CARSON, Calif. – The LA Galaxy will play their final road game of the 2010 MLS regular season on Thursday night when they take on the Philadelphia Union at PPL Park. After knocking off Chivas USA 2-1 at The Home Depot Center on Sunday to claim their third straight Honda SuperClasico title, the Galaxy will now look to complete the season sweep of the Union in a game that will be shown live on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes. (5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET)
A Galaxy win on Thursday night would move the Galaxy five points clear of Real Salt Lake in the race for the Supporters' Shield, with RSL playing at New York on Saturday evening. A win would also keep the Galaxy’s hopes of becoming the third team in MLS history to record 60 points in a season in tact heading into the final two games of the season at home against Colorado and FC Dallas. LA currently have 53 points on the season, meaning that they need a minimum of seven out of a possible nine points over the final three games of the year to reach the 60 point plateau.
In addition to being shown live on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes, Thursday’s game against the Union will be available on the radio locally in Spanish on ESPN Deportes Radio 1330 AM KWKW and online in English at www.lagalaxy.com.
THE
WEEK THAT WAS
Sunday,
October 24, 2010: Galaxy 2 – Chivas USA 1 – The Home Depot Center –
Attendance: 24,283
The Galaxy claimed the Honda SuperClasico title for the third straight season and the fifth time in six years with a 2-1 win over Chivas USA on Sunday at The Home Depot Center. Edson Buddle and David Beckham scored first half goals for LA, who were able to hold on despite having to play the final 15 minutes with just 10 men following a red card to Eddie Lewis.
INJURY
REPORT
OUT – None
DOUBTFUL – None
QUESTIONABLE – Gregg Berhalter (Neck – Strain), Dema Kovalenko (Right Adductor – Strain), Leonardo (Left Quad –
Strain)
PROBABLE – None
TEAM
NOTES
FINAL ROAD TRIP: The Galaxy will play their final regular season road game of the year on Thursday night when they make their inaugural trip to Philadelphia to face the Union at PPL Park. The Galaxy are 8-3-3 on the road this season for 27 points, assuring them of the best road record in MLS this season. Against Eastern Conference opposition, LA is 3-1-3 on the road this season, beating Columbus, D.C. United and New York while earning draws with Chicago, Kansas City and Toronto FC. Meanwhile, Toronto was the Galaxy’s lone road loss against the East.
In 2009, the Galaxy were 5-2-8 on the road for 23 points, which were one less than Chicago for the most points away from home that season. Since Bruce Arena took charge of the club in August 2008, LA is 13-9-12 on the road for 51 out of the 110 points that the team has collected in that time.
BUDDLE EQUALS RECORD: Edson Buddle’s 24th minute goal against Chivas USA on Sunday was the 15th of the season for Buddle, tying a career-high that he set with LA in 2008. Buddle, who became the first player in MLS history to score 40 or more goals with two different teams with the goal, now has two more goals than New York’s Juan Pablo Angel, Toronto FC’s Dwayne DeRosario and Philadelphia’s Sebastian LeToux, this season in the race for the Budweiser Golden Boot. He is aiming to join Landon Donovan (in 2008) and Carlos Ruiz (in 2002) as the only Galaxy players ever to finish as the league’s top goalscorer.
Buddle, who scored twice in the Galaxy’s 3-1 win over the Union on May 1, has scored five of his 15 goals this season away from home while six of the 15 have come against Eastern Conference opposition.
BECKHAM ON THE BOARD: Making just his fourth appearance of 2010 and his second start, David Beckham became the 14th different Galaxy player to score a goal for the club this season when he scored his first goal of the year on Sunday, beating Chivas USA goalkeeper Zach Thornton with a freekick from 25 yards out. That goal was the eighth of Beckham’s MLS career and his first in MLS since September 19, 2009 when he tallied early in a 2-0 win over Toronto FC at The Home Depot Center. The goal was also the Galaxy’s first goal directly off a freekick since May 3, 2008 when Beckham beat Real Salt Lake’s Nick Rimando in a 2-2 draw at Rice-Eccels Stadium.
Each of Beckham’s last three goals in MLS regular season play are game winners, including the deciding tally in each of the last two games that he has played in the Honda SuperClasico against Chivas USA.
Last season, Beckham scored in his sixth game of the year with LA, tallying the only goal late in the 1-0 win vs. Chivas USA on August 29.
