Galaxy Can’t Stop Revolution
The only positive moment for the Galaxy on Saturday came at halftime of its Major League Soccer game against the New England Revolution.
That’s when Will Lunn, president of the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta, N.Y., announced that Alexi Lalas, the Galaxy’s president and general manager, would be one of two former players to be inducted in 2006.
Other than that, it was a miserable afternoon for Coach Steve Sampson’s team, which was routed, 4-0, in a game that wasn’t even that close.
Taylor Twellman, burdened by the disappointment of not making the U.S. World Cup team on Monday and saddened by the death of his grandfather, former Detroit Tiger outfielder Jim Delsing, on Thursday, put the Revolution ahead a mere 4:46 into the match at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.
Jose Cancela’s shot was knocked away by Galaxy goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, but the ball ran straight to Twellman, who slotted it into the back of the net before running to pose, arms folded, before a banner that New England fans had strung up reading: “Why Not Taylor?”
The goal was Twellman’s 70th in 116 MLS games, including playoffs, but the league’s reigning most valuable player was chosen only as an alternate on U.S. Coach Bruce Arena’s World Cup team.
Another alternate, winger Steve Ralston, scored the Revolution’s second goal in the 39th minute, when Cancela used a free kick to pass to a wide-open Ralston, who drove the ball through a crowd of players and beneath Hartman’s dive.
Midfielder Shalrie Joseph powered home a header off another Cancela free kick at the 42:41 mark to give the Revolution a 3-0 halftime lead, then scored on a penalty kick in the 70th minute after Galaxy defender Chris Albright had stuck out a leg and upended Twellman, whose theatrics made the foul appear worse than it was.
The Galaxy, which in the second half brought forward Joseph Ngwenya on for his season debut and newly acquired Brazilian forward Thiago on for his MLS debut, created only two scoring chances, both by Landon Donovan.
But Donovan dragged one shot wide left and later saw a sharp header off a perfect Albright cross saved by Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis.
Other than that, the Galaxy (2-3-1) had nothing.
It was New England’s largest margin of victory ever against Los Angeles and gave the Revolution (2-2-1) a sweep of the two-game season series. The Galaxy had edged the Revolution, 1-0, in last year’s MLS Cup final.
Lalas, despite his Hall of Fame recognition -- he and former U.S. women’s national team captain and two-time world champion Carla Overbeck will be inducted Aug. 28 -- could not have been impressed.
The Galaxy plays Wednesday night at FC Dallas in Donovan’s and Albright’s final game before leaving to join the U.S. team at its World Cup training camp in Cary, N.C.
Without them, the Galaxy soon could be struggling even more than it was on Saturday.
Jones reported from Los Angeles.
