CCL Postgame Notes & Quotes: LA Galaxy vs Isidro Metapan

LA Galaxy 5, Isidro Metapan 2
Thursday, August 23, 2012
The Home Depot Center – Carson, Calif.
CONCACAF Champions League – Group 5 – Week 2

Scoring Summary:
ISM – Nicolas Munoz 4 17’
LA – Own Goal (Ricardo Alvarado) 20’
LA – Robbie Keane 1 22’
LA – David Beckham 1 46+
LA – Juninho 1 82’
ISM – Nicolas Munoz 5 (Penalty Kick) 87’
LA – Juninho 2 92+

Misconduct Summary:
LA – A.J. DeLaGarza (Yellow Card) 6’
LA – Robbie Keane (Yellow Card) 70’
LA – Robbie Keane (Red Card) 70’
LA – Michael Stephens (Yellow Card) 80’

Lineups:

LA Galaxy: Josh Saunders; Sean Franklin, Omar Gonzalez, A.J. DeLaGarza, Todd Dunivant; Juninho, Marcelo Sarvas (Bryan Gaul 85’), David Beckham (Michael Stephens 80’), Mike Magee; Jose Villarreal (Hector Jimenez 63’), Robbie Keane© (Sent Off 70’).

Subs Not Used: Brian Perk, Tommy Meyer, Kenney Walker, Pat Noonan.

Isidro Metapan: Fidel Mondragon; Mauricio Perla (Julio Martinez 77’), Milton Molina, Jose Alvarado, Alfredo Pacheco; Cristhian Sanchez (Cristhian Bautista 60’), Hector Meija, Ramon Sanchez©, Paolo Suarez; Eliseo Quintanilla (Shawn Martin 86’), Nicolas Munoz.

Subs Not Used: Gustavo Corleto, Marvin Monterroza, Daniel Escalante.

Referee: Alfredo Penaloza (MEX)
Referee’s Assistants: Victor Calderon (MEX) and Alejandro Ayala (MEX)
4th Official: Ricardo Arellano (MEX)

QUOTES (found on the LA Galaxy Insider Blog)

• Defender Todd Dunivant's quotes can be found here.
• Defender Sean Franklin's quotes can be found here.
• Head Coach Bruce Arena's quotes can be found here.

NOTES:

• With the win, the Galaxy are now tied with Metapan for first place in Group 5 with three points from a 1-0-0 record. LA also have a +3 goal difference compared to -1 for Metapan, who have scored five goals and allowed six goals in their two games.
• LA are now a perfect 4-0-0 at home in the Group Stage of the CONCACAF Champions League.
• The five goals scored and the three goal margin of victory are each Galaxy records for the CONCACAF Champions League.
• Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena made just two changes to the side that drew 1-1 in Columbus on August 15 with David Beckham returning to the starting lineup and Jose Villarreal getting his first-ever start in an official match. They replaced Hector Jimenez and Michael Stephens who each came on as second half substitutes.
• The Galaxy played without captain Landon Donovan, who missed the game with a left hamstring strain.
• In addition to Donovan, the Galaxy were also without Edson Buddle, Leonardo, David Junior Lopes and Kyle Nakazawa, who all missed the game with injuries.
• Metapan took a surprise lead in the 17^th minute when their top goal scorer Nicolas Munoz reacted quickest to the rebound of a Paolo Suarez shot that had been cleared off the line by Todd Dunivant and scored from close range, putting his team in front 1-0.
• That was the first time that the Galaxy had ever trailed at home in the Group Stage of the CONCACAF Champions League.
• Metapan’s lead would last just three minutes before the Galaxy equalized courtesy of an own goal by Jose Alvarado in the 20^th minute.
• In 11 all-time games in the CONCACAF Champions League, the Galaxy have now had four own goals scored in their favor. Only one Galaxy player has scored as many goals in the history of the competition.
• David Beckham provided the cross that led to the own goal and he then helped to set up Robbie Keane two minutes later as LA went in front 2-1 in the 22^nd minute.
• The goal was Keane’s first in the Champions League since he scored at Morelia on September 13, 2011.
• The two goals two minutes apart were the fastest two goals scored by LA in CONCACAF play since Ezra Hendrickson and Cobi Jones scored two minutes apart late in the first half of the 3-2 win over Olimpia in the final of the 2000 CONCACAF Champions Cup.
• Beckham sent the Galaxy into the half with a 3-1 lead after scoring directly from a corner kick in first half stoppage time.
• That goal was his first-ever in the CONCACAF Champions League and the second of his Galaxy career directly from a corner kick, having also done so in MLS play against Chicago in July 2011.
• Robbie Keane was yellow carded and then sent off by referee Alfredo Penaloza in the 70^th minute, leaving the Galaxy to play down a man for the final 20 minutes.
• He is the second Galaxy player ever to be sent off in the Champions League, joining Juninho, who was shown two yellow cards in the 2-0 home win over Alajuelense on August 25, 2011.
• Despite playing down a man for the final 20 minutes, the Galaxy stretched their lead to 4-1 in the 82^nd minute when Juninho scored off a feed from Michael Stephens, who had entered the game two minutes earlier.
• The Galaxy lead was back to two in the 87^th minute when Nicolas Munoz converted a penalty kick for Metapan following a foul inside the box on Bryan Gaul.
• That goal was Munoz’s fifth of the tournament and the first penalty allowed by the Galaxy since the second leg of their Preliminary Round series against Puerto Rico on August 4, 2010.
• Juninho rounded out the scoring with his second goal of the game in the third minute of second half stoppage time, to give LA a 5-2 win.
• He is the first-ever Galaxy player to score twice in a Champions League game.
• With his two goals, Juninho became the club’s all-time leading goal scorer in CONCACAF Champions League play with four, equal to the amount of own goals that have been scored for the club.
• After having never scored more than a single goal in a game in his Galaxy career entering the month, Juninho has now done so twice in August.
• The Galaxy have now scored in second half stoppage time of a Champions League game twice, with each of them coming courtesy of Juninho.
• In addition to Keane being booked and sent off, A.J. DeLaGarza and Michael Stephens were also booked for LA, with Stephens collecting his immediately as he stepped onto the field.
• A total of 22 fouls were called on the game with 15 of them being whistled against the Galaxy compared to just seven on Metapan.
• The Galaxy are now 2-0-0 all-time against teams from El Salvador, with their other victory coming in the 1997 CONCACAF Champions Cup, beating Luis Angel Firpo 2-0.
• The attendance for tonight’s game was 10,574 at The Home Depot Center.
• The Galaxy return to MLS action Sunday when they host FC Dallas at The Home Depot Center in a game that kicks off at 4 p.m. and will be shown live on the NBC Sports Network.
• The club will return to CONCACAF Champions League play next Wednesday, August 29 against the Puerto Rico Islanders. That game, which will be played at The Home Depot Center, will kickoff at 7 p.m. and will be shown live on FOX Soccer.