hertzog’s fifth shot of the half.
The Wizards opened up the second half stronger of the two teams, attacking in greater numbers than they had finished the first. Yet the first chance fell to the home side through a defensive mistake, a turnover at the top of the box by Jimmy Conrad presenting Kirovski a gift which he softly shot towards Meola.
The deadlock was broken in the 59th minute when Alejandro Moreno found the back of the net with his league-best sixth goal of the season. The play developed from a deep Sasha Victorine cross which was headed back across goal from Ricky Lewis and was redirected by Moreno for the goal.
Three minutes later, the Wizards served notice when Chris Klein beat the offside trap to find himself in space in 15 yards from goal, but weakly lobbed the ball onto the roof of the net. Then in the 65th minute, just eight minutes after entering the game, Francisco Gomez found himself alone in the in the box. Following a contested ball in the box, the ball fell to Gomez who struck the ball firmly past Hartman’s outstretched right hand for his first goal of the season.
Joseph Ngwenya, who replaced Moreno, failed to replicate the substitute heroics of Gomez after Conrad cleared the ball after it fell to the rookie right at the penalty spot. But despite pinning the Wizards in their own end for much of the final exchanges, the Wizards still broke free on the counter for the match-winner.
In the 86th minute, Klein set Josh Wolff clear on the left side, and he delivered a perfect low cross to find a sliding Gutierrez at the far post, who tucked the ball away to give Kansas City the lead and eventually the full three points.
The Wizards (4-4-2) continue their five-game road trip with a pair of matches next week, beginning on Wed., June 9 when they face the Colorado Rapids at INVESCO Field at Mile High (9:30 p.m. ET, HDNet). Kansas City then is called back into action against the Columbus Crew in Crew Stadium on Sat., June 12. The Galaxy (5-3-3) face the Eastern Conference-leading Chicago Fire at The Home Depot Center on Saturday, live on ESPN2 (4 p.m. ET).
MLSnet.com Man of the Match – Diego Gutierrez (Kansas City Wizards)
Kansas City Wizards (4-4-2) vs. Los Angeles Galaxy (5-3-3)
June 05, 2004 -- The Home Depot Center
Scoring Summary:
LA -- Alejandro Moreno 6 (Ricky Lewis 1, Sasha Victorine 2) 59
KC -- Francisco Gomez 1 (unassisted) 65
KC -- Diego Gutierrez 1 (Josh Wolff 4, Chris Klein 2) 86
Kansas City Wizards -- Tony Meola, Nick Garcia, Jimmy Conrad, Shavar Thomas, Jose Burciaga Jr., Chris Klein, Diego Walsh (Francisco Gomez 57), Kerry Zavagnin, Diego Gutierrez, Davy Arnaud, Josh Wolff (Alex Zotinca 89).
Substitutes Not Used: Bo Oshoniyi, Vuk Rasovic, Matt Taylor.
TOTAL SHOTS: 10 (4 tied with 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (3 tied with 1); FOULS: 16 (Davy Arnaud 5); OFFSIDES: 0; CORNER KICKS: 2 (Chris Klein 1, Diego Walsh 1); SAVES: 6 (Tony Meola 5)
Los Angeles Galaxy -- Kevin Hartman, Chris Albright, Hong Myung-Bo, Ryan Suarez, Ricky Lewis, Andreas Herzog, Cobi Jones, Marcelo Saragosa, Sasha Victorine, Jovan Kirovski (Arturo Torres 81), Alejandro Moreno (Joseph Ngwenya 68).
Substitutes Not Used: Chris Aloisi, Paul Broome, Danny Califf, Josh Gardner, Guillermo Gonzalez, Ned Grabavoy, Dan Popik.
TOTAL SHOTS: 14 (Andreas Herzog 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 (Andreas Herzog 3); FOULS: 11 (Chris Albright 4); OFFSIDES: 3 (Jovan Kirovski 2); CORNER KICKS: 5 (Andreas Herzog 3); SAVES: 1 (Kevin Hartman 1)
Misconduct Summary:
KC -- Shavar Thomas (caution; Pushing, Holding) 68
LA -- Chris Albright (caution; Reckless Foul) 82
Referee: Ricardo Valenzuela
Referee's Assistants: Robert Fereday; Kermit Quisenberry
4th Official: Baldomero Toledo
Attendance: 22,774
Time of Game: 1:49
Weather: Clear-and-81-degrees
All Statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial
