LA Galaxy 1, Houston Dynamo 3
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Robertson Stadium – Houston, Texas
Scoring Summary:
HOU – Adam Moffat 2 (unassisted) 27’
HOU – Bobby Boswell (Adam Moffat 2) 48’
HOU – Carlo Costly 1 (Brad Davis 16) 74’
LA – Jack McBean 1 (Chad Barrett 5) 88’
Misconduct Summary:
HOU – Bobby Boswell 44’
HOU – Danny Cruz 45’
LA – Jovan Kirovski (52)
HOU – Carlo Costly 75’
Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Donovan Rickets; Frankie Hejduk (Ryan Thomas 76’), Dasan Robinson, Gregg Berhalter © (Sean Franklin 46’), A.J. DeLaGarza; Hector Jimenez, Chris Birchall, Dan Keat, Michael Stephens; Jovan Kirovski (Chad Barrett 62’), Jack McBean.
Subs Not Used: Brian Perk, Juninho, Paolo Cardozo, Miguel Lopez.
Houston Dynamo: Tally Hall; Andre Hainault, Bobby Boswell, Geoff Cameron, Corey Ashe; Danny Cruz (Colin Clark 81’), Luiz Camargo, Adam Moffat, Brad Davis; Brian Ching © (Carlo Costly 63’), Calen Carr (Will Bruin 76’).
Subs Not Used: Tyler Deric, Hunter Freeman, Jermaine Taylor, Je-Vaughn Watson.
Referee: Jorge Gonzalez
Referee’s Assistants: Greg Barkley and Jeff Hosking
4th Official: Jasen Anno
Notes:
- With the loss, the Galaxy finish the regular season 19-5-10 and league-best 67 points, the most points in MLS since the end of the shootout following the 1999 season.
- By finishing with the most points the league, the Galaxy won the Supporters’ Shield and will have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
- Despite the loss, the Galaxy finish the regular season with the second-best road record in MLS with 7-4-5.
- Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena made nine changes to the team that beat Chivas USA 1-0 at The Home Depot Center on October 16. Donovan Ricketts replaced Josh Saunders goal, Frankie Hejduk and Dasan Robinson replaced Omar Gonzalez and Todd Dunivant in defense, while Hector Jimenez, Chris Birchall, Dan Keat and Michael Stephens took the place of Paolo Cardozo, David Beckham, Juninho and Mike Magee in the midfield, and Jovan Kirovski and Jack McBean took the place of Chad Barrett and Adam Cristman in forward.
- Defender Gregg Berhalter played the final regular season game of his MLS career after announcing his decision to retire following the completion of the season. Berhalter, who wore the captain’s armband, played 45 minutes. Sean Franklin replaced him for the start of the second half.
- Three Galaxy players made their first career starts in MLS: Dan Keat, Hector Jimenez and Jack McBean. Additionally, Dasan Robinson got his first start with the Galaxy since being acquired from Toronto FC on Sept. 15.
- At 16, Jack McBean became the youngest player ever to play and start for the Galaxy in an MLS game. The records previously belonged to Israel Sesay, who at 17 years and nine days became the youngest player to ever play for the Galaxy when he replaced Kyle Martino in a game against Chivas USA on Sept.13, 2007, and Guillermo Gonzalez, who at 17 years and 280 days made his first start in October 2003.
- Even though they traveled with the club from Honduras to Houston, David Beckham, Landon Donovan, Todd Dunivant, Omar Gonzalez, Mike Magee and Josh Saunders, returned home Friday and were not available for this game. Forward Robbie Keane, defenders Sean Alvarado and Leonardo and midfielder Bryan Jordan were also not available due to injury.
- In the 27th minute, Adam Moffat gave Houston the lead with a powerful strike from about 40 yards out that snuck in just inside the upper corner of the goal. Moffat caught just about everyone by surprise when upon recovering a ball near the midfield, he turned around, took a couple of steps and then unloaded his shot.
- The Dynamo took their 1-0 lead into halftime.
- Sean Franklin came in for Gregg Berhalter to start the second half. It was Franklin’s first appearance in a Galaxy uniform in all competitions since Sept. 9, when the Galaxy beat Colorado 1-0 at The Home Depot Center.
- Two minutes into the second half, Bobby Boswell doubled the Dynamo’s lead with his fifth goal of the season. Moffat, who on a free kick headed the ball down to Boswell, was credited with an assist.
- In the 62nd minute, the Galaxy made their second substitution of the night, bringing Chad Barrett in for Jovan Kirovski.
- A minute later, Honduran national team forward Carlos Costly replaced Brian Ching at forward.
- In the 74th minute, Houston scored their third goal of the game. It came on a cross from Brad Davis that found Costly in the box. Costly did not miss from that short range and headed in his first goal in MLS.
