Major League Soccer

MLS Playoffs: Monday MLS Breakdown: Pulsating Conference Finals Set Stage For Unexpected MLS Cup

Los Angeles and Real Salt Lake will meet in Seattle on Sunday night for MLS Cup after emerging from a drama-filled pair of conference finals. Kyle McCarthy credits the visiting teams for their approach and reviews all of the action in the Monday MLS Breakdown.

Nov 16, 2009 5:27:40 AM

Real Salt Lake, Eastern Conference champion win, (Isaac Heath, Goal.com)

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Real Salt Lake, Eastern Conference champion win, (Isaac Heath, Goal.com)

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By Kyle McCarthy

Thank the ambition of the road teams for providing the foundation for two stirring conference finals.

Houston and Real Salt Lake grasped the initiative in the early stages and pressed the play for most of their visits to Los Angeles and Chicago. Forget about sitting back and daring the home sides to break them down. The visitors wanted to play on the front foot, a goal that suited the home sides well enough considering their ability on the counter. The road endeavor upended the usual staid approach to big games and contributed significantly to the entertainment value in both matches.

Between the near-misses, the untimely collisions with the woodwork, the extra time periods in both matches, the power outages at the Home Depot Center and the spot kick drama at Toyota Park, the conference finals boasted just about everything except for a goal during regulation time.

Only Real Salt Lake reaped the deserved benefits after its penalty kick win in Chicago as Houston watched its shot at a third title in four years slip away through a surprisingly disallowed Andrew Hainault header late in regulation and its fading legs in extra time.

The pulsating fare arranged a MLS Cup clash between Los Angeles and Real Salt Lake that no one would have pegged prior to the campaign. As the endless speculation and punditry surrounding this tilt brings the match into focus as the week progresses, one can only hope the end product results in similarly enjoyable fare at Qwest Field on Sunday night.

Rimando steals the show again in penalty kicks

The last time Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando won the Eastern Conference championship, he saved two penalty kicks as D.C. United beat New England from the spot after a 3-3 draw back in 2004.

Rimando went one save better to win the East crown and send RSL to its first MLS Cup after a 0-0 draw at Chicago on Saturday night.

“He was superb,” Real Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis said to the assembled media throng afterward. “Superb. I think if you look back you’ll find Nick making a lot of saves on penalty kicks. No surprise to any of us.”

Chicago probably mustered some shock as it consistently tested Rimando's ability to cover the lower right corner and failed on each occasion. Rimando thwarted John Thorrington with a dive to his left to nullify Javier Morales' miss during the standard five kicks to send the match into extra frames. Logan Pause opened the sudden-death portion with a similar attempt and suffered the same result as his central midfield partner did. Fabian Espindola blazed well over to keep the Fire alive, but Rimando denied Brandon Prideaux when he again tried the same location on the next penalty kick to set up late substitute Ned Grabavoy's winning kick.

After the celebrations finally died down, Rimando fielded questions about his prowess on penalty kicks and deftly stepped around a query about why he has enjoyed so much success at saving spot kick attempts.

“I can’t give away all of my secrets but it’s something that I feel comfortable with,” Rimando said. “I was happy with the saves and I knew my teammates were going to make the ones they needed to make. Here we are.”

Galaxy late show fueled by rock-solid central defensive combo

On a night where the lights failed twice and Galaxy stars David Beckham and Landon Donovan struggled to influence the match from the run of play, Los Angeles centerbacks Gregg Berhalter and Omar Gonzalez burned brightest to seal the Galaxy's first MLS Cup trip since winning it all back in 2005 with a 2-0 win over Houston.

Berhalter and Gonzalez did all of the heavy lifting at the back as the Galaxy withstood the Dynamo's pressure and fought through its own inability to generate much in the attack for most of the night. To cap off a disciplined night of defensive work, the duo combined for the opening and game-winning goal on 103 minutes after Gonzalez nodded Beckham's free kick across the face of goal and Berhalter eventually sidefooted home after Dynamo substitute Eddie Robinson couldn't clear.

“I was just ready to put my body on the line, I just had to get my head on it,” Gonzalez said to the assembled reporters after the match. “I haven’t gotten to many headers all year, but time was winding down and I just wanted to get my head on it and it just happened to fall off a Dynamo player and Gregg [Berhalter] was there to finish it up. Beckham put a great ball in there.”

Beckham and Donovan (who scored the second on a penalty kick) may get most of the credit most of the time, but this gritty performance under difficult circumstances proved once again that the Galaxy thrives as a team, not merely as a collection of individuals. This group, not just those two players, will travel to Seattle as the prohibitive favorites to lift MLS Cup.

“I don’t want to end it here,” Galaxy coach Bruce Arena said. “We have to win another game. I think can celebrate the next 12 hours or so, 24 hours, but then we have to get back to business and trying to win the MLS Cup.”

