Galaxy falls to Houston, 3-1
The team that Frank Yallop built and Dominic Kinnear honed to a fine edge clinched a Major League Soccer playoff spot Sunday evening.
The Houston Dynamo -- once known as the San Jose Earthquakes but now known as the defending MLS champions -- did so by rolling over the Galaxy, 3-1, in front of 25,217 at the Home Depot Center.
Goals by Ryan Cochrane in the first half and Dwayne DeRosario and Ricardo Clark in the second 45 minutes were enough to not only win the match but to guarantee the Galaxy its third losing season in the last five.
Yallop, who coached San Jose to two MLS titles before handing over to his former assistant, Kinnear, was more than a little frustrated by the latest setback. Injuries and inexperience, he said, were no excuse for the glaring errors the Galaxy committed.
“We can’t give away goals like we did today,” Yallop said. “We’re just absolutely so naïve with our fight and our will to do better.”
In other words, the will and the fight were largely absent, as world light-welterweight champion Ricky Hatton, a guest in David Beckham’s suite, would surely have noticed Sunday.
“We just accept that another goal has gone in,” Yallop said. “Guys just don’t take responsibility. For me, you have to make sure that you feel that something is your fault, and I think our guys don’t. They don’t take responsibility.”
The loss dropped the Galaxy to 4-13-5, with only eight games left in the regular season, starting at Real Salt Lake on Wednesday.
The fewest victories Los Angeles has recorded in an MLS season is nine, in 2003, but the Galaxy would have to win an improbable five of its last eight just to reach that unimpressive mark.
The Galaxy defense took the brunt of the criticism Sunday.
“Our confidence level is poor, especially at the back,” Yallop said. “We’re nervous. We’re indecisive. We’re all the things you’re not supposed to be as a defender.”
Not that the Galaxy offense was any better. Apart from Alan Gordon’s 26th-minute goal on a crashing header off a Landon Donovan corner kick, there was little for Yallop to praise.
Thirty-two fouls and five yellow cards handed out by fussy referee Brian Hall did little to help the game flow, but persnickety officiating was not why the Galaxy lost.
Creating only one shot on goal in the second half was one reason.
Cochrane put Houston ahead in the 21st minute, banging in a Richard Mulrooney corner kick that had been flicked on by DeRosario, who restored the Dynamo’s lead two minutes into the second half on a penalty kick awarded by Hall, although the foul by Mike Randolph appeared to have occurred outside the box.
Clark’s 73rd-minute goal was mere icing for Houston (13-7-6).
“We’ve clinched today, so I’m happy with that,” Kinnear said. “You always want more, but for where we’re at now, I’m very pleased.”
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