CARSON, Calif. – The timing couldn’t be better for the LA Galaxy as they prepare for Saturday’s interconference clash against Toronto FC at StubHub Center (7:30 p.m., Time Warner Cable SportsNet, Time Warner Cable Deportes).
The Galaxy (16-5-9, 57 points) are tied with Seattle Sounders for the league’s best overall record and are playing their best soccer of the season. They have been almost lights out since a 4-1 loss to the Columbus Crew on Aug. 16 and are 9-0-2 in their last 11 games.
Head coach Bruce Arena said he’s been impressed with the consistency of the Galaxy during their dominant stretch in which they’ve outscored opponents 55-24.
“It wasn’t like a bunch of these games could have gone either way,” he said. “I think we’ve been dominant in some ways. That’s been impressive.
“Realistically we know that’s not going to happen as we close out the season but that’s all good. We’ve had a real convincing period of time; we’ve been a pretty convincing team. I remember the losses (Columbus and Kansas City on July 19). We learned from those, which is good.
“We’ve experienced a lot. It doesn’t mean a whole lot once Nov. 1 or so comes around.”
The Galaxy have been getting brilliant performances from the likes of Robbie Keane (17 goals, 14 assists), Gyasi Zardes (16 goals, 2 assists) and Landon Donovan, who tied Steve Ralston’s all-time MLS career assist record of 135 in last weekend’s 4-0 romp over the New York Red Bulls.
The Galaxy, who have allowed the league’s fewest goals (31) and shut down MLS’ leading goal scorer, Bradley Wright-Phillips, in the win over New York, face another dangerous challenge in Toronto FC, which rallied for a stunning 3-2 victory over the Portland Timbers that set franchise records for most wins (11) and points (40) in a season.
Toronto (11-11-7) also is in the hunt for a postseason berth and, in fact, is just one point behind New York for the fifth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Toronto, now coached by former Galaxy standout Greg Vanney, poses a formidable threat thanks to the presence of midfielder Michael Bradley, whose long-distance free kick beat the Timbers, and Jermain Defoe, who is expected to be in the lineup after missing considerable time with a strained groin.
Defoe leads the team with 11 goals but has appeared in only two of Toronto’s’ 11 league games since July 19.
“He’s the type of player that changes games in a heartbeat,” Donovan said of Defoe. “We have to be aware of where he is, for sure. If he’s in the game, it will change the way we approach them.”
Donovan also has been impressed with Bradley.
“The reason he’s there is to make a difference,” Donovan said. “I think he’s done a very good job in a difficult environment with a fan base that deserves better than they have over the years.
“You would argue last weekend was the most important game for them in a very long time, and he came through when they needed him.”
REFEREE: Baldomero Toledo. SAR (bench): Fabio Tovar; JAR (opposite): Felisha Mariscal; 4th: Daniel Radford
MLS Career: 182 games; FC/gm: 25.1; Y/gm: 3.4; R: 63; pens: 68
SUSPENDED: TOR: Jackson (through Oct. 5)
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: LA: Omar Gonzalez, Marcelo Sarvas … TOR: Michael Bradley, Justin Morrow
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: LA: Baggio Husidic, A.J. DeLaGarza, Alan Gordon, Landon Donovan, Juninho … TOR: Steven Caldwell, Jackson, Dominic Oduro, Warren Creavalle, Collen Warner, Gilberto
DISABLED LIST: none
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (12 meetings): Galaxy 4 wins, 16 goals … Toronto FC 2 wins, 13 goals … Ties 6
AT LA (6 meetings): Galaxy 3 wins, 12 goals … Toronto FC 1 win, 8 goals … Ties 2
LAST YEAR (MLS):
3/30: TOR 2, LA 2 (Earnshaw 29; Osorio 78 – Magee 16; Villarreal 92+)
- This is the only league meeting between the teams this season.
- Toronto FC have not defeated the LA Galaxy in league play since 2008, when they swept the season series. The Galaxy have won three of the eight meetings since, with five draws, including a 2-2 result last March 30 at BMO Field.
- Toronto FC have not won in Carson vs. the Galaxy in league play since 2008, the Galaxy having won two of the four meetings there since (with two draws). But TFC did defeat LA in 2012 in a CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal second-leg at StubHub Center.
