CARSON, Calif.– After winning the first leg of the SuperClasico 1-0 over Chivas USA on Saturday night, the LA Galaxy will round out a busy month of May with a pair of games against Eastern Conference opposition this week. Unbeaten against the East this season and in their last four games overall; the Galaxy will begin the week by hosting the Houston Dynamo at The Home Depot Center on Wednesday night. The team will then fly to Boston the following day for a game on Saturday night against the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium.
The Galaxy are unbeaten in their last five games against Houston in all competition, going 4-0-1 against the Dynamo since the start of the 2009 season. LA swept the season series from the Dynamo last year and knocked Houston out of the playoffs in 2009, winning the Western Conference Championship 2-0 that year in extratime. The Dynamo enter Wednesday night’s game, which kicks off at 7:30 p.m. and can be seen live on Prime Ticket starting with the Galaxy Live pregame show at 7 p.m., with a 3-3-5 record and on the heels of a 2-2 draw with New York on Saturday.
Following that game, Bruce Arena’s team will make their way to Massachusetts for their second and final game of the year against the New England Revolution on Saturday. The two sides met in LA’s home opener on March 20, playing to a 1-1 draw in a torrential downpour that lasted throughout the game. Shalrie Joseph gave New England a 1-0 lead inside the opening five minutes while Juninho equalized midway through the first half. After sharing the points in the first meeting, the Galaxy will now be looking to take all three from the Revolution in Saturday night’s game, which kicks off at 5 p.m. and will be shown live on FOX Sports West, starting with the Galaxy Live pregame show at 4:30 p.m.
INJURY REPORT
OUT – Sean Alvarado (Right Knee – Surgery), Leonardo (Right Knee – Surgery)
DOUBTFUL – None
QUESTIONABLE – Adam Cristman (Left Knee – Surgery Recovery)
PROBABLE – None
TEAM NOTES
FOLLOWING THE SUPERCLASICO: While the Galaxy have had a large amount of success against their in-stadium rivals Chivas USA, going 13-3-5 in regular season games between the two sides, they have not been as successful after the SuperClasico. Since the start of the Galaxy-Chivas USA rivalry, the Galaxy are just 4-10-6 in their next regular season game immediately following the SuperClasico. However, since the start of the 2009 season, LA are 3-1-1 after playing Chivas USA.
In 2010, the Galaxy beat Chivas USA twice in the regular season and followed the first of those wins up with a 2-0 win over the Dynamo in Houston.
UNBEATEN AGAINST THE EAST: The Galaxy will face two Eastern Conference opponents this week, first hosting the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday before flying to Massachusetts to take on the New England Revolution on Saturday night. So far this season the Galaxy are 3-0-5 against the East, going 2-0-2 at home, including a 1-1 draw with New England, and 1-0-3 on the road. At the end of this week, the Galaxy, who will play 18 of their 34 regular season games this year against the East this year, will have played every Eastern Conference team at least once with the exception of the Columbus Crew, who they host on July 20 and visit on September 24.
Since the start of the 2009 season, the Galaxy have a 19-5-14 record against the East, going 8-1-5 in 2009 and 8-4-4 in 2010.
200 FOR DUNIVANT: The only player to start all 13 of the Galaxy’s games so far this season, Todd Dunivant is in line to play the 200th game of his MLS career on Wednesday night against the Dynamo. A two-time MLS Cup champion, Dunivant has played 110 regular season games in a Galaxy uniform while also spending time with San Jose, New York and Toronto FC. Dunivant has five goals and 14 assists in his MLS career, with two goals and seven assists coming while with the Galaxy, including one assist this season, which came on Juninho’s goal in the season opening win over Seattle.
Since returning to the Galaxy prior to the start of the 2009 season, Dunivant has played in 65 of the 73 regular season games that the Galaxy have played, starting all but one of those. His 27 games played and 2,409 minutes played were the most games and minutes that he had played since 2005 when he started and played the full 90 minutes in all 32 of the Galaxy’s regular season games to play a career-best 2,880 minutes.
If Dunivant plays on Wednesday, he will become the 64th player in MLS history to appear in 200 regular season games during his MLS career.
BECKHAM TO MISS HOUSTON CLASH: The Galaxy will be without David Beckham for Wednesday night’s game against Houston at The Home Depot Center. Following Saturday’s win over Chivas USA, Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena announced that the club was allowing Beckham to miss Wednesday’s game in order to play in Gary Neville’s testimonial at Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United. Beckham and Neville were teammates at United from 1991-2003, coming through the club’s youth ranks together while also serving as teammates with England’s National Team.
Beckham will re-join his Galaxy teammates in Boston on Thursday ahead of Saturday’s game against the Revolution. The 36-year-old has played in and started 11 games for the Galaxy this season, scoring once while also tallying six assists, which are tied with Houston’s Brad Davis for the most in MLS this season. Of Beckham’s six assists this season, five have come from set pieces, including the one he recorded on Saturday night, setting up Chad Barrett for the only goal of the 1-0 win over Chivas USA.
SEASON SERIES COMPLETE: Saturday’s game against New England will be the second and final game of the year between the two sides. The Revolution came to The Home Depot Center on March 20 for the Galaxy’s home opener, playing to a 1-1 draw. Juninho scored the Galaxy’s only goal of the game on that day, cancelling out an early Shalrie Joseph goal.
The Galaxy are just 1-6-2 in the regular season at Gillette Stadium, though they have lost only once in the last three years, while they also won the club’s first MLS Cup championship there in 2002.
The only other team that the Galaxy have completed their season series against is Philadelphia, who the Galaxy beat 1-0 at home on April 2 before drawing 1-1 at PPL Park on May 11.
ANOTHER BUSY WEEK: For the third time this season, the Galaxy are in the midst of a run that will see them play three games in less than 10 days. LA went 1-0-2 in each of the first two, beating Chicago while drawing D.C. United and Toronto FC on the road in April and then drawing New York at home and Philadelphia away earlier this month and then beating Sporting Kansas City at home on May 14.
The Galaxy’s current run of games began on Saturday with a 1-0 win over Chivas USA and will see the club host Houston on Wednesday before closing out the month against the Revolution at Gillette Stadium. These will be the sixth and seventh games during the month of May, which are the most league games that the club will play in a month this season.
LA GALAXY YOUTH ACADEMY
GALAXY ACADEMY TEAMS HIT THE ROAD: The LA Galaxy Academy U-16 team claimed their second straight draw of the year on Saturday, playing to a 2-2 draw against Chivas USA at The Home Depot Center. They will now hit the road for a pair of games, taking on Arsenal FC on Saturday and then Real Salt Lake Arizona on Sunday.
The U-18’s will also be on the road this weekend for a pair of games. After falling 3-2 to Chivas USA on Saturday, the U-18’s will now travel to Walnut, Calif. to take on Arsenal FC at Mt. San Antonio College on Saturday before heading to Casa Grande, Ariz. to take on Real Salt Lake Arizona on Sunday morning.
Heading into this weekend, both teams have six games left in the regular season, which ends in three weeks on Sunday, June 12.
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. The Galaxy can also be followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/lagalaxy, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lagalaxy and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/TheLAGalaxy.
