Final Result: Kansas City Wizards at Galaxy
It was neither pretty nor convincing, but the Galaxy (4-3-2) secured a 3-1 win against the Wizards (3-3-2) Saturday to go top of the Western Conference against a team that ceded more territory than the French in the Ardennes Forest in WW II.
A soft penalty won by a diving Landon Donovan (worth about an 8.5 at least) in the 54th minute and a winner by Edson Buddle that had a whiff of offside about it 20 minutes later gave the Galaxy the three points.
David Beckham added the third seconds before the end, when Kevin Hartman left his goal to come up for a last-ditch Wizards corner kick. Becks collected the clearance on the outside of his own box, dribbled up the wing, heard the crowd yelling that Hartman was well out of position, looked up and sent a long shot from about 70 yards into the empty net.
The Wizards also had a shot cleared off the line, while Buddle hit the crossbar five minutes from time.
Carlos Ruiz came on in the 86th minute and with his first touch tried to win a free kick - or penalty - in or near the Wizards box. He didn't get the call.
Incidentally, Joe Franchino was pulled just before half time in favor of Ely Allen in what was a tactical move.
Allen was guilty of a horrendous miss on the hour mark, when Beckham squared the ball to him perfectly only to see it completely mishit just outside the box.
Back with more from the locker rooms later.
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About 100 Percent Soccer
Sportswriter Nick Green has written the 100 Percent Soccer column since 2005 for the Daily News, Daily Breeze and other Los Angeles area newspapers. The blog of the same name began in 2007. A native of England, he began writing about soccer in the mid-1980s and in 2000 permanently exchanged a seat in the stands for one in the press box. He lives six miles from Carson's Home Depot Center, home of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas USA and the training headquarters for U.S. Soccer and is married to a long-suffering soccer widow. Join Nick on FaceBook and follow him on Twitter.
I read the score and was happy, but your comments have brought me back to earth. At least Ruiz is back...
I don't know if you've seen the replay, but the replay of Landon's penalty shows the ref made the right call. Landon did embellish, but the defender stuck his foot in late and did trip Landon.
What an open end to end game, what a result and what a absolute fantastic atmosphere!
BRILLIANT
WAS NOT A DIVE.
You and your little posse of soccer writers in the press box should think for yourselves next time and not just all fall into a group think mentality.
The match reports that made it into both the Times and the Daily News were disgraceful.