Really? Is this what MLS thinks is a derby game? This looked more like a few folks got together to kick a good ol' Mitre ball around the backyard on a Saturday night. That's about how much intensity this match had.
Now both of these sides were coming in on high notes. Last week the Galaxy destroyed Sporting KC in the Home Depot Center. Really though, who hasn't destroyed Sporting KC during their road trip exile? Chivas USA had a more impressive win, taking all three points from the Red Bulls at Red Bull Arena. Neither club played like they did last week.
Chivas got out to a pretty quick start though, and it looked like it caught LA a litte flat footed. In the first minute Justin Braun, who had the hat trick last week, got his head on a corner kick and just missed putting it on target. Chivas USA continued to press the attack during the opening five minutes, aided by sloppy play on defense from the Galaxy. They couldn't get it on net though.
Finally about the sixth or seventh minute LA fell into their groove and took control. Dunivant put a dangerous cross into the are in the 7th minute that was just barely picked off by Dan Kennedy. In the 15th minute, David Beckham found himself standing over a free kick just outside the area. Predictably, he whipped it in and Omar Gonzalez got a head to it, but he put it just off target.
Chivas tried to fight back after that little danger, but unfortunately for the Goats, they couldn't muster much. Moreno did get a decent look in the 23rd minute, but Ricketts was there as per usual.
Finally the Galaxy struck in the 26th minute. David Beckham, who came into the game with 4 assists this year, found himself over yet another free kick close to the Chivas area. If you give this guy too many chances, it's gonna bite you in the butt, and it bit Chivas here. Once again Becks whipped the ball toward the area, and this time Barrett got a good back header on it to ease past Kennedy far post to give the Galaxy a 1-0 lead. That was also our margin at the break.
The second half was even more pedestrian and sloppy than the first half was. The best chance came in the 49th minute when Barrett took a nice ball from JPA and got one on one with Kennedy. He actually got around the Chivas keeper and looked at the net but SOMEHOW put it off target. Horrid finish.
The other story of the second half was the pressure applied down the stretch by the goats. Apparently LA decided they didn't need to try to score again and they sat back and tried to absorb the Chivas pressure. Chivas almost made them pay a couple of times. In the 66th minute, Zemanksi hit what looked like a sure equalizer only to be denied by the wood work. An unnerved looking Ricketts also was forced to make a save late off the foot of La Broca, but in the end, LA held on for the 1-0 win.
Until Chivas gets better, we need to stop hyping this game. It sucks. Neither team was up for it. Of course, with Chivas wanting to go to an all local SoCal squad, well then they might never be competitive. Not sure what's up with that, but last night the game belonged to the Galaxy.
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