LA Galaxy 1, Chivas USA 0
Sunday, October 16, 2011
The Home Depot Center – Carson, Calif.
Scoring Summary:
LA – Chad Barrett 7 (Adam Cristman 1) 53’
Misconduct Summary:
LA – Gregg Berhalter (Yellow Card) 57’
CHV – Juan Pablo Angel (Yellow Card) 61’
CHV – Ante Jazic (Yellow Card) 75’
Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Josh Saunders; A.J. DeLaGarza, Omar Gonzalez, Gregg Berhalter(c), Todd Dunivant; Paolo Cardozo, David Beckham, Juninho (Michael Stephens 61’), Mike Magee; Chad Barrett (Jovan Kirovski 86’), Adam Cristman (Chris Birchall 73’).
Subs Not Used: Donovan Ricketts, Dasan Robinson, Dan Keat, Miguel Lopez.
Chivas USA: Dan Kennedy; Zarek Valentin, Andrew Boyens, David Junior Lopes (Heath Pearce 46’), Ante Jazic; Michael Lahoud (Laurent Courtois 59’), Ben Zemanski, Nick LaBrocca, Marcos Mondaini; Juan Pablo Angel, Alejandro Moreno(c).
Subs Not Used: Zach Thornton, Simon Elliott, Blair Gavin, Jorge Flores, Victor Estupinan.
Referee: Jair Marrufo
Referee’s Assistants: Corey Rockwell and Frank Anderson
4th Official: Jasen Anno
Notes:
- With the win, the Galaxy are now 19-4-10 on the season, giving them a league-best 67 points. They remain in first place in the Western Conference, seven points ahead of Seattle.
- With 67 points, the Galaxy have now recorded the most points in MLS history since the end of the shootout following the 1999 season.
- The Galaxy now need just a draw in their regular season finale against Houston on Sunday, October 23 in order to match the MLS record for points in a season, which was set by the 1998 Galaxy, who went 24-8 for 68 points. If the Galaxy beat the Dynamo next week, they will be the first team in MLS history to reach 70 points.
- For the sixth time in seven years and the third straight year, the Galaxy have won the SuperClasico. For the second straight year, they swept the season series against their in-stadium rival, taking all six points from a 2-0-0 record, winning each game by identical 1-0 scorelines.
- The Galaxy finish the regular season as the only team in MLS to go undefeated at home. They finished the year with a 12-0-5 record at home this season. They are now just the third team in MLS history to go unbeaten at home over the course of an entire season, joining the 2005 San Jose Earthquakes and 2010 Real Salt Lake.
- Dating back to the end of the 2010 season, the Galaxy have now gone 18 straight games without a loss at home, setting a new club record.
- LA’s 18-game unbeaten streak at home is the third longest in MLS history.
- In all competitions this season, the Galaxy are 16-0-5 at home.
- LA are now 14-3-5 all-time against Chivas USA and have not lost in any of their nine regular season meetings and 11 in all competitions.
- Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena made four changes to the team that lost 2-0 in New York on October 4. Josh Saunders replaced Donovan Ricketts in goal, Gregg Berhalter returned in defense in place of Frankie Hejduk, Mike Magee was back in the midfield in place of Michael Stephens while Adam Cristman started up front in place of Miguel Lopez. Ricketts, Stephens and Lopez were all on the bench, while Hejduk was suspended for yellow card accumulation.
- With Landon Donovan missing the game because of a quad injury, Gregg Berhalter served as the club’s captain. This was the second time this season that Berhalter served as captain, having also done so for the 0-0 draw at San Jose on June 25.
- Berhalter was playing the final regular season home game of his MLS career after announcing his decision to retire following the completion of the season. WATCH: Postgame Interview with Berhalter
- Berhalter was also playing his first game since leaving the 2-0 win over Alajuelense with a foot injury. He played the full 90 minutes in central defense.
- While Berhalter played, the Galaxy were without Sean Alvarado, Landon Donovan, Sean Franklin, Bryan Jordan, Robbie Keane and Leonardo who all missed the game through injury.
- With Berhalter back in the lineup, A.J. DeLaGarza made his first start at right back in the league since August 6 against FC Dallas.
- Chad Barrett gave the Galaxy a 1-0 lead in the 53rd minute with his seventh goal of the regular season. WATCH: Barrett scores off a header
- Barrett scored in each leg of the SuperClasico and was the only player to score in the two games this year.
