Simon Says It’s Good Time to Score Goal
Simon Elliott picked just the right time to score his first goal this season, and in doing so Saturday night he put the Galaxy in perfect position to win Major League Soccer’s Western Division title.
The New Zealand midfielder’s 20th-minute shot from long range swerved sharply from right to left and completely fooled Colorado Rapid goalkeeper Scott Garlick, who managed only to swat at it ineffectively as it flew by him and into the net.
It was the only goal Los Angeles would need as it won, 2-0, in front of 17,129 in the final professional sporting event to be played at Mile High Stadium in Denver. The Rapids’ home finale will be played next door at Invesco Field, the city’s new stadium.
The victory, combined with the San Jose Earthquakes’ 1-0 loss at Kansas City, moved the Galaxy two points ahead of San Jose in the West. Los Angeles can clinch the divisional title if it defeats the Earthquakes at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday night.
If the Earthquakes win or the game is tied, the title race will come down to the final regular-season game-between the same teams in San Jose on Sunday.
The Galaxy won Saturday without three starters: injured forwards Cobi Jones (hamstring) and Luis Hernandez (hip) and defender Ezra Hendrickson, who was held out by Coach Sigi Schmid to avoid seeing him get another yellow card that would have kept him out of Wednesday’s key game.
Schmid could not protect all his players, however, and defender Danny Califf will miss the potentially decisive match after his foul on Marcelo Balboa six minutes after Elliott’s goal earned him a yellow card from referee Erich Simmons.
Other than those two incidents, the game had little going for it. The Rapids (5-13-8) had been eliminated from playoff contention a week earlier when the Galaxy beat them, 3-2, in Pasadena.
They managed to make Los Angeles work for its victory, but the outcome was never in doubt, especially since Colorado was playing without its leading goal scorer, John Spencer, who is sidelined by a calf strain.
In injury time, the Galaxy (14-7-5) tried one last counterattack against a no-longer-so Rapid defense and Adam Frye crossed from the left for Peter Vagenas to side-foot the ball into the open net, with Garlick again out of position.
The Galaxy is perfectly positioned. Wednesday could bring a division title and home field advantage in the playoffs, where Los Angeles’ first-round opponent is likely to be either the Columbus Crew or the New York/New Jersey MetroStars.
In other MLS games Saturday:
Miami 3, D.C. United 1-Alex Pineda Chacon ended all hope of D.C. United making the playoffs when he scored three goals, including his league-leading 19th, to lead the Eastern Division-champion Fusion (16-5-5) at Fort Lauderdale.
Diego Serna assisted on one of the goals, making him only the second player in MLS history after the Dallas Burn’s Jason Kreis to get 15 goals and 15 assists in a season. Mark Lisi scored for D.C. United (8-16-2).
The game, played in front of 6,219, was interrupted for one hour by lightning and heavy rain.
Kansas City 1, San Jose 0-Having been assured a playoff berth by Miami’s victory earlier in the day, the defending champion Wizards (11-13-3) did the Galaxy a favor by defeating the Earthquakes (13-7-6) in front of 20,734, the second-largest crowd in the team’s history.
Roy Lassiter’s team-leading seventh goal in the 36th minute ended Kansas City’s 326-minute scoreless streak against San Jose, whose coach, Frank Yallop, did not start U.S. national team players Landon Donovan and Jeff Agoos, presumably saving them for the series against Los Angeles.
Chicago 2, Dallas 2-The Burn (10-11-5), which also secured its playoff spot when D.C. United lost, got goals from Bobby Rhine and Ariel Graziani in the final five minutes of regulation as it fought back to earn the tie in overtime in front of 24,866 at Chicago.
Chicago (16-4-5) had built a two-goal lead on goals by Diego Gutierrez and Peter Nowak.
Fire and U.S. national team forward Ante Razov fell awkwardly into a goal post late in the game and was carried off the field wearing a neck brace. He was taken to Northwestern Hospital for a precautionary examination.
