Major League Soccer

MLS Playoffs: LA Galaxy Reach MLS Cup At Houston's Expense

It was a day for the defenses and the insomniacs as the LA Galaxy won the Western Conference final over the Houston Dynamo after 30 minutes of extra time and two power outages.

Nov 14, 2009 2:33:59 AM

David Beckham, Landon Donovan, Jovan Kirovski; Los Angeles Galaxy; MLS (ISI)

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David Beckham, Landon Donovan, Jovan Kirovski; Los Angeles Galaxy; MLS (ISI)

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LA Galaxy

CARSON, Calif. -- The curse of Friday the 13th struck the Western Conference final as power outages plagued the the battle between the Houston Dynamo and Los Angeles Galaxy. After three hours, the Galaxy prevailed, 2-0.

The Galaxy had to make a slight adjustment to their lineup before kickoff, as defender Todd Dunivant was out sick. AJ DeLaGarza, who had deputized in the left back spot earlier in the season, stepped in.

First Half

The change didn't seem to throw the Galaxy off-stride in the early going, as they had the first solid attack in the 4th minute. Mike Magee played a through ball to Landon Donovan, who swept into the box, where he cut the ball back to Magee. His shot was pawed at by Houston goalkeeper Pat Onstad, and, though it bounced off his own defender, the ball did remain out of the goal.

After avoiding the close call, the Dynamo got their own fluid attack going. Good midfield play led to a corner kick opportunity in the 8th minute after DeLaGarza was forced to head a probing cross by Brad Davis out. Though the corner came to nothing, it started off a quality run of play by Houston. Another corner was earned three minutes later, and three minutes after that, Houston had a chance at goal when Stuart Holden timed his run perfectly to receive the ball from Brian Mullan in the box. Unfortunately for the Dynamo, Holden's shot was poor and didn't test Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts at all.

In the 17th minute, another Houston attack was repelled by Los Angeles, but the build-up was telling. The door was getting knocked on far more by the visitors than the home team. In the 18th minute, a hopeful long-distance shot by DeLaGarza did little to reverse the trend.

Yet the Galaxy weren't the only entity having trouble mustering up energy. With 17:49 on the clock, the field lights flickered and went out as a power grid shift caused a power dip.

With the field dark, players from both teams stretched, drank water and jogged to keep warm while coping with the impromptu break.

When the lights returned over 18 minutes later, the Galaxy revived as well. Their passing was more crisp, and that led to a renewal of attacks on the Dynamo's end of the field.

A header on goal by Donovan in the 25th minute was especially dangerous, as Onstad was caught out of his goal. Holden managed a fine defensive header to save the day for the Dynamo.

A minute later, a Mullan tackle from behind on Edson Buddle set up a free kick in a dangerous area for the Galaxy. Beckham cracked his kick on goal, which tested Onstad, but the veteran pushed it out, keeping the game scoreless.

The Dynamo seemed to have survived their lull after the power failure when Davis forced Ricketts into two saves in the 30th and 34th minutes. Even after the Dynamo's rhythm recalibrated, though, the Galaxy had some counterattack chances. An excellent tackle by Geoff Cameron halted one such advance by Landon Donovan late in the half and the teams went scoreless into the break.

Second Half

As they did after the unexpected break, the Galaxy returned from halftime with more bite.

A long pass forced Onstad to come out and play the ball, and as he ran back to his area, Klein quickly tossed the ball to Donovan. Donovan took an excellent first touch that lost his primary defender, then wheeled towards goal and loosed a stinging shot that Onstad couldn't quite catch as it trickled out of bounds from his gloves. The Dynamo defense managed to repel the pair of corners by the Galaxy that followed.

The curse struck again as the lights failed once more, necessitating a break of the same length as the previous outage. The restless crowd entertained themselves by doing the wave.

This time, neither team seemed to have a particular advantage after the stoppage. The Dynamo earned a corner on the Galaxy's end, then the Galaxy got a long throw on Houston's end.

Both chances were snuffed out, as was a later Beckham corner kick in the 57th minute.

A run of Galaxy attacks followed for a few minutes, but the last pass was tantalizingly absent every time.

The Dynamo did better when they finally had a push forward again in the 62nd minute - as Davis lashed a hard shot on goal that Ricketts did well to keep out. The corner that followed started a Galaxy counter, culminating in a Beckham cross that neither Donovan or Magee could quite reach.

In the 72nd minute, the Galaxy had a slight shout for a penalty kick denied when Cameron bumped shoulders with Buddle in the box. The Galaxy striker was actually fortunate not to get carded as he hopped into a fall, going down far too easily.

The Dynamo then exerted more pressure on the Galaxy goal, but Cameron's outside shot in the 77th minute was wide. Soon after, Holden raced out on a counter and Dema Kovalenko was given a yellow card for the tackle that finally brought him down. The free kick was cleared, but the Dynamo kept coming, pinning the Galaxy back in their own half repeatedly.

The breakthrough looked to happen in the 79th minute, when a cross by Mullan found Ching in the box. The Hawaiian outjumped his defender and snapped a sharp header on goal. Ricketts' reaction had to be perfect, and even then, he needed a little help from the crossbar to keep out that try. On the following corner, the Dynamo put the ball in the net, but a foul on the play by Rico Clark on DeLaGarza nullified the score.

Late substitute Corey Ashe helped the Dynamo earn a corner in the 86th minute, but that attack was blotted out by poor service. A charge by Sean Franklin going the other way was cut off by Onstad catching the cross.

Chasing down Cameron with a late tackle, Donovan saw yellow in the 89th minute. Though the ball knocked around a bit promisingly in the Dynamo's end a bit more in the late going, that was the extent of things until the fulltime whistle blew, sending the teams to extra periods.

Extra Periods

In the first stint of extra time the Galaxy were lively at the start. A cross by Berhalter was cleared in the 93rd minute, and the Galaxy had a stint of sustained pressure. At one point, Buddle had the ball at his feet in the box, but quality defense stymied his attempts to turn and shoot.

Alan Gordon subbed in for Buddle three minutes later. Gordon helped build up an attacking play with Donovan and Beckham that ended when Onstad caught Beckham's cross in the box.

Another cross was blocked out, as the Galaxy were unable to make their possession advantage pay off. In the 101st minute, Magee came off for Eddie Lewis.

Gordon was grabbed around the torso by Ricardo Clark soon after, leading to another free kick chance for Beckham in the 103rd minute. He swerved the ball in perfectly, and it fell in a scrum of players, where Behalter successfully poked the rebound into the goal. The crowd erupted in joy and relief at the goal.

The Galaxy held their advantage through the first period.

In the final period, a foul on DeLaGarza set up another Beckham free kick that was put out for a corner. Onstad caught that service and the Dynamo pressed for the equalizer.

However, the Galaxy caught the Dynamo on the counter, when passes interplayed between Kovalenko and Gordon put Gordon in the box. Though not known for his dribbling, Gordon held the ball and was tripped by Clark.

Donovan put away the penalty kick with authority in the 109th minute, sealing the two-goal advantage.

Boswell was shown yellow for a push on Donovan soon after. Beckham put the free kick terribly close to the post, but couldn't quite tuck it in for the third goal.

The frustrated Dynamo chased the Galaxy players for the ball, with Landin earning another yellow card for a trip of Donovan, but Houston made no headway on goal until the final whistle.

Andrea Canales, Goal.com

For more on the Major League Soccer playoffs, visit Goal.com's MLS page

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