Conference Finals – Questions, Thoughts, and Answers

Monday MLS Breakdown Player of the Week – Nick Rimando, GK, Real Salt Lake

One stunning diving save in regulation to deny Marco Pappa and three super stops to his left in penalty kicks to send his team through to its first MLS Cup. Any questions?

The Starting XI (plus a substitute)

Houston 0 – Los Angeles 2 (AET)
1. Two power outages shut off the lights at the Home Depot Center for a combined 36 minutes and left just about everyone frustrated by events controlled by others. The outages, which took place in the 18th and 51st minutes, occurred “due to two significant power dips in Southen Califronia Edison Industrial grid in which the facility sits,” according to a statement released by the Galaxy.
2. Aside from the remarkably improved defensive composition, the biggest difference between the 2008 Galaxy and the 2009 Galaxy is the depth off the bench. A.J. DeLaGarza stepped in at left back for Todd Dunivant (illness) and didn't miss a beat. Galaxy coach Bruce Arena called on two former U.S. internationals in Jovan Kirovski and Eddie Lewis and one former USL-1 scoring champ in Alan Gordon as his three substitutes. That's the type of depth that wins conference championships.
3. For all of his bouts of wastefulness in front of goal, Gordon still has a useful role to play as a substitute because he throws his body around and makes life difficult for tired defenses. Case in point: Gordon tempted Ricardo Clark into a foul to set up Beckham's free kick for the opener and then undid the Dynamo defense on the dribble to cause Clark to hack him down for the penalty kick.
4. It's a real shame that Clark stumbled so badly as his legs faded in stoppage time because he was probably the best player on the park during regulation. Clark's constant work closed down nearly all of the space Beckham and Donovan wanted in the middle of the field.
5. While the Galaxy centerbacks may get all of the deserved publicity after this game, Houston's duo of Bobby Boswell and Geoff Cameron enjoyed a fine evening as well. Boswell shows up game after game and doesn't get noticed for his tidy work, while Cameron interjected on multiple occasions to halt danger at the back before switching to right midfield in extra time.
6. One week after tormenting Seattle with his speed over the top, Dominic Oduro simply couldn't find a foothold against a Galaxy back four that doesn't generally cope well with pace. Oduro didn't have much service, but he also didn't do particularly well when given the opportunity either. Credit the Galaxy's backline for adjusting its approach to compensate for the threat Oduro presented.

Real Salt Lake 0 – Chicago 0 (Real Salt Lake advances 5-4 on penalty kicks)
7. Yura Movsisyan started in place of Fabian Espindola and the results will almost certainly create a selection poser for Sunday night. Movsisyan looked active enough in his stint and nearly fired RSL in front on a breakaway just prior to the break, while Espindola didn't accomplish much as a late substitute in Movsisyan's place. The question Kreis will have to weigh as the week progresses: is his side better off with Espindola's contribution in the early stages and Movsisyan's second-half spark or the inverse with Movsisyan influencing the game early before his post-interval fade and Espindola struggling to provide a late-game surge?
8. After a nervy start, RSL's centerback duo of Nat Borchers and Jamison Olave settled down and marshaled the Claret-and-Cobalt's determined defensive effort. The solid-as-a-rock combo contributed critical tackles and brave blocks time and again.
9. Borchers and Olave benefited from plenty of help in front of them. Kyle Beckerman and Will Johnson covered acres of ground and plugged space effectively. Their work helped to limit Cuauhtemoc Blanco's effectiveness on the night to dead ball situations just one week after an influential performance in all facets carried the Fire past New England.
10. Kreis expressed his surprise with Chicago's low pressure after the match, but it worked out just fine for the home side during the match. Pause and Thorrington restricted the area right in front of the Fire back four, generally stopping RSL from combining in the central areas. The cramped central spaces permitted plenty of space for RSL fullbacks Robbie Russell and Chris Wingert to hop into the attack and help the Claret-and-Cobalt work the ball around the perimeter, but the service and the incisiveness didn't really pose Chicago many problems. The Fire's lack of consistent pressure also allowed plenty of space to break on the counter, which worked out fairly well all things considered...
11. ...especially when Patrick Nyarko came on as a substitute. While Nyarko's speed stands out as his best attribute on the counter, he also does a nice job finding the right spot to receive the ball and either turn up field or maintain possession.
12. Tactical suggestion for those flare-bearing Fire fans: don't set off those lighted bursts of atmosphere when the Fire are defending the goal right in front of your section. The smoke from the flares nearly allowed Robbie Findley to grab an injury-time winner from a Morales corner, but Thorrington managed to hack the effort off the line.

Kyle McCarthy writes the Monday MLS Breakdown and frequently writes opinion pieces during the week for Goal.com. He also covers the New England Revolution for the Boston Herald and MLSnet.com. Contact him with your questions or comments at kyle.mccarthy@goal.com and follow him on Twitter by clicking here.

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