- Barrett has now scored in each of LA’s last two home games after scoring in just one of their first 15 this year.
- He is now second on the team with eight goals in all competitions. STATS
- LA are now a perfect 8-0-0 in games that Barrett scores in.
- Adam Cristman provided the final ball for Barrett to head past Dan Kennedy in the Chivas USA goal. That was his first assist in a Galaxy uniform and his first since May 5, 2010.
- Josh Saunders made four saves to keep his eighth clean sheet of the regular season and the team’s 17th. That ties an MLS record, which was set by the Kansas City Wizards in 2000.
- Saunders now has 10 clean sheets in all competitions and is one of two goalkeepers, along with teammate Donovan Ricketts, to have a goals against average of below 1.00 for the season.
- The Galaxy have now shutout Chivas USA in six of their seven regular season meetings since the start of the 2009 season.
- Neither David Beckham or Omar Gonzalez were booked tonight, meaning that each is eligible to play in the regular season finale against Houston next week.
- Gregg Berhalter was the only Galaxy player to be booked, collecting the game’s first yellow card in the 57th minute.
- After being whistled for 16 fouls in their last home game on October 1, the Galaxy have committed just 11 fouls in their last two games, including seven tonight.
- Juninho played 61 minutes in central midfield for his 30th league appearance of the season and his 36th in all competitions. He joins Todd Dunivant as the only two Galaxy players to have played in 30 regular season games this year, with Dunivant playing in 32 of the 33 that LA has played.
- This was the Galaxy’s ninth 1-0 win of the season. They have not lost a game this season when allowing one goal or less.
- LA are 3-2-5 in the 10 regular season games that Landon Donovan has missed this season through either injury or international duty.
- The attendance for tonight’s game was a sellout of 27,000 at The Home Depot Center. That was the club’s sixth home sellout of the season and second straight to close the regular season.
- The Galaxy will be back in action on Thursday, October 20 when they travel to Tegucigalpa, Honduras to face Motagua in their final Group Stage game in the CONCACAF Champions League. That game will kick off at 7 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live on FOX Soccer with the Galaxy knowing that a win will see them through to the Champions League quarterfinals next spring. CCL SCHEDULE
- LA are tied for second place in the Champions League’s Group A with a 3-2-0 record for nine points while Motagua are in last place with no points from a 0-5-0 record. CCL STANDINGS
- Following the game against Motagua, the team will fly directly to Houston in order to close out the regular season against the Dynamo at Robertson Stadium. That game will kick off at 4 p.m. and can be seen live on FOX Sports West starting with the Galaxy Live pregame show at 3:30 p.m.
LA Galaxy Head Coach Bruce Arena
On tonight’s game:
“It was another good win for our team. I think in the first half if we were a little sharper we would have gotten a couple of goals but that’s the way it goes. In the last ten minutes we did a good job just holding onto the lead and winning the game. Obviously a very good season at home a good effort by our group. A couple of players will be coming back from injury. We look forward to the game on Thursday which is certainly going to be a good one and closing out a regular season in Houston.”
On Chad Barrett’s performance:
“I think the goal was big for him. He had a couple of chances in the first half. The play that just about opened the game and a couple of others but good to see him come back determined in the second half of the game and get that goal. It was obviously a big goal and it’s going to be a boost for his confidence.”
On the missed opportunities:
“I wouldn't say we were unlucky we just didn’t take advantage of our opportunities. That is on us, it’s not bad luck, that is maybe not being clean enough in the penalty area to finish off a play.”
LA Galaxy Defender Gregg Berhalter
On the emotions of the night:
“It was emotional, it definitely was, just to think that this is my last regular season game in a Galaxy uniform. I had a lot of good times here, met a lot of nice people, my teammates are great, the coaching staff, the front office, everyone involve has been great. To know you’re closing an 18-year career is something emotional and I started to feel it, for sure.”
On wearing the captain’s armband:
“It was an honor and I take my role as a Vice-Captain very seriously, so it was nice that it worked out for my last game and it ended perfect. I was going to be it anyway because Landon is that type of guy, he does the right thing and he wanted me to wear it no matter what.”
On defending Chivas USA forward Juan Pablo Angel:
“I don’t know about an advantage but you definitely know him better and one thing about it is that sometimes the guys that you know you are not that aggressive with them. You don’t want to get a card against them and if anything we didn’t want him to score. We knew where he likes to go on crosses, he’s still a good player, a clever player, and has really blossomed at Chivas.”
