Galaxy Tripped Up by Burn
The Galaxy had a chance to jump into a first-place tie with defending Major League Soccer champion San Jose Saturday night.
Instead, Dallas Burn forward Bobby Rhine knocked the Galaxy into third place. Rhine’s golden goal in the 96th minute gave the Burn a 1-0 overtime victory against the Galaxy at the Cotton Bowl and tightened things up considerably in the Western Conference.
San Jose, which lost to Colorado, remained at the top of the standings (13-8-3, 42 points) while Dallas moved within two points (11-6-7, 40 points).
The Galaxy (12-9-3, 39 points) remained in striking distance with five games left, including a home-and-home series with the Earthquakes to close the season.
In front of 15,883, Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman tied a career high with 10 saves. But it went for naught as the Galaxy offense was stagnant.
Rhine’s game-winner occurred immediately after the start of the second overtime.
With Paul Broome bringing the ball up the left side, the Burn defender found Jason Kreis at the top of the box. Kreis then passed to Rhine inside the penalty area and his shot went under the arms of Hartman.
In being shut out, the Galaxy’s Carlos Ruiz was caught in the league’s individual scoring race by New England’s Taylor Twellman, who had an assist in the Revolution’s victory over Chicago. Both rookie forwards have 35 points.
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Three days after South Korean defender Hong Myung-bo’s club team reportedly rejected MLS’ overtures for his release with the hopes of subsequently signing and transferring him to Los Angeles, Hong said he wants to come to the Southland.
“If my club allows, I would like to play for [the] L.A. Galaxy before Koreans [who live] there,” Hong, whose contract is currently held by the Pohang Steelers of the South Korean K-League, told the Associated Press.
Hong, 33, has been on the South Korean national team since 1990 and was awarded the bronze boot as the World Cup’s outstanding defender after leading South Korea to a fourth-place finish.
Galaxy officials have said since June that they intend to sign a prominent South Korean player to appeal to Los Angeles’ burgeoning Korean community.
In other MLS games:
New England 2, Chicago 1--Daouda Kante scored in the 89th minute to lead the Revolution to victory before 15,887 at Naperville, Ill.
Jim Curtin opened the scoring in the 50th minute, leaping above the New England defense to head Ante Razov’s free kick past goalkeeper Adin Brown.
After replacing Rusty Pierce in the 59th minute, Wolde Harris evened the score in the 65th minute.
Colorado 3, San Jose 0--Chris Carrieri scored on a 30-yard pass from Carlos Valderrama in the ninth minute and David Kramer had six saves as the Rapids won before 12,196 at Denver.
Zach Kinsley scored on a header off Mark Chung’s corner kick in the 66th minute.
Chung scored on a penalty kick against Jon Conway in extra time after Joe Cannon was ejected on a red card for tripping Seth Trembly on a breakaway.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
