Galaxy starts off strong and beats Chivas
Seventy-eight minutes into Saturday night’s Major League Soccer match at the sold-out Home Depot Center, the difference between the Galaxy and Chivas USA was underlined in emphatic fashion.
Landon Donovan received the ball in his own half, sprinted downfield at full speed, hurdled slide-tackling defender Lawson Vaughn and curled a perfect pass to the feet of Cobi Jones.
Jones slotted the ball past Chivas goalkeeper Brad Guzan to finish off not only a highlight-reel play but also any chance Chivas had of getting back into the match.
The Galaxy won, 3-1, but the gulf between the teams was greater than that, at least on this particular evening.
The Galaxy took the lead 7 minutes 52 seconds into the game thanks to an almost-comical mix-up between Guzan and veteran defender Claudio Suarez.
Kyle Martino floated the ball into the Chivas penalty area and Guzan rushed out of his net to grab it but collided with Suarez. The ball bounced off one of them and Donovan, alert as ever, simply steered it into the open net.
“They both have to take the responsibility for it,” Chivas Coach Preki said afterward. “Whether it was a lack of communication or a bad decision by Claudio or a bad decision by Brad, I don’t know yet. I’ve got to talk to both of them.”
Whatever the answer, Chivas shrugged off the setback and immediately sought the tying goal. The team was a shade unlucky when a strong header by Alex Zotinca yielded nothing but a corner kick after Galaxy goalkeeper Joe Cannon deflected the ball wide.
Things then got worse for Chivas.
Canadian midfielder Kevin Harmse doubled the Galaxy’s lead at the 16:41 mark, outsprinting the Chivas defense after a give-and-go exchange of passes with Donovan and then slotting the ball inside the near post.
At 2-0, the Galaxy appeared to have the game sewn up. But Chivas cut the deficit in half in the 63rd minute when Suarez deflected a shot by Jesse Marsch past Cannon to make it 2-1.
For a while, Chivas (2-2) had the upper hand, but Donovan’s breakaway and Jones’ goal ended any hopes it had of squaring matters.
There was one more negative note for Chivas, which is 1-8-1 all time against the Galaxy (1-1-1). Honduran playmaker Amado Guevara, who has been less than effective this season, was pulled from the game by Preki in the 56th minute and then, on the bench, was red-carded for shoving an assistant referee after Jones’ goal.
Preki didn’t disguise his displeasure.
“I don’t think Amado was sharp from the first minute,” Preki said. “He couldn’t find the ball. Defensively he was working hard. In a game like this, we need 11 guys to fight for each other. In my opinion, when you put on a Chivas jersey and you go out there, you better represent that with a lot of pride.
“Tonight, he wasn’t the Amado Guevara we know.”
Galaxy Coach Frank Yallop was a lot happier, having gained his first MLS victory of the season.
“I was very, very happy with the guys’ effort,” he said. “And to score the third one was a real relief.”