LA Galaxy Midfielder David Beckham
Overall thoughts on the game:
“We were disappointed when we came in at halftime and not to have scored because we had two, three, four really good chances, but you know, I think we kept our composure and we kept on playing. We knew that if we created chances that we’d score. So, I think, overall we created the chances, we could have three or four, but we still got the three points, which was important for us.”
On being unbeaten at home:
“We’ve always said we want to make our stadium somewhere to come that’s hard to win, and I think we’ve done that. We’ve worked hard on that, and it’s important that we do that at home. The fans obviously are behind us, we got the support of them, so it’s important that we perform in our own stadium.”
On Gregg Berhalter:
“Its been an honor to be on the same team as Gregg. He’s such a great professional, a great leader. And, he’s that person that when the team is not playing as well as we should be, he’s the one that’s giving the information and giving all of us a kick on the backside. It’s great to have a professional like that in the team. Sad to see him finishing now, but he went out on a high, winning tonight against our rivals, he’s had such a great career and he deserves some well needed time with his family now.”
LA Galaxy Forward Chad Barrett
On scoring the game-winning goal:
“I think every single time I just kept getting closer to the ball crossing the line. I would have liked to have been on SportsCenter, but the bike didn’t go in. But, (Dan) Kennedy made some good saves, I was unlucky the first half, but I was beating myself up. I was getting good chances and putting myself in good spots, and I knew if I kept doing that I was going to score. I flicked the ball over to Adam (Cristman), he did a great job to get the cross in, he just put it in on my head, and you can’t miss from there. All the credit goes to him on the assist and I was just there for the tap in.”
On facing Motagua on Thursday:
“It’s a must win. We’re not looking for a tie. We are going to know what we need to do (Morelia hosts LD Alajuelense on Tuesday). That’s beneficial, but really we need to win, we need to have that mentality, we are going to train with that mentality all week and that’s what we need to do.”
LA Galaxy Defender Omar Gonzalez
On the shutout:
“I thought we played well tonight. Defensively, we were on. Everyone stayed close together and Gregg was back, talking a lot, getting everyone into positions, and everyone had the heart. We wanted to get the win and we sent off Gregg with an undefeated record against Chivas, which is great.”
On Gregg Berhalter:
“For it being his last game, I wanted to have this opportunity to play with him, his last regular season.”
Chivas USA Head Coach Robin Fraser
On the game:
“I don’t think we were good enough with the ball. As a result we turned it over and put ourselves under pressure. Certainly LA was coming at us a great deal in the first half, but I think a lot of that is attributable to the fact that we were not quite good enough with the ball. In the second half, I thought we were better. This is another game where we seem to have made a few critical mistakes at a critical time.”
On the goal:
“We had a lot of possession, we were able to create a few chances, but we weren’t able to convert. It’s difficult once you get behind a good team. [Galaxy] don’t make a lot of mistakes in the back and they look for the one opportunity to capitalize on and they have won I don’t know how many games that way this year.”
Chivas USA Goalkeeper Dan Kennedy
On the game:
“I felt that the fight was there. The difference in the game was bearing the one opportunity. I don’t know how many clear cut opportunities we had but we did well in the first half to avoid some really dangerous situations on their end and that’s what you have to do in order to win a game like this. We have to put out those fires, and that’s what we did in the second half. In halftime, we came in with an idea of what we wanted as a team but unfortunately, we gave up a goal and they sat back and we actually had a good run at them, but, we weren’t able to get them back.”
On the Galaxy:
“Sometimes, when they get a goal, it changes their tactics, so there’s a little more space for us but, we were definitely more dangerous when we got scored on. They’re a good team, they know how to grind out a result, and they’re the best in the league at doing it.”
On the next game:
“We gotta win, we gotta give our fans something to cheer about. That’s what it’s about.”
Chivas USA Forward Marcos Mondaini
On the game:
"It was a very intense game, it was open to anyone. From the beginning, it was a competitive game and it was obvious that whoever scored would make the difference. It’s all in finding the counterattack and they found it and scored.”
On the teams’ performance:
“[Galaxy] have good players and they were able to take advantage of the moment. We needed to be more precise in the attack. We were able to get into the box but we weren’t able to score and we need to be more precise in the attack.”
