Galaxy Is Showing No Discernible Signs of Life
It is probably not what Major League Soccer wanted to hear from one of its top coaches, but Octavio Zambrano was exactly right when he called Sunday evening’s MLS playoff game “mediocre.”
And it was not because the Galaxy had been held to a scoreless tie in regulation and then shut out in a shootout by the Dallas Burn.
The 18,921 fans who showed up at the Rose Bowl expecting fireworks left realizing they had witnessed a damp squid. If this is playoff soccer, bring back the regular season.
Or at least bring back the players whose absence caused this poor performance. No one played badly enough for the Galaxy to deserve criticism, but collectively the team was flat.
Without Mauricio Cienfuegos, it lacked a creative leader. Without Jorge Campos it lacked a spark. Without Robin Fraser, it lacked confidence.
And it didn’t help that Cobi Jones, not fully recovered from Friday night’s United States game against Jamaica in Washington, D.C., was left on the bench until only 28 minutes remained.
“I don’t think either of the teams played well,” said Zambrano, the Galaxy’s interim but-soon-to-be-full-time coach, after watching his team lose the opener in the best-of-three Western Conference series.
The 1-0 loss ended a six-game Galaxy winning streak and a three-game winning run against the Burn. The series switches to the Cotton Bowl for Game 2 on Wednesday night.
Los Angeles did not manage a shot on goal in the first half and only six in the game, most coming in a late flurry of activity that kept Dallas goalkeeper Mark Dodd and his defense busy. Inevitably, it ended in a shootout. But even in that one-on-one confrontation between field player and goalkeeper, both teams stuttered.
Swiss midfielder Alain Sutter went first for Dallas, rounded Galaxy backup keeper Kevin Hartman and scored. Amazingly, six out of the next seven attempts failed.
* Harut Karapetyan’s bad luck continued when he tried to chip the ball over Dodd but also managed to lift it over the crossbar.
* Tommy Soehn’s shot for the Burn was deflected wide by a foot-save from Hartman.
* Chris Armas beat Dodd but not the left post, the ball ricocheting out.
* Mark Santel steered his shot for Dallas wide of the left post.
* Martin Machon then did the same for the Galaxy.
* Damian broke the drought by scoring with a low shot to put the Burn 2-0 ahead.
* Greg Vanney, needing to score to keep the Galaxy alive, saw his effort saved by Dodd.
The Dallas keeper, in fact, was the difference in the game and it becomes increasingly curious why his play over the last two MLS seasons has not been rewarded by a permanent call-up to the U.S. national team, if only as the No. 3 behind Kasey Keller and Brad Friedel.
“I keep telling him he’s the best keeper in the league,” Dallas Coach Dave Dir said. “In shootouts, he’s even better.”
Filling in for Campos, Hartman was seldom troubled by Dallas’ impotent offense, but ended up on the wrong end in the shootout.
“I felt comfortable out there,” the former UCLA keeper said. “I didn’t really feel like the world was on my shoulders or anything. [But] I would like to see extra time [played]. Especially in playoffs.”
It might not have made a difference Sunday.
The closest the Galaxy came to scoring was when Dodd rushed out of his area in the closing minutes to head away the ball, only to see it fall to Karapetyan. The winger lifted a gentle shot over the goalkeeper and toward the open net, but Dallas defender Wade Webber headed the ball off the line.
Karapetyan said Cienfuegos’ absence was felt.
“Without him, we play different,” he said. “When he’s here, he can hold the ball in the midfield and give nice passes. But we’ve won games without him. In the second half, we did a good job. We had some chances, but unfortunately we didn’t score.”
Cienfuegos and Campos will be back for Wednesday’s game in Dallas, a game the Galaxy has to win to bring the series back to Los Angeles on Saturday.
But the injured Fraser will still be missing, striker Eduardo Hurtado will have left to join Ecuador for its World Cup qualifying game against Bolivia on Sunday, and Jones was hobbling around the locker room Wednesday night in evident pain from a bruised left hip.
The Galaxy is up against it, but traditionally that has been when it plays its best soccer.
“I’m counting on that,” said Zambrano, who was feeling pretty mediocre himself.
MLS Notes
Roy Wegerle and Jaime Moreno each scored twice as the D.C. United routed New England, 4-1, in an Eastern Conference semifinal playoff opener before 12,540 at RFK Stadium. The United finished the regular season with a league-best 21-11 record, including a 4-0 mark against New England.
New England made the playoffs on the strength of goalie Walker Zenga, but he couldn’t do anything to stop the United’s potent scoring attack Sunday.
Wegerle, traded to D.C. from Colorado on July 3, opened the scoring in the 13th minute on a brilliant pass from Moreno--who would have been offsides on the play, but Revolution central defender Alexi Lalas was tardy on an offside trap.
A.J. Wood scored the game-winning goal with 7:22 left in regulation as Columbus edged Tampa Bay, 2-1, before 8,272 at Tampa Bay in the other Eastern Conference semifinal playoff opener.
Jason Farrell and Pete Marino assisted on Wood’s goal from point-blank range. Wood made a strong play, redirecting a short pass while positioned in front of the net.
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MLS Playoff Glance
GALAXY vs. DALLAS BURN
* Game 1: Dallas 1, Galaxy 0 (shootout)
* Game 2: Wednesday at Dallas, 5:30 p.m.
* Game 3: Saturday at Rose Bowl, 7:30 p.m. (if necessary)
OTHER SERIES
Sunday’s Results
* Columbus 2, Tampa Bay 1
* D.C. 4, New England 1
