Galaxy Snatches It From Chivas USA

It was so close they could taste it, feel it, smell it.

The Chivas USA fans were on their feet at the Home Depot Center on Saturday night, chanting, singing, stamping their feet and tossing red and white paper streamers and confetti onto the field.

Less than six minutes remained in regulation, and the Goats were leading the Galaxy -- a team they had never beaten -- on an Ante Razov goal 40 seconds into the second half.

And then, just like that, it all evaporated in an improbable 2-1 Galaxy win.

First, Landon Donovan climbed above Jesse Marsch to get his head to the ball and redirect it to Cornell Glen, whose off-balance shot from six yards out sneaked inside the left post to tie it at 1-1.

Then, four minutes into the nine minutes of injury time, Chivas USA’s Jonathan Bornstein had a poor pass intercepted in midfield by Donovan, who ran at the Chivas defense, took the ball wide right and then dropped it on a dime to Glen, who had made a diagonal run and was waiting unmarked at the far post.

Glen, a Trinidad international signed last week by the Galaxy, fired a shot into the far corner of the net. Goalkeeper Brad Guzan had no chance. Galaxy fans in the sellout crowd of 27,000 erupted.

The victory gave the Galaxy a 5-0 record in the series.

Soccer can be a cruel sport, and Saturday night offered a perfect example.

It could have been otherwise. It should have been otherwise.

It was one of the most intense Major League Soccer matches played in the 3-year-old stadium, and one of the strangest.

Had referee Kevin Stott seen Galaxy defender Ugo Ihemelu pull down Chivas USA’s Juan Pablo Garcia by the back of his jersey in the penalty area, Chivas USA might have had a two-goal lead and been able to hang on.

But the foul went unseen and uncalled. Having been swept by the Galaxy in four MLS games last season, and having also lost to the defending MLS champions in the U.S. Open Cup, Chivas USA desperately wanted to set things straight.

Or at least begin doing so.

The Galaxy had an 11-9 edge in shots and a 5-4 advantage in shots on target, but it was Chivas USA (1-2-0) that played the more adventurous soccer, that was more creative in its approach and that, truth be told, “won” the first 84 minutes.

But Donovan’s intervention and Glen’s two goals won the game for the Galaxy (1-1-1) earning it its first victory of the young season.

The second half, sparked by Razov’s third goal of the season, was played at a tremendous pace, with both teams fighting tooth and nail, sometimes almost literally. Injuries were frequent, hence the extended injury time.

If nothing else, the game should bring the fans back.

Galaxy Coach Steve Sampson made two changes to his starting lineup, dropping forward Herculez Gomez and replacing him with Glen, and dropping winger Josh Gardner and replacing him with Ned Grabavoy.

Sampson also tinkered with his alignment, sending midfielder Paulo Nagamura out wide left into Gardner’s spot and using Grabavoy as more of a central playmaker alongside Donovan.

It took a long time for the Galaxy to settle into the new system, and for much of the game it seemed the players never would.

Chivas USA carried the game to the Galaxy, especially when Francisco Palencia lifted his game noticeably in the second 45 minutes.

It was Palencia’s pass that ignited the sequence ending in Razov’s goal.

There was only one word to describe the first half an hour, however: Strange.

How often, for instance, is a massage therapist ejected from a game?

That happened to Chivas USA’s Humberto Macias in the 14th minute when he furiously protested from the bench a dubious offside call against Razov.

Exactly what Macias said is unclear, but it brought referee Stott running over with a red card in double-quick time.

Weird.

And then there was the extraordinary save that Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman pulled off just before the 30-minute mark when he had to fling himself across the net to block a blazing shot by ... Galaxy defender Chris Albright?

In a desperate effort to clear a loose ball before Chivas winger Francisco Mendoza got to it, Albright lashed out at it and only Hartman’s acrobatics prevented him from firing the ball into his own net.

Bizarre.

That merely set up the strange ending, however. At Home Depot Center, it was one of those nights.