LA Galaxy 1, FC Dallas 2
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Pizza Hut Park – Frisco, Texas
Scoring Summary:
DAL – Fabian Castillo 1 (Andrew Jacobson 1) 47’
LA – Landon Donovan 3 (Juninho 1, Juan Pablo Angel 2) 51’
DAL – Brek Shea 2 (Zach Loyd 2) 88’
Misconduct Summary:
LA – Juninho (Yellow Card) 55’
Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Donovan Ricketts; Sean Franklin, Omar Gonzalez, A.J. DeLaGarza, Todd Dunivant; Juninho, David Beckham (Chris Birchall 83’), Mike Magee (Paolo Cardozo 72’), Landon Donovan©; Juan Pablo Angel (Jovan Kirovski 83’), Chad Barrett.
Subs Not Used:Josh Saunders, Frankie Hejduk, Michael Stephens, Bryan Jordan.
FC Dallas: Kevin Hartman; Jackson, George John, Ugo Ihemelu, Jair Benitez (Zach Loyd 36’); Daniel Hernandez©, Andrew Jacobson, Marvin Chavez, Eric Avila (Ricardo Villar 69’), Brek Shea; Fabian Castillo (Eric Alexander 90’).
Subs Not Used: Chris Seitz, Bobby Warshaw, Maykel Galindo, Milton Rodriguez.
QUOTES:
LA Galaxy Associate Head Coach Dave Sarachan
Thoughts on the game…
Honestly we didn’t feel like we deserved to lose the match. I thought the initiative to make the game and come out and play was very good. The goals we conceded, the first [goal] you could argue was a foul on Dunivant – the last was a fitting end to a weird night.
On FC Dallas playing without Ferreira…
We had an idea of what the system would be. Obviously, David is a class player and they miss him. It didn’t appear as if they had a whole lot of chances, but their approach was good.
On the rain and whether it had an effect on the team…
It didn’t really play into the game too much. At the very end it was sloppy in standing water, but I thought throughout the game our guys handled that part pretty well.
On David Beckham’s play…
I thought he [Beckham] had a great shift of 82 minutes. With the delay it just didn’t make sense to throw him back out there.
LA Galaxy midfielder David Beckham
Thoughts on the game…
Obviously we’re disappointed with not coming away with any points. I think we at least deserved a point at the end of the game.
On his readiness following the travel back from England…
I felt great. I rested, I slept, I had two really good night’s sleep before the game, so I was more than prepared for the game and felt like I played well. It was not an issue.
LA Galaxy midfielder Landon Donovan
Thoughts on the game…
“Obviously it was a weird game. It’s not something either team is used to playing in, that weather and then having a lengthy delay. We’re all disappointed and upset, but not really sure what to be upset about.”
On the weather…
“The field did not play that bad. It was obviously hard with some of the rain. I think the wind played a part in the Brek [Shea] goal, but both teams dealt with it.
FC Dallas Head Coach Schellas Hyndman
I thought it was a great result for us. The game was really a game of two different halves. I thought we played really well in the first half. In the second half, they made some tactical changes that caused us some problems. It was good to see Castillo score his first goal, a very nice goal. And then of course, there was the delay in the game and for us to come back and focus in those last eight minutes to come away with a victory, I thought was outstanding. I feel bad for the LA Galaxy. I feel bad for Bruce Arena because as we talked (during the delay), neither of us would have felt very good about losing the game there at the end. But, it was a game that we needed to win.
On the team without David Ferreira…
I think we’ve dealt with a few adversities today. I think the first one, obviously, is playing without David Ferreira. The second one is dealing with the weather, and then the third one is the delay of the game. I think our players responded really quite well to all of those. We talked all week about how we’re not a one-man team. We talked all week about life without David Ferreira and how to put ourselves in position to be in contention for the playoffs and also to put ourselves in position so when David is healthy, it makes this team that much stronger.
