Chivas didn’t so much hold the Galaxy in check in the first half as had them checkmated.
Chivas totally dominated the tempo of the game — taking 11 shots to their opponent’s one – and the Galaxy found it difficult to get out of their own half.
The Galaxy had no shots on target at all. So ineffective were their forwards that Coach Frank Yallop pulled off striker Alan Gordon in the 40th minute, replaced him with defensive midfielder Pete Vagenas and moved Landon Donovan up front to get him nearer the goal.
Chivas had the game’s two best chances.
First, a punishing Ramon Morales run left Abel Xavier in his wake and he squared the ball perfectly to Omar Arellano, who missed a sitter from just seven yards out.
A couple of minutes later Morales sent a direct free kick blazing goalward only to see his effort pushed around the post by an acrobatic Joe Cannon save.