With Ruiz Suspended, Galaxy Defense Leads 1-0 Win
No Carlos Ruiz? No matter.
With Major League Soccer’s leading scorer serving a league-mandated one-game suspension Saturday, the Galaxy turned to its defense against the Chicago Fire in hopes of breaking a three-game losing streak.
It was only fitting, then, that a Galaxy defender scored the winning goal.
Alexi Lalas’ header off Simon Elliott’s corner kick in the 57th minute proved to be the difference in the Galaxy’s 1-0 victory in front of 13,223 at the Rose Bowl.
“We do corner kicks every day [in practice] and we certainly try to find [taller] guys on our team like myself,” said the 6-foot-3 Lalas, whose first goal of the season was only the fifth of the Galaxy’s 15 this year not scored by Ruiz.
“Earlier in the year I was getting my head on them; they just weren’t going in. And it’s a matter of continuing your runs and it’s obviously the way the ball is played in, which is the most important thing. Simon hit a great ball and we went from there.”
The Galaxy (5-4-2), which had played six of its previous seven MLS matches on the road and had not played at home since April 27, continued its success against the Fire (5-4-2).
Dating to last season’s playoffs, the Galaxy has beaten Chicago in five consecutive matches, including three this season.
“Maybe we can play them every week and our record would be better,” joked Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid. “It’s always a tough game and we just have good luck against them.”
The Galaxy had a familiar face in the net against Chicago. Kevin Hartman recorded his first shutout of the year in his second start.
Hartman, who had surgery to repair a broken right wrist in November, lost the starting position to Matt Reis in preseason training camp.
“Luckily things went my way today,” Hartman said. “There weren’t a lot of shots but ... there are a lot of other things that you do as a goalkeeper besides save shots.
“There’s a lot of organization, and I thought the guys were unbelievable today tactically. They were really disciplined and everybody stepped up today and performed.”
The Galaxy limited the Fire to seven shots, one on goal, a blistering shot by forward Mike Nugent in the game’s 79th minute that a diving Hartman was able to deflect.
Hartman said he was never in danger of being lulled despite the lack of action. “Not really, but come halftime and you haven’t received a shot yet, there’s always that [feeling that] you want to receive some more shots since you haven’t seen a ball come at you,” he said. “You’re trying to keep yourself in the game by talking to your defense and filling in holes and ... it’s always a difficult thing to do when you’re not receiving shots and then to have a shot like the one in the last few minutes of the game.”
It didn’t help that the Galaxy played the final 21 minutes a man down after Peter Vagenas was issued a second yellow card for holding Ante Razov.
Razov, who began the game as the league’s second-leading scorer with 19 points (eight goals, three assists), also received a yellow card by referee Kevin Terry after Razov hit Vagenas with an open left hand to the face.
Said Schmid, who wondered why Razov wasn’t ejected: “Maybe body punches are more vicious than facial hits.”
Ruiz, who has 20 points on 10 goals, was suspended after striking Colorado Rapid midfielder Wes Hart in the midsection.
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In other MLS games:
D.C. United 3, New England 2--Defender Ryan Nelson’s second goal of the game broke a second-half tie and gave D.C. United (4-5-1) a victory before 12,988 at Washington. Taylor Twellman scored twice for New England (3-6-1).
Dallas 4, Colorado 1--Bobby Rhine, held scoreless in the first 10 games of the season, had three goals and an assist as the Burn (4-2-5) beat the Rapids (6-4-1) before 12,690 at Dallas.
San Jose 3, Kansas City 0-- Ariel Graziani scored two goals and the Earthquakes (7-3-2) beat the Wizards (2-4-4) in front of 8,043 at San Jose.
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In WUSA games:
Boston 2, Carolina 2--Dagny Mellgren scored twice to lift Boston (2-3-4) to a tie before 9,107 at Boston. Carolina is 4-1-3.
Philadelphia 1, Washington 1--Marinette Pichon scored in the 87th minute for Philadelphia (5-1-2) before 9,650 at Villanova, Pa. Washington is 2-4-3.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
