Gomez Quite a Pillar of Scoring for Galaxy

Who needs Landon Donovan when you have Herculez Gomez?

Gomez, a 23-year-old rookie from Las Vegas, scored both goals Saturday night as the Galaxy ended a six-game winless streak with a 2-0 victory over Chivas USA in front of an announced sellout of 27,000 at the Home Depot Center.

Whether the effort is enough to get him a start against Real Madrid in Monday night’s high-profile friendly, also in Carson, depends on whether Gomez recovers from a nasty shin injury he suffered in one of many hard tackles that marked the hard-fought match.

One thing the Galaxy knows for sure is that Donovan will not play against Real Madrid.

Bruce Arena, coach of the U.S. national team, has refused to release the midfielder for the game because the U.S., which defeated Jamaica on Saturday, has a CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal against Honduras on Thursday night at Giants Stadium.

Doug Hamilton, the Galaxy’s president and general manager, said the Galaxy, as well as its owner, the Anschutz Entertainment Group, had done all it could to get Donovan released, but in the end they understood Arena’s reasoning.

“Four games in a week may be a bit much to ask of anyone, including a 23-year-old, [especially] when you add coast-to-coast travel,” Hamilton said. “So I think it’s in the best interests of the player and the games that Landon stays with the U.S.”

Gomez, meanwhile, is overjoyed at the prospect of even being on the same field as Real Madrid.

“Once I wake up tomorrow and I realize this isn’t a dream, it’s going to mean the world to me,” he said.

“It’s going to be another dream being lived out, playing against the best in the world. There’s no question about what Real Madrid is, you know, soccer-wise. It’s going to be special being on the same pitch as some of those guys. It’s something I’m going to cherish the rest of my life.”

Gomez was sent into Saturday night’s game in the 61st minute of a scoreless match.

Steve Sampson, the Galaxy’s coach, wanted to liven up things.

“He told me, ‘Right now we’re lacking energy and that’s really what I want you to do, is bring energy,’ ” Gomez said.

Within three minutes of coming on, Gomez had scored, taking a pass from Paulo Nagamura and firing a low, 20-yard shot that deflected in off the inside of the right post, barely out of goalkeeper Brad Guzan’s reach.

The goal was good enough, the celebration was highlight-reel material.

Gomez sprinted back 75 yards to the Galaxy’s Riot Squad fan section in one corner of the stadium, leaped up among the fans and planted a kiss on one of the several dozen inflatable Chiva Girls dolls that the Galaxy fans had been waving about in high good humor all night.

Word was the dolls had not simply fallen from the sky but had been the inspiration of comedian and ardent Galaxy fan Drew Carey.

Whatever the source, Gomez took one home with him.

His goal also took the air out of Chivas USA, which had played well to that point and had actually had the better of the Galaxy in the first half, holding a 7-2 edge in shots.

Chivas USA continued to create chances in the second 45 minutes, with only some timely interventions by Cobi Jones and goalkeeper Kevin Hartman denying the expansion team, which is now 0-3 against the Galaxy this season and 2-14-3 overall.

Gomez scored again in the final minute as the Galaxy improved to 8-6-4.

“This one really hurts,” Guzan said. “We battled, we played well, we were just unlucky.”