On his message to the team this week…
I think you have to reflect back on the Vancouver game, and the Vancouver game was down 1-0 on the road to a team that hadn’t lost yet at home in a pretty difficult environment, a sold out crowd, field turf, just coming off a loss at Portland, missing a penalty kick and David (Ferreira) getting injured. And then, on the end of that was winning the game. So, I wanted to use all of that to be positive this week. (Telling the team), you’re a good enough team to win without David, but you have to believe it and you have to raise your level of play individually and hopefully collectively.
FC Dallas Captain Daniel Hernandez
On winning without 2010 MLS MVP David Ferreira
We’re professionals. We have to find ways to win. Obviously he’s a great player and an important piece of this team, but there is not one player out there who makes or breaks a team. Even if he was playing tonight, we still needed to win this game at home.
FC Dallas left midfielder Brek Shea
On his game-winning goal
I looked up and didn’t see anybody in the box so I just took a shot, trying to chip him and it went in, which is huge for us. We were really focused on getting three points tonight.
FC Dallas center midfielder Andrew Jacobson
On how big of a win it was for FC Dallas
It is big. It is big because of the way we did it, you know with the [delay] and everything. We kept ourselves sharp and focused. We knew we needed a win and it took a lot of hard work from everybody. And it is not like we bunkered back. We came and pushed and it fell for us today.
Notes:
- With the loss, the Galaxy are now 4-2-3 on the season, leaving them a league-best 15 points. LA remain three points ahead of Real Salt Lake and Seattle at the top of the Western Conference standings and are one point better than the Eastern Conference leading New York Red Bulls, who are LA’s opponents next weekend.
- The game was played in a steady rain with a temperature of 49 degrees at kickoff.
- Tonight’s game was the Galaxy’s sixth road game of the season and none have been played in temperatures warmer than 50 degrees.
- The game was delayed for one hour and six minutes in the 83rd minute because of lightning. This was the first Galaxy game to be delayed by weather since June 9, 2010 in a 1-0 loss at Real Salt Lake.
- The Galaxy wore their secondary blue uniforms for the first time this season. They wore their blue uniforms twice last season, at Columbus and at New York, going 2-0-0 in those games.
- Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena made one change to the team that defeated Portland 3-0 last weekend at Pizza Hut Park. Juan Pablo Angel returned to the starting lineup for the first time since April 13 in Toronto, replacing Miguel Lopez. Lopez missed the game with a left knee contusion that he picked up in the first half of the win over the Timbers.
- In addition to Lopez, the Galaxy were also without Gregg Berhalter, Adam Cristman and Leonardo who all missed the game through injury.
- The game was tied 0-0 at halftime. This was the third time this season that the Galaxy played a scoreless first half with all three coming on the road.
- FC Dallas took a 1-0 lead in the 47th minute when Fabian Castillo scored the first goal of his MLS career. That was the first time that the Galaxy had trailed in a game since the 4-1 loss at Real Salt Lake on March 26.
- The lead would only last four minutes before Landon Donovan equalized for LA with his team-best third goal of the year. All three of his goals have come in the last two games of the season.
- Donovan has scored each of the Galaxy’s last three goals.
- Juninho and Juan Pablo Angel were credited with the assists on the goal. For Juninho it was his first assist of the season while for Angel it was his second.
- Angel has now assisted on each of the Galaxy’s last two goals, both of which have been scored by Donovan.
- Todd Dunivant once again started and played the full 90 minutes at left back. He is the only Galaxy player to start every game this season and is the only one to play the full 90 minutes in each as well.
- Bruce Arena made two changes after the conclusion of the lightning delay with Chris Birchall and Jovan Kirovski coming on for Juan Pablo Angel and David Beckham.
- The Galaxy are now 2-2-2 in their six road games this season.
- The only other team to play six road games this season is Sporting Kansas City, who are playing their first 10 games of the year on the road before their new stadium opens in June.
- The attendance for tonight’s game was a sellout crowd of 21,867.
- The Galaxy are back in action on Saturday, May 7 when they host the Eastern Conference leading New York Red Bulls at The Home Depot Center. That game kicks off at 8 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live nationally on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.