MARSHALL CALLED UP: The Galaxy will be without defender Yohance Marshall for Thursday night’s game against the Union after the 24-year-old was called into the Trinidad and Tobago National Team for their upcoming friendlies against Bermuda and Jamaica on October 6 and October 10, respectively. Marshall was on the bench for the Galaxy on Sunday against Chivas USA, but did not play after starting each of the two previous games.
Marshall, who has played for Trinidad’s at the U-17, U-20 and U-21 level, has never played in a full international for his country and could make his full debut on Wednesday, when T&T host Bermuda. He could be back in the lineup on Sunday when the Soca Warriors travel to Kingston, Jamaica to take on the Reggae Boyz. If he is capped in either of those games, he will become the second Galaxy player to earn his first cap this year, joining Omar Gonzalez, who made his U.S. debut against Brazil on August 10.
Marshall is the only Galaxy player that has been called in for national team duty during the current international window, with the club’s other internationals being allowed to remain with the club this week.
FINAL TIME ON NATIONAL TELEVISION: The game against the Union will be shown live nationwide on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes, starting at 5 p.m. This will be the Galaxy’s 17th and final nationally televised game of the regular season, and their sixth on the ESPN family of networks, including each of their last two games.
This season, LA are 10-3-3 in games that are shown on one of the league’s three national broadcast partners, ESPN, Fox Soccer Channel and Univision. The Galaxy are 3-1-1 this year on ESPN networks, 7-1-1 on Fox Soccer Channel and 2-1-1 in games that are shown on Univision or Telefutura.
A NEW PLACE TO PLAY: Thursday night’s game against the Union will be the Galaxy’s first-ever game at PPL Park, which opened earlier this season. PPL Park, which is located in Chester, Pa., will be the 34th different stadium that the Galaxy play a regular season game in since the start of MLS in 1996. All-time, LA are 14-14-5 in their first game at a new stadium, including a 1-1-0 mark this season.
Back on August 14, the Galaxy earned a 1-0 win over New York in their first ever game at Red Bull Arena, but they lost 1-0 to San Jose a week later at Buck Shaw Stadium in the two club’s first meeting there.
FOR THE
FANS
CUP OF JOE WITH A.J. DELAGARZA: The Galaxy’s weekly web chat show, Cup of Joe, will hit the road this week with host Joe Tutino speaking with second year defender A.J. DeLaGarza live from Philadelphia. DeLaGarza, who scored the game’s opening goal when the Galaxy and Union first met in Carson on May 1, returned to the starting lineup for LA on Sunday, pairing in central defense alongside Omar Gonzalez and helping the Galaxy to a 2-1 victory over Chivas USA.
The show will air live at 12 p.m. PT on the Galaxy’s website, www.lagalaxy.com, where it will also be archived for future viewing. Fans can participate by asking questions either beforehand or live during the chat. Start submitting questions for A.J. now by sending them via email to socialmedia@lagalaxy.com.
YOUTH ACADEMY
GALAXY ACADEMY TEAM BACK IN ACTION THIS WEEKEND: The LA Galaxy Youth Academy U-16 and U-18 teams will be back in action with a pair of games in Northern California this weekend in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy. The teams got their season underway on Saturday at The Home Depot Center against Real Salt Lake Arizona. The Galaxy U-16’s opened their campaign with a convincing 4-0 win, behind goals from Justin Dhillon, Sean Dhillon, Eric Gonzalez and John McBean, while the U-18’s came back from a late 2-1 deficit to earn a 2-2 draw. Eric Verso gave LA a 1-0 lead in the first half and Juan Gutierrez rescued a point for LA with a late goal.
On Saturday afternoon, both Galaxy teams will take on the De Anza Force before playing the Santa Cruz Breakers Academy the following day.
While the U-16’s and U-18’s are in Northern California, both Galaxy U-14 teams will be in action closer to home. Both teams were victorious on Saturday and will look for another weekend sweep when they return to action this weekend. The Galaxy A squad, who are 3-0-0 on the season, will take on Dep Morelos, while the B squad, who are 2-1-1, will take on the Cosmos West.
NEED TO
KNOW
LOOKING FOR MORE UPDATES?: If you are looking for continuous updates from the Galaxy all week long, be sure to visit the club’s official websites www.lagalaxy.com and www.lagalaxyfutbol.com, or the club’s official blog at www.thelagalaxy.blogspot.com for all the latest news from the club. The Galaxy can also be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/lagalaxy and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lagalaxy.
