CARSON, Calif. (Monday, August 30, 2010) – The LA Galaxy will look to get back on track and snap their first losing streak of the season on Saturday afternoon when they head east to take on the Chicago Fire at TOYOTA Park. The Fire scored three times in the opening 20 minutes on August 1 at The Home Depot Center to hand the Galaxy a 3-2 defeat, which snapped the club’s 11-game home unbeaten streak.
Despite losing their last two games, the Galaxy remain three points clear of Real Salt Lake in the race for the top spot in the Western Conference and two points ahead of the Columbus Crew for the best record in MLS.
This Saturday’s game will be broadcast live nationally in Spanish on TeleFutura and locally in English on Fox Sports West, starting with the Galaxy Live pregame show at 12:30 p.m. Additionally, the game will be live on the radio in English on KTLK 1150 AM and in Spanish on ESPN Deportes Radio 1330 AM KWKW.
THE WEEK THAT WAS
Sat., August 28, 2010: Galaxy 0 – Kansas City Wizards 2 – The Home Depot Center – Attendance: 21,112
Davy Arnaud and Jimmy Conrad scored on either side of halftime as the Galaxy dropped their second straight game, falling 2-0 to the Kansas City Wizards. The loss was also LA’s second straight at The Home Depot Center and gave the club a 1-3-0 record to close the month of August.
INJURY REPORT
Galaxy Injury Report
OUT – David Beckham (Left Achilles tendon surgery – Disabled List)
DOUBTFUL – None
QUESTIONABLE – Gregg Berhalter (viral complications)
PROBABLE – None
TEAM NOTES
SIMILAR SCENARIO: For the second straight season, the Galaxy head to Chicago on the heels of a 2-0 home loss. In 2009, David Beckham and Eddie Lewis were sent off as LA fell to the Seattle Sounders FC at The Home Depot Center on August 15. Four days later, they travelled to TOYOTA Park where goals from Landon Donovan and Mike Magee gave LA a 2-0 victory over the Fire. That win started a run that saw the Galaxy go 5-2-2 in their final nine games of the regular season to claim first place in the Western Conference.
BOUNCING BACK FROM BEING BLANKED: The Galaxy were shutout for just the seventh time this season on Saturday night, falling 2-0 to the Wizards, going 0-4-3 in those seven games, including 0-1-1 against Kansas City, who LA failed to scored against in two games this season. However, the club has shown an ability to respond well after being shutout, going 4-1-1 and outscoring opponents 9-3 in the game immediately after they were shutout, with the only loss coming on Saturday night.
In 2009, the Galaxy were shutout six times, going 4-1-1 in the game immediately after they were shutout.
IN THE LIGHT OF DAY: For the second time in three weeks, the Galaxy will have an afternoon kickoff when they take on the Chicago Fire this weekend. The game will kick off at 1 p.m. (PT), just as the 1-0 loss at San Jose did on August 21. On the season, LA are 3-2-0 in games that kick off at 6 p.m. local time or earlier, including 2-1-0 on the road, having beaten Seattle 4-0 on May 8 in a game that started at 1 p.m. (PT) and beaten New York 1-0 on August 14 in a game that started at 6 p.m. (ET).
After Saturday’s game in Chicago, the Galaxy will play two more games that start before 6 p.m., on October 3 at Chivas USA and on October 24 against FC Dallas to close out the season, with both games kicking off at 5 p.m. at The Home Depot Center.
PENULTIMATE TRIP: This weekend’s game in Chicago will be the Galaxy’s next to last road trip of the season of the 2010 regular season. After this weekend, the club has only two road games remaining on their schedule, with one of those to take place at The Home Depot Center on October 3 against Chivas USA. Four days after that game, LA will travel to Philadelphia for the first time ever for a game against the Union at PPL Park.
So far this season, the Galaxy are 7-3-2 on the road, including a 3-1-2 mark against Eastern Conference opposition.
AN EVEN SPLIT: The Galaxy currently have the best record in MLS with 43 points, leaving them two points ahead of the Eastern Conference leading Columbus Crew and three points ahead of their closest competition in the Western Conference, Real Salt Lake. All three of those teams have played 22 games, leaving them with eight left apiece.
Of the Galaxy’s final eight games, four are against teams that would be in the MLS Cup Playoffs if the season ended today, including a meeting against Columbus in Carson on September 11. Three of the Crew’s remaining eight opponents would be in the postseason today, while six of RSL’s final eight games are against teams that would be in the postseason if the regular season ended today.
TWO IN A ROW AT HOME: Saturday’s loss to Kansas City was the Galaxy’s second straight home loss in the league and extended their winless streak at home to four games in all competitions. LA is 0-3-1 at The Home Depot Center since a 3-1 win over Seattle on July 4.
By losing their last two games at home; against the Wizards and the Chicago Fire on August 1, the Galaxy have now lost consecutive home games in the league for the first time since 2007. On August 23 of that year, LA lost 3-0 to Chivas USA before falling 2-1 to Real Salt Lake a few days later on September 1.
Since moving into The Home Depot Center in June 2003, the Galaxy have only lost three or more consecutive home games once, dropping four straight from April 22-June 8 during the 2006 season.
IN THE COMMUNITY
VOTE FOR GALAXY TO RECEIVE A $50,000 PEPSI REFRESH GRANT: The LA Galaxy are asking fans to vote for the club’s Pepsi Refresh Project idea in order to help receive a $50,000 grant. Edson Buddle is the Galaxy’s Pepsi Refresh Project Ambassador and fans can view his video online at http://www.mlssoccer.com/pepsirefresh/la to learn more about the club’s Pepsi Refresh Project idea. They can then cast their vote for the Galaxy’s idea up to 25 times per day at the above link. Voting is open now and runs until Monday, September 20 at 8:59 p.m.
GALAXY FOUNDATION SHOT OF THE WEEK: At each LA Galaxy home game, fans are invited to visit the Galaxy Foundation Booth to place your bid on the Galaxy Foundation's Shot of the Week presented by MoraPhotography.com. Each photo will be signed by the player or players featured. All proceeds benefit the Los Angeles Galaxy Foundation.
FOR THE FANS
CUP OF JOE WITH DEMA KOVALENKO: Galaxy midfielder Dema Kovalenko will join Galaxy radio announcer Joe Tutino on Thursday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. for Cup of Joe, the Galaxy's weekly live web show. Kovalenko will stop by to answer all the questions that the fans are asking about his recent return from injury and this Saturday’s match against his former club, the Chicago Fire. The show will air live on the Galaxy’s website, www.lagalaxy.com/cupofjoe, 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 Dema now to socialmedia@lagalaxy.com.
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.
