David Beckham scored a brace and Landon Donovan nabbed an assist to pace the Galaxy to a 2-2 road tie with Real Salt Lake Saturday (who was that prescient columnist who talked about the Becks and Donovan Road Show earlier this week?).
Game details here.
Chivas USA (1-3-2), meanwhile, snapped a three-game losing streak by grinding out a scoreless draw Saturday at Houston, remaining tied with the Galaxy's opponents on the evening for fourth in the Western Conference.
"We knew it was going to be a tight game," said Chivas USA Coach Preki. "I'm proud of the way we played, the way we defended as a group, finally. We played like we played last year."
Noteworthy:
* Chivas USA's veteran defender Claudio Suárez, earned a red for a foul on Houston's Brian Mullan in the 82nd minute.
*Chivas USA defender Lawson Vaughn exited the match in the 13th minute with a broken nose and a gash on his right cheek, after being struck in the face by Dynamo midfielder Dwayne De Rosario's during a thwarted bicycle kick attempt.
*Referee Jozef Batko showed nine cards during the match (eight yellow and one red), an MLS high so far this season.
*Chivas USA's first choice strike force of Ante Razov and Maykel Galindo made their first start together since last September.
*Goalkeeper Brad Guzan earned his first clean sheet of the season, a week after conceding a career-high five goals against the Galaxy.
The Chivas USA lineup: Brad Guzan, Lawson Vaughn (Chris Pozniak 13), Claudio Suarez, Shavar Thomas (Jim Curtin 62), Jonathan Bornstein, Sacha Kljestan, Jesse Marsch, Paulo Nagamura, Francisco Mendoza, Maykel Galindo, Ante Razov (Justin Braun 78).
Substitutes Not Used: Atiba Harris, Dan Kennedy, Daniel Paladini, Keith Savage
Oh, and hold the Mickey Mouse jokes: Chivas USA take its official 2008 team photograph Monday at Disney's California Adventure.
In other games Saturday, the career of Palos Verdes' John Thorrington continues to sustain a second wind; he scored one and also got an assist in the Chicago Fire's comfortable 3-0 victory over the New England Revolution. Thorrington now has three goals on the season.
Also getting his third of the year was the Columbus Crew's Robbie Rogers of Rolling Hills Estates in his teams' 2-1 win over the Kansas City Wizards.
Not surprisingly, longtime South Bay resident Sigi Schmid sounds like he's thoroughly enjoying the vindication that goes along with being the coach of the in-form team in MLS.
On a contrasting note, Lawndale's Kei Kamara didn't have an evening to remember Saturday as his San Jose Earthquakes played their inaugural game at Santa Clara's Buck Shaw Stadium where yours truly had the pleasure of being on hand for the occasion.
He missed on five shots, including at least one he should have tucked away, as the Earthquakes drew 1-1 against FC Dallas.
That continued what has already been a season of futility for the youngster; he came into the game ranked eighth in shots in the league with 12 attempts, but has just one goal to show for it.
Kamara (who seems as if he has grown yet a little more every time I see him) had to think long and hard when I asked what he needed to do differently.
"I've just got to focus a little more when I get inside the box," he finally said after a long pause. "Next time one of them has got to go in. It's up to me now."
Earthquakes Coach Frank Yallop wasn't about to criticize the youngster.
"He's given me everything he's got - he's been unlucky," Yallop said. "He's a young, raw player. It's the most (games) he's ever played in a row."
Well, OK, maybe a little.
"The one he blazed over (the bar), I couldn't believe it," Yallop said
A vociferous crowd of 10,515 watched the action (seating capacity is 10,300, but the Earthquakes sold some standing room only seats) in one of the better 0-0 games I've seen in a while and were chanting and singing throughout.
"The crowd was huge," Kamara said. "They were a huge part of the game."
In fact, all that was missing was new Bakersfield Brigade striker Eric Wynalda (see more below); longtime MLS fans will remember it was the former U.S. international who broke the deadlock in the first-ever MLS game when the then San Jose Clash beat D.C. United 1-0.
The Earthquakes' tight little stadium will be a treat to watch games at (the sight lines cannot be beat) and none other than MLS Commish Don Garber came away suitably impressed.
"It's great to be back," he said, alluding to the Earthquakes returning to their neighborhood (the team has just two other games at the Oakland Coliseum this season both against you know who and the Galaxy). "It's very intimate. The environment is electric."
By the way, Garber also made some interesting comments regarding how soccer fans are increasingly communicating on the Internet, something that only adds to their fervor.
Against that backdrop, I counted a mere six print reporters in the main press box.
Still, Yallop doesn't think his team are too far away from playing much better.
"We did everything right, but score," he said of the performance. "We're not anticipating very well. The final touch is just out of reach.
Former Galaxy goalkeeper Joe Cannon (who pointed out he got a shutout) said he believes the team needs a player (or two) "with bite" and the ability to win 50-50 balls to improve.
Still, Cannon sounded positively dizzy about the team and Yallop's new lease on his career.
"Him and (General Manager) John (Doyle) have a much better relationship than he has with others in the past," a not so oblique reference to Alexi Lalas. "He's a guy all of us want to die for."
Meanwhile, the aforementioned Wynalda made his PDL debut Saturday against the Ventura County Fusion.
Finally, the U.S. Women beat Australia in a thriller for the second successive game.
Columnist Nick Green has written 100 Percent Soccer
since 2005. 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.
Married to a long-suffering soccer widow, he has a cat
named Pele.