- Coaches record: Bruce Arena vs. TOR: P11 W5 L1 D5 … Greg Vanney vs. LA: first game
LA GALAXY
The LA Galaxy extended their undefeated streak to nine games in impressive fashion, rolling to a 4-0 win against the New York Red Bulls on Sunday afternoon at StubHub Center. The Galaxy sit in a tie for first place in the Western Conference and the MLS overall table with 57 points from 30 games.
LAST MATCH
- The Galaxy took the lead in the first half on a special goal. Robbie Keane collected the ball from Landon Donovan's feed in the area, cut right to find space, then chipped the ball gently over goalkeeper Luis Robles and just inside the far-post netting.
- Donovan doubled the Galaxy's advantage just five minutes into the second half after picking the pocket of Red Bulls defender Chris Duvall then slotting past Robles from the left side of the area.
- Gyasi Zardes put the game away in the 69th minute, finishing off a 16-pass sequence by playing a one-two with Donovan and then finding the back post against a sprawling Robles.
- Keane added the fourth 13 minutes later, running onto a Donovan chip, mishitting it past Robles, then recovering and making a quick move past a defender before pushing it into the open net from close range.
- Galaxy coach Bruce Arena made no changes to the team that came back for a 2-1 win against FC Dallas at StubHub Center.
- LA GALAXY (4-4-2): Jaime Penedo - Dan Gargan, Omar Gonzalez, A.J. DeLaGarza, Robbie Rogers (Leonardo 73) - Baggio Husidic, Juninho, Marcelo Sarvas (Stefan Ishizaki 67), Landon Donovan - Robbie Keane, Gyasi Zardes (Alan Gordon 81).
TEAM NEWS
- The Galaxy extended their undefeated streak to nine games with the victory against New York, their second win in a row and the club’s longest unbeaten stretch since a 14-game run in 2011. It’s the third-longest undefeated run in MLS this season, behind a 12-game streak for Real Salt Lake to start the season, and a 10-game skein for FC Dallas from June 7-Aug. 22.
- “I don’t want to do anything differently. We want to try and keep getting better as a team,” said Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena. “There is certainly a bunch of challenging games ahead. We are playing teams to close out the season that all are important. Toronto is fighting for a playoff spot. Dallas is jockeying for a good position. And obviously, Seattle is with us battling for the first spot. All these games mean something.”
- Landon Donovan recorded three assists, tying Steve Ralston for the all-time MLS career lead. It was his league-leading sixth multiple-assist game this season.
- “I'm proud of it,” said Donovan. “To get an assist record, you have to have a lot of people scoring goals, so it's not just putting the ball in the right place, it's people finishing, and they scored three very good goals tonight, which helped. I've had a lot of guys score a lot of goals on my behalf, so it's a credit to all of them, too.”
- Donovan now has 135 assists for his league career; his 18 assists this season are a new single-season career-high, and the most assists by a player in an MLS season since Guillermo Barros Schelotto had 19 in 2008 for Columbus.
- “I've always tried to be a guy who makes the right play in front of the goal,” Donovan said, “and so if that means making the pass that leads to the pass that [feeds to goal], if that means making the pass that leads to the goal, or if that means shooting if you need to shoot, I've tried to make good decision in those moments. ... I didn't want to be one-dimensional, I wanted to have all sort of different parts to my game, and I hope that showed.”
- Donovan also scored the 144th league goal of his MLS career, his 10th goal of the season. It was the eighth time in 14 MLS seasons he’s reached double-digits in goals.
- “Rarely do you see a player with the combination of being able to score goals and create goals. Those qualities are excellent,” said Arena. “He used to be, I thought, purely a goal scorer. He’s a much better creator now. He’s a good passer of the ball. He’s improved. He’s gotten better. Him and Robbie [Keane] have been responsible for bring Gyasi [Zardes] along. I think their ability to pass and move is critical to our success.”
- Robbie Keane scored two goals and now has 17 goals this season, a new yearly high in his four MLS campaigns. Keane has scored three goals in the last two matches.
- Jaime Penedo also recorded his third shutout in his last five starts and now has seven this season, tied for fifth-most in MLS.
- “He’s improved. I think over the last six weeks he’s played very well. .... Like anyone else, [Jaime had to improve] a little bit in every area. He’s just gotten better. His confidence has improved. He’s feet have gotten better,” said Arena.
