Live: Manchester City at Galaxy from Home Depot Center

Final: Galaxy 6 Manchester City 7

i-b5cdbe4ae3add56553f1ed49f6460767-jordan PK call.jpgSpot on? The Galaxy’s Bryan Jordan gets a PK call against him in the first half as Micah Richards goes down (AP Photo).

Attendance was 24,897 for this fairly entertaining affair that ended 1-1 in regulation and was decided on penalty kicks.

More later.

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Dan Keat scored with a blast up the middle for the Galaxy on the first kick.

James Milner replied successfully for the Galaxy.

Chris Birchall put the second Galaxy PK in the left corner of the net.

Vladimir Weiss scored City’s second PK.

Juninho’s PK hit the post for the Galaxy.

Denis Suarez has put City ahead.

Todd Dunivant converted the Galaxy’s fourth PK.

Alexander Kolarov’s kick was successful

McBean missed his attempt.

Lescott missed.

De Jong and the Galaxy’s McCarty missed their respective efforts.

Wright-Phillips made his, while DeLaGarza missed from the spot.

City goalkeeper Joe Hart scored the winner from the spot for City.

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John Guidetti’s stabbing shot from close range was denied by Josh Saunders just before the final whistle. We’re going to penalty kicks.

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Jack McBean, 16, made his Galaxy debut ,coming on as a 65th minute sub for Lopez. He immediately won a dangerous free kick in the 67th minute, Stefan Savic getting booked in the process. The set piece was hammered straight at the wall, however.

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Mike Magee scored a beauty that’s worthy of being a winning goal let alone an equalizer in the 53rd minute, the ball sitting up for him beautifully as he clobbered it from 25 yards out to give a grasping Joe Hart no chance. Chris Birchall had set him up after Keat had sent over a long ranging ball to him on the right wing.

A couple of minutes later both Todd Dunivant and Keat could have scored a second for the Galaxy, but Joe Hart saved both opportunities.

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As expected, City had the vast amount of the possession at the half- it was supposedly 60:40 although I think that’s being generous to the MLS team – against a Galaxy with several young starters and several less than mobile veterans.

The penalty kick that led to the goal may have been dispute, but the overwhelming superiority of the EPL team was not.

City strung together 289 total passes, the Galaxy 194; City had 10 shots on target, the Galaxy two.

Other unusual stats we don’t usually see for MLS games: the Galaxy supposedly won 61.9 percent of the “duels” – presumably challenges between players – to City’s 39.1 percent, while City 88.9 percent passing accuracy to the Galaxy’s 80.9 percent.

Kyle Davies, making his first Galaxy start on the back four, didn’t embarrass himself though.

There were eight subs for the Galaxy at the half with only Saunders, Franklin, Stephens and Lopez remaining on the field from among the starters; City made two changes bringing on Shaun Wright-Phillips for David Silva and Aleksander Kolarov for Gael Clichy.

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A City soap opera unfolded in the 32nd minute when Manager Roberto Mancini, visibly upset with a Mario Balotelli showboating miss a couple of minutes earlier, pulled the striker from the game for James Milner.

When Balotelli came off he confronted Mancini on the bench and clearly said something he shouldn’t judging by the Italian coach’s reaction.

While on a 2 v. 1 breakaway, Balotelli had inexplicably tried to spin around and back heel the ball past Saunders when he had Edin Dzeko wide open on the play in support. Disrespectful.

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Chant from the Angel City Brigade in the 23rd minute: “You’ll never beat United.”

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Mario Balotelli scored from a 20th minute spot kick after referee Ricardo Salazar ruled Bryan Jordan pulled down Micah Richards on the right wing. From the replays it didn’t appear the Temple City native touched him, although Richards made a meal of it and may have hurt a knee as he went down.

City’s David Silva just sent a daisy cutter past the far post from inside the box in the 12th minute after a fluent move prised open the Galaxy defense.

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The Galaxy’s Hector Jiminez, who is getting his first Galaxy start this afternoon, just clashed heads with City left back Gael Clichy in the sixth minute. Clichy came off worst: He attempted to get up, but staggered woozily and needed treatment before coming back on.

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He’s came back in the gamer, though.

Lovely afternoon at Home Depot Center – not too hot – for a rare 1 p.m. start to a Galaxy game, the St. George’s Cross flying proudly at the berm end of the stadium for the visit by the EPL giants.

Landon Donovan has a slight right calf strain and will miss today’s game in a precautionary move. The similarly injured Juan Pablo Angfel is also absent, while Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena is disinclined to risk Omar Gonzalez and his broken nose in a meaningless friendly. (Correction, Gonzalez is on the bench).

Not that he isn’t looking forward to the game:

“I love any game that I can either watch or coach in that we don’t have to win,” he said earlier this week. “And I don’t get many of them in my life so I enjoy that.”

In fact there’s a very different lineup for the Galaxy with a bunch of unfamiliar starters.

Here’s the Galaxy XI: Saunders; Franklin, Davies (as in Kyle), Berhalter, Jordan; Jimenez, Beckham, Stephens, Kirovski; Cristman, Lopez

On the bench: Perk, Guppy, Dunivant, Hejduk, Thomas, Gonzalez, Juninho, McCarty, McBean, Birchall, DeLaGarza, Keat, Magee

Manchester City field a far stronger starting XI: Joe Hart, Vincent Kompany, Joleon Lescott, Gael Clichy, Micah Richards, David Silva, Gareth Barry, Adam Johnson, Nigel de Jong, Mario Balotelli, Edin Dzeko

Options for City off the bench include James Milner and Shaun Wright-Phillips.

The game is live on ESPN.

Refresh this post for updates.

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