Photo by Scott Varley

Cobi Jones’ MLS coaching debut sadly became a footnote on a night when former U.S. National Team coach Bruce Arena emerged as the next likely Galaxy coach.

So largely did the game, which included an 89th minute Mike Randolph shot that crashed off the bar after a long David Beckham pass, a dramatic stoppage time equalizer from Alan Gordon and a fractured jaw from a Sean Franklin elbow to veteran Chivas USA midfielder Jesse Marsch that Preki was understandably not at all happy about:

“Sean Franklin elbows Jess Marsch. The refereee stands three yards away he doesn’t do anything. … That’s very disappointing instead of playing 15 minutes with them a man down we play the last 15 minutes with a man down.”

“I inadvertantly hit him in the face,” Franklin said. “I just came up with my arm. Hopefully there’s no hard feelings.”

Noted: there was also a brutal Atiba Harris thigh high challenge on David Beckham late in the game (that Preki claimed he didn’t know anything about) that was likely an effort to settle a score.

Chivas USA was without 10 players – said Preki:

“At the end of the day, I’m really, really proud of my group. We played like 10 lions, or like 10 hurt lions, and I’ve got to tip my hat to them. I’m really, really happy for them, just unhappy that at the end we didn’t take three points.”

A full game report is here.

Cobi had the quote of the night when he walked in the Galaxy locker room and exclaimed to no-one in particular: “Where’s that (Superclasico) trophy? I’m taking it home with me.”

Highlights:

More photos here.