Galaxy Sweats This One Out
One goal was never going to be enough.
Not against a Dallas Burn team that had come from two goals down to defeat the Galaxy the last time they met.
Not against a Dallas Burn team that came from two goals down to knock the defending champion Chicago Fire out of Major League Soccer’s playoffs as recently as Wednesday night.
And certainly not against a Dallas Burn team whose coach, Dave Dir, was willing to field four forwards in a high-risk gamble to win Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Sunday afternoon.
So, no, one goal was never going to do it for the Galaxy.
Fortunately, Sigi Schmid’s team scored two. But it was not until 40 seconds remained on the Rose Bowl clock that Ezra “E.Z.” Hendrickson banged a shot into the Dallas net off the shoulder of Burn defender Brian Haynes that the Galaxy got the second.
And even then the Burn kept attacking, hoping against hope for a miracle.
It didn’t come, and the Galaxy escaped with a 2-1 victory in front of a relieved crowd of 17,372. One more victory--at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas next Sunday or back in Pasadena the following Thursday--will put the Galaxy in the MLS championship final.
No one is looking that far ahead, however.
“The last time I played there [at Foxboro Stadium, site of the Nov. 21 final], I scored, so hopefully I can go there and do exactly that,” said Hendrickson. “But we’re not looking at Foxboro right now. We have another game to win and we’re focused on that.”
So is the Burn, which canceled Mauricio Cienfuegos’ superb free-kick goal in the 39th minute with one of its own by Ariel Graziani in the 75th.
“I thought we gave everything that we had,” said Dir, who in the second half had four strikers on the field: Graziani, MLS top scorer Jason Kreis, Dante Washington and John Jairo Trellez.
Dallas played well enough to have won the game. The fact that it was without two starting defenders--Brandon Pollard and Richard Farrer, both of whom are injured--should have made a difference. It didn’t.
The Galaxy had to fight to win it, not least of all because referee Noel Kenny had yet another feeble game, missing calls and failing to keep tight control over what always promised to be a physical encounter.
“I don’t seem to have a lot of good luck with Noel Kenny as the referee,” said Schmid. “I’ll let you judge if that [Graziani] goal was offside or not. But he refereed and we won and I’m very happy.”
The opening goal was a one-man highlight-reel moment.
Awarded a free kick to the left of the Dallas net and just outside the penalty area, the Galaxy immediately turned to Cienfuegos.
He struck a perfect shot that curled into the net in the upper left corner, leaving Burn goalkeeper Matt Jordan stranded.
Cienfuegos, who provided the passes that led to the Galaxy’s winning goals in each of the first-round playoff victories over the Colorado Rapids, turned to the stands, kissed his fingertips and pointed to the fans.
Quiet until then, they came to life.
Dallas, showing no effects of playing its third game in eight days, looked the more dangerous team in the second half. The tying goal finally came with 15 minutes to play.
It was slammed into the net from close range by Graziani, thereby ending Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman’s playoff shutout streak at 313 minutes, a league record.
There was more than a suspicion of offside about the goal, but Kenny allowed it to stand. After that, the game appeared headed for a shootout.
Schmid had sent Simon Elliott into the game just a couple of minutes before Dallas’ goal, and it was the New Zealander who set up the game-winning goal with a long cross-field pass to Hendrickson.
“When I looked up and the keeper was going one way and the ball was going the other, I was happy,” Hendrickson said. “I started celebrating.”
It might be too soon to do that.
“Overall, it wasn’t our best game of the season, for sure,” said Schmid. “But when you get into a game like this, sometimes nerves play a role and you’re just happy to come out with a win.
“For some reason we stuttered, we didn’t play as well as we can. But, by the same token, defensively we held fairly tight.”
The defense will have to be even tighter next Sunday. The Burn is 15-3 at home this season.
“We want to go down to Dallas and wrap it up in Dallas,” said Schmid. “If you take it to a third game, then everything’s equal again and anything can happen.”
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
GALAXY vs. DALLAS BURN
Game 1
Galaxy: 2
Dallas: 1
Game 2
Galaxy at Dallas
Sunday, Noon
Game 3*
Dallas at Galaxy,
Nov. 11,
7:30 p.m.
* if necessary