- The Galaxy had not conceded three goals in a game since losing 3-0 on the road to the Portland Timbers on Aug. 3.
- With the assist on Houston’s third goal, Davis moved past David Beckham to claim the MLS assists category with 16. Beckham finished second with 15.
- Ryan Thomas came on for Frankie Hejduk in the 76th minute to make his MLS debut.
- In the 88th minute, Jack McBean became the youngest Galaxy player ever to score a goal. Chad Barrett got the assist on the goal, his fifth of the season. Prior to the 16-year-old’s goal, the previous record was held by Tristan Bowen, who was 19 years and 118 days when he scored his first goal.
- The Dynamo outshot the Galaxy 12-3, 5-1 on shots on goal.
- The Galaxy generated more corner kicks than the Dynamo, 3-0. The corner kicks were taken by Hector Jimenez.
- The attendance for tonight’s game was a sellout of 30,018 at Robertson Stadium.
- With the conclusion of the MLS regular season, the playoff field is set. The Galaxy will face Colorado, Columbus or New York, the lowest seeded Wild Card winner, on Sunday, Oct. 30 in the first leg of the Western Conference Semifinal. The Galaxy then return home for the second leg of the series on Thursday, Nov. 3. That game will kick off at 8 p.m. (PT) and will be broadcast on ESPN 2. Capacity at The Home Depot Center will be limited to 15,000 because of a long standing, mutual agreement with The Home Depot Center and California State University, Dominguez Hills regarding reduced stadium capacity for midweek games during the school year.
GALAXY HEAD COACH BRUCE ARENA
Thoughts on the match…
I think Houston’s first goal was brilliant. You have to give [Adam] Moffat credit for a terrific goal. I thought the second goal broke our backs. Tonight was a good experience for some of our young players. It was good to get Sean Franklin back on the field. It was very nice for our 16-year old [Jack McBean] to score a goal.
On resting some starters…
You never want to go into games and come out on the short end, but it is what it is and I think we earned the opportunity through our previous 33 games to give our first team guys a rest. As much as I’m disappointed with the final result, I’m pleased we got something out of it and hopefully it helps us down the road.
On Dominic Kinnear getting his 100th career MLS win…
Congratulations to Dominic. He has been an outstanding coach in the league. Although I’m not happy to be on this end of his 100th victory, it is well-earned. It is a great milestone and I’m happy for Dominic that he reached it.
GALAXY FORWARD JACK MCBEAN
Thoughts on the match…
It was a really good experience. Obviously, it’s a lot different than what I am used to. The atmosphere, the players, everything is a lot more intense. It’s a lot more physical. It’s going to take me a while to get used to, but to get out there was a lot of fun.
Thoughts on the goal…
I was happy to score but it was bittersweet because we didn’t get the win.
Thoughts on tonight’s lineup…
We still want to go out there and compete and win, but unfortunately we could not do that. I think it was a good experience for myself, and some of the other rookies and guys who have not played as much.
DYNAMO HEAD COACH DOMINIC KINNEAR
Thoughts on the match…
It’s a great night for a number of reasons. We get to end the regular season well and jump up a couple places in the Eastern Conference so we get out of that wild-card round, which is something we were hoping to do. Carlos [Costly] got his first goal in great fashion. We saw great goals, a great crowd and it was a really good way to end the season. Now we can catch our breath a little bit and get ready for Philadelphia.
On the need for a win tonight…
A lot of scenarios were probably going through everyone’s head, including my own. The best scenario was winning this game and giving us a chance to get a little bit of a breather before we get back into it. The win helps us out because it gives us confidence. We scored good goals and everyone is happy and most important everyone is healthy.
On the difference of the game after Adam Moffat’s goal…
It was a bit of a slow start for both teams. The field was fast and bumpy so it made it difficult to get any rhythm. Then Adam [Moffat]’s shot went in and it raised the level of intensity and it also raised the level of enjoyment for the fans. I think we were all shaking our heads, even though we have seen him do it two times now. It was an incredible goal.
DYNAMO MIDFIELDER BRAD DAVIS
Thoughts on the match…
I thought it was good. Our last regular season game of the year. We now have one more game at Robertson Stadium guaranteed. More importantly, the team is on a good roll and hopefully we can keep it going. It’s fantastic that we had a ton of fans here. Hopefully we can pack this place when we come back here next week.
On heading into the playoffs
The playoffs are a whole different story. This year has been a year where a lot of young guys have learned a lot. We started well and had a little lull in the middle of the year, but there is no better time to start playing well and I think the team has done that well.
On getting three points…
We wanted to come away here with nothing less than a win and, in all honesty, we talked about it all week. People were asking if LA was going to bring a full team, but to us, we didn’t care. We wanted to come out here with a win and continue playing well and building that confidence.