- Said defender Omar Gonzalez: “He came back from the national team with a lot of confidence and that’s great to see. I love seeing my ‘keeper like that. Moving forward we hope he continues to play the way he has been and if he is going to keep playing like that then that’s big for us.”
TORONTO FC
Toronto FC won their second consecutive game in dramatic fashion, coming back for a late 3-2 win against the Portland Timbers on Saturday afternoon at BMO Field. TFC sit in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, with 40 points from 29 matches.
LAST MATCH
- The Timbers took the lead after just 13 minutes. A deflected pass put Fanendo Adi all alone behind the TFC back line to break toward goal, and he buried the shot one-on-one with goalkeeper Joe Bendik.
- Three minutes later, Portland doubled their lead. A corner kick wasn’t cleared by Toronto’s backline, and Diego Valeri recovered a bouncing ball and pushed into the right side of the box. His low crossing attempt hit off the foot of TFC defender Steven Caldwell and rebounded into the back of the net.
- But the match turned around after the break. In the 62nd minute, Toronto FC won a corner kick. A second crossing attempt from Daniel Lovitz connected with center back Nick Hagglund, who buried home a header for his first goal in Major League Soccer.
- Just eight minutes later, Hagglund and TFC had their second. Michael Bradley took a free kick which fell to Hagglund, and he headed home from the corner of the six-yard box for the equalizer.
- The dramatic winner came in the 89th minute. From a free kick well out on the left side of midfield, Bradley swung in a service and the ball bounced through a crowd, eluding Timbers goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts and nestling inside the far post to give Toronto FC all three points.
- TFC head coach Greg Vanney made one change to the team that rolled to a 3-0 win against Chivas USA at BMO Field. Dominic Oduro came into the midfield for the suspended Jackson.
- TORONTO FC (4-4-2): Joseph Bendik - Mark Bloom, Steven Caldwell, Nick Hagglund, Justin Morrow - Dominic Oduro (Andrew Wiedeman 78), Jonathan Osorio (Kyle Bekker 75), Michael Bradley, Daniel Lovitz (Dwayne De Rosario 69) - Luke Moore, Gilberto.
TEAM NEWS
- Toronto FC won for a second consecutive match following a six-game winless streak, the first two victories for head coach Greg Vanney in five starts.
- It was the 11th victory this season for TFC, a single-season record for the club. The 40 points for the season are also a club record, as TFC did not reach the MLS Cup Playoffs in any of their first seven seasons.
- “All of the credit goes to guys for all the amount of work they put in together collectively and to make it happen was fantastic. It was the kind of stuff you can really build on and make a serious push towards the end of the year,” said Vanney.
- TFC came back from a two-goal deficit for just the second time in club history, the first coming July 12 of this year when they fell behind the Houston Dynamo 2-0 and stormed back to win 4-2.
- “That was quite the comeback,” Vanney said. “The guys were committed, and I felt like once we got out of that first period where we took a couple of goals, we needed to be a little more aggressive and create some dangerous moments. At half time, the discussion was to be aggressive, believe you can do it, keep moving forward and things will happen. All the credit to the guys because the amount of work they put in, together, to make it happen was fantastic.”
- Michael Bradley scored his second goal, his first in his return to MLS coming all the way back on April 5. It was the second goal TFC have scored directly from a free kick this season (also: Gilberto on June 27 vs. New York).
- Nick Hagglund scored the first two goals of his MLS career, both on headers from set pieces.
- “He has this energy and presence that is not really fazed by many things. Sure, he made the mistake early on but he bounced back and he can dig down and it doesn’t change the confidence in what he does,” said Vanney. “He is a young man who is growing throughout the year. He has a great leader in Steven (Caldwell) who has been his mentor in the last couple games.”
- Gilberto collected his third assist in the last three matches and now has five for the season. He has five goals and three assists in the last 10 matches; he’s been involved in eight of TFC’s 15 goals in that span.
- “Sitting back and waiting is not our strength as our strength is to get the ball forward and get the ball into our attacking players. We want to be able to give our forwards and our wide guys chances to score goals and when we do we can put a lot of teams under a lot of pressure and then we become very difficult to handle,” said Vanney.
