Galaxy Doesn’t Help Itself
After the final whistle sounded, it was Jay Nolly who stood on the field at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Saturday night with his arms thrust heavenward, flashing a grin as wide as the Wasatch.
And for good reason.
The rookie from Indiana, making his Major League Soccer debut, pulled off nine saves -- some routine, none spectacular -- as he helped Real Salt Lake upset the Galaxy, 2-1, in front of 18,621.
Beaten by a rookie? Beaten by an expansion team?
Not really. The Galaxy was beaten by itself. It should have put away the game in the first 15 minutes. It should have sewn up the three points by halftime.
Instead, Coach Steve Sampson’s squad blew scoring chance after scoring chance, with the result putting an end to its four-game win streak and the team yielding sole possession of first place in the Western Conference.
The Galaxy (4-2) has 12 points from six games. FC Dallas, which tied the Earthquakes, 0-0, at San Jose, is 3-2-2 and has 12 points from seven games.
The Earthquakes (2-1-4, 10 points) are the Galaxy’s next opponent at the Home Depot Center next Saturday.
In Salt Lake City, meanwhile, it was a story of what might have been.
Landon Donovan set up Peter Vagenas with a glorious chance in the 11th minute. All Vagenas needed to do was steer the ball into the open net. Instead, the ball bounced off his knee and the opportunity was gone.
Two minutes later, Donovan’s astute pass put Jovan Kirovski in free behind the Salt Lake defense, but Kirovski skewed his angled shot narrowly wide right.
Buoyed by this good fortune, Nolly then took over, denying repeated efforts by Kirovski (six shots), Guillermo “Pando” Ramirez (four), Chris Albright (three) and Donovan (two).
“It’s disappointing,” Sampson said. “We played well enough to win by two or three goals. Finish those opportunities and it’s a whole different story.
“Plus, I think it’s important to give credit to Nolly. He played very well tonight. He played exceptionally for his debut.”
Nolly, or “Nolly the Goalie” as he was known in his Hoosier days, was beaten only once, that by Kirovski in the 39th minute after a build-up that involved Paulo Nagamura, Cobi Jones, Albright, Vagenas and Kirovski.
The Galaxy was 4-0 this season after scoring the first goal.
Eddie Pope tied the score in the 49th minute, stabbing home a corner kick from Andy Williams. Jason Kreis grabbed the game-winner in the 65th minute, running onto a long pass from Clint Mathis that sailed over the Galaxy defense and then chipping the ball over goalkeeper Kevin Hartman.
The unexpected victory improved Real’s record to 2-3-2.
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Jones reported from Los Angeles.
