LA Galaxy 1, CD Motagua 0
CONCACAF Champions League – Group A – Round 6
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Estadio Tiburcio Carias Andino – Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Scoring Summary:
LA – Juninho 2 (None) 29’
MOT – NONE
Misconduct Summary:
MOT – Amado Guevara (Yellow Card) 48’
LA – Josh Saunders (Yellow Card) 60’
Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Josh Saunders; Frankie Hejduk, Omar Gonzalez, A.J. DeLaGarza, Todd Dunivant; Paolo Cardozo (Michael Stephens 80’), David Beckham©, Juninho, Mike Magee; Miguel Lopez (Landon Donovan 69’), Chad Barrett (Chris Birchall 64’).
Subs Not Used: Donovan Ricketts, Gregg Berhalter, Jovan Kirovski, Hector Jimenez.
CD Motagua: Donaldo Morales; Sergio Mendoza, Johnny Leverón, Odis Borjas, David Molina, Jorge Claros©, Mario Girón (Amado Guevara 46’), Edmilson Cruz (Guillermo Ramirez 75’), Carlos Discua, Roger Mondragón (Milton Reyes 46’) y Jerry Bengtson.
Subs Not Used: Kerpo De Leon, Luis Lopez, Roby Norales, Junior Padilla.
Referee: Walter Lopez (GUA)
Referee’s Assistants Gerson Ottoniel (GUA) and Ronaldo De La Cruz (GUA)
4th Official: Otto Barrios (GUA)
Notes:
- With the win, the Galaxy win Group A and advance to the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals. The Galaxy finished the Group Stage 4-2-0 with 12 points, tied with Monarcas Morelia and LD Alajuelense, but advance on the strength of the goal against difference in matches involving the three teams.
- The Galaxy finished off the Group Stage by winning their last two games in the CONCACAF Champions League.
- Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena made three changes to the team that beat Monarcas Morelia 2-1 at The Home Depot Center on September 28, with David Beckham, Chad Barrett and Miguel Lopez replacing Landon Donovan, Michael Stephens and Adam Cristman in the Starting XI.
- The last time Donovan started a game on the bench was September 24 in Columbus against the Crew. Donovan came on in the 62nd minute that night and helped set up the game-winning score. In the 93th minute, Donovan took a hard shot on goal, though Will Hesmer stopped the shot, the rebound came to Chad Barrett who scored the game-winner.
- The Galaxy were without Sean Alvarado, Leonardo, Bryan Jordan and Robbie Keane due to injury.
- Heading into the game, seven different players had found the back of the net in this competition, Chad Barrett, Adam Cristman, Landon Donovan, Omar Gonzalez, Juninho, Robbie Keane and Mike Magee. All were tied for the team lead in scoring with one goal each.
- The Galaxy took the lead in the 29th minute on a fantastic strike by Juninho, who took the ball from 30-yards out and fired off a shot that dipped just inside the left upper-90 of goalkeeper Donaldo Morales.
- In the 38th minute Motagua came close to leveling things up, but goalkeeper Josh Saunders was there to stop a long-range shot and then the rebound.
- The Galaxy went into halftime up 1-0.
- Motagua made two substitutions to start the second half with Amado Guevara and Milton Reyes replacing Mario Giron and Roger Mondragon. The Galaxy did not make a change at halftime.
- Chris Birchall came on for Chad Barrett in the 64th minute to make his fourth appearance in this competition, third off the bench.
- The Galaxy made their second substitution in the 69th minute, with Landon Donovan coming on for Miguel Lopez. It was Donovan’s first appearance in all competitions since the Galaxy’s 2-1 win over Real Salt Lake on Oct. 1.
- Josh Saunders came up big yet again in the 74th minute, stopping a shot from outside the box by David Molina to keep the score at 1-0.
- Motagua made their final substitution of the night in the 75th minute, brining in former Galaxy midfielder Guillermo “Pando” Ramirez for Edmilson Cruz.
- The Galaxy made their third and final substation of the match in the 80th minute, bringing Michael Stephens in for Paolo Cardozo.
- The win was the club’s first win on the road in Champions League since last year’s preliminary round victory in Puerto Rico against the Puerto Rico Islanders.
- Motagua outshot the Galaxy 3-2 on shots on goal, they also generated more corner kicks, 8-1.
- Josh Saunders made three saves to record his third shutout of the competition.
- The Galaxy have now won two consecutive games in all competitions by identical 1-0 scorelines.
- The Galaxy return to MLS action this Sunday, October 23 against the Houston Dynamo at Robertson Stadium in Houston for the final game of the regular season. The game kicks off at 4 p.m. and will be shown live by FOX Sports West. Additionally, the game will also be broadcast nationally in Spanish on Galavision.
