Galaxy gets its first win since June
Like a comatose patient whose eyelids suddenly start fluttering, the Galaxy on Saturday night emerged from a three-month slumber and actually won a game.
Not just won it but dominated it.
The luckless opponent on the receiving end as the Galaxy ended its 12-game winless streak dating from June 14 was four-time Major League Soccer champion D.C. United, which was beaten, 5-2, in an incident-packed match at the Home Depot Center.
It was Landon Donovan who led the charge. The league’s leading goal scorer this season grabbed his 17th, 18th and 19th goals of the year, moving him closer to the Galaxy’s all-time single-season mark of 24 set by Carlos Ruiz in 2002. Donovan also had an assist.
His three-goal effort moved him ahead of Welton, who scored 17 goals in 1998, tied him with Cobi Jones, who scored 19, also in 1998, and put him within striking distance of Eduardo “El Tanque” Hurtado, who scored 21 in 1996.
More important than Donovan’s hat trick, however, was the three points the Galaxy earned. They were enough to allow the team to escape the Western Conference cellar and move to within two points of a playoff spot with five games remaining.
First-place Houston, whose home game against San Jose was postponed because of the after-effects of Hurricane Ike, has 39 points. Chivas USA is second with 33. Real Salt Lake and Colorado have 31. The Galaxy is tied with San Jose with 29. Dallas, which plays at Chicago today, has 27.
Only the top three gain a playoff place, although a wild-card berth remains an outside possibility for a team from the West.
The visitors stunned the Galaxy by scoring 69 seconds into the game when Devon McTavish latched onto a corner kick and fired the ball into the far corner. The goal was the fifth-fastest ever scored against the Galaxy.
After that, Donovan took over. He tied the score in the 23rd minute, not long after David Beckham had been yellow carded for arguing with referee Terry Vaughn.
The goal was created by a combination of Chris Klein’s excellent through ball from the halfway line, Donovan’s speed in racing past the defense and his composure in chipping the ball over goalkeeper Louis Crayton.
Donovan put his team ahead 12 minutes later, with Beckham getting the assist, and Alan Gordon grabbed the third in the 38th minute after some poor defense by United.
The visitors cut it to 3-2 on Thabiso Khumalo’s first MLS goal early in the second half, and there was still time for United defender Marc Burch to be red carded for a foul on Beckham, for Donovan to set up Pete Vagenas for the Galaxy’s fourth goal and to score the fifth himself.
--
