Postgame Notes: LA @ VAN

angel_VAN
LA Galaxy Communications

LA Galaxy 4, Vancouver Whitecaps FC 0
Saturday, July 30, 2011
The Home Depot Center – Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Scoring Summary:

LA – Landon Donovan 10 (Sean Franklin 1) 61’


LA – Landon Donovan 11 (Penalty Kick) 75’


LA – Sean Franklin 2 (Landon Donovan 2, Todd Dunivant 4) 80’


LA – Adam Cristman 1 (Unassisted) 90’


Misconduct Summary:

LA – Michael Stephens (Yellow Card) 65’


Lineups:

LA Galaxy: Josh Saunders; A.J. DeLaGarza, Omar Gonzalez, Gregg Berhalter, Todd Dunivant; Sean Franklin, Michael Stephens (Dan Keat 85’), Juninho, Landon Donovan© (Miguel Lopez 84’); Juan Pablo Angel (Adam Cristman 67’), Mike Magee.


Subs Not Used:Brian Perk, Bryan Jordan, Hector Jimenez, Paolo Cardozo.


Vancouver Whitecaps FC: Joe Cannon; Jonathan Leathers (Peter Vagenas 73’), Alain Rochat©, Michael Boxall, Jordan Harvey; Gershon Koffie, Shea Salinas, Davide Chiumiento (Michael Nanchoff 81’), Camilo; Mustopha Jarju (Nizar Khalfan 62’), Eric Hassli.


Subs Not Used: Jay Nolly, Wes Knight, Greg Janicki, Jeb Brovsky.


Referee: Baldomero Toledo


Referee’s Assistants Colin Arblaster and Kevin Duliba


4th Official: Tyler Ploeger


Notes:

  • With the win, the Galaxy are now 12-2-9 on the season, leaving them with a league-best 45 points. LA remain in first place in the Western Conference and are now six points ahead of second place FC Dallas, who host Chivas USA on Sunday. Seattle are now seven points behind the Galaxy and in third place, following their 3-1 loss at Houston.
  • The Galaxy are now unbeaten in their last 14 league games, going 8-0-6 in those contests for 30 of a possible 42 points.
  • The 14-game unbeaten streak is the longest in MLS this season and the third longest unbeaten streak in Galaxy history. The only streaks longer than their current streak, which is the longest for an MLS team this season, are a pair of 15-game unbeaten streaks, the first of which happened during the 1997 and 1998 seasons while the other started late in the 2009 season and ended in June 2010.
  • The Galaxy have now won three straight games. This is their second longest winning streak of the season, beaten only by their four game winning streak from May 14-May 28.
  • The Galaxy are now 6-2-4 on the road this season and have kept a clean sheet in five of those games.
  • Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena made three changes to the team that defeated the Columbus Crew 1-0 on July 20 at The Home Depot Center in the Galaxy’s last league game. Omar Gonzalez returned in central defense while Michael Stephens was back in the lineup in central midfield while Mike Magee started up front. They replaced Jovan Kirovski, who did not dress for the game, David Beckham who was suspended for yellow card accumulation and Miguel Lopez, who began the game on the bench.
  • In addition to Beckham, Chris Birchall was also suspended for the game, serving the second game of his two-game suspension that he was given by the MLS Disciplinary Committee for a foul on Patrick Nyarko late in the 2-1 win over Chicago on July 9.
  • While Beckham and Birchall were suspended, the Galaxy were also without Sean Alvarado, Chad Barrett, Leonardo and Donovan Ricketts, who all missed the game through injury.
  • Dam Keat was in the 18-man squad for the first time in his MLS career. The first round MLS Supplemental Draft pick replaced Michael Stephens in the 85th minute to make his MLS debut.
  • The game was tied 0-0 at halftime. This was the fifth consecutive league game that the Galaxy were tied 0-0 at the half. LA are 3-0-2 in those five games.
  • Landon Donovan gave the Galaxy a 1-0 lead in the 61st minute with his 10th goal of the season.
  • With the goal, he reached double figures in goals for the sixth time in his 11-year MLS career. Now in his seventh season with the Galaxy, Donovan has 10 or more goals in five of those years.
  • Sean Franklin had the lone assist on the goal for his first of the season. He had a career-high six assists in 2010.
  • Donovan added his second goal of the game in the 75th minute, converting a penalty kick for his 11th goal of the year. That goal leaves him tied with New York’s Thierry Henry for the most in MLS this season.
  • Donovan is now tied with Ante Razov for the third most goals in MLS history with 114 in 247 career regular season games.
  • He is now tied for the MLS lead with three multi-goal games this season.
  • Donovan is now 4-for-4 from the penalty spot this season.
  • This was Donovan’s first-ever game against the Whitecaps. The 20th different team that he has played in a regular season game. He now has seven goals and 10 assists in those 20 games, including four goals and two assists against the two expansion teams this year.
  • Sean Franklin scored his second goal in as many games in the 80th minute, finishing off a pass from Landon Donovan.
  • This was Franklin’s first-ever MLS game with both a goal and an assist.
  • Donovan collected his second assist of the year on the goal. He had a career-high 16 assists in 2010.
  • Adam Cristman rounded out the scoring in the 90th minute with his first regular season goal in a Galaxy uniform.
  • Cristman now has five goals in four different competitions for the club. One came in the friendly against Real Madrid, one came in the Open Cup loss to Seattle and two came in the Reserve League, including one against Vancouver.
  • This was his first MLS regular season goal since June 10, 2010 when he played for D.C. United.
  • Cristman is the 12th different Galaxy player to score a goal this season.
  • Josh Saunders made three saves to keep his fourth clean sheet of the season.
  • This was the Galaxy’s 12th clean sheet in 23 games this season, equaling a club record that was set in 2009 and matched in 2010. In addition to Saunders four shutouts, Donovan Ricketts has six and Brian Perk has one while Ricketts, Saunders and Mike Magee combined for one other.
  • Michael Stephens was shown the only yellow card of the game in the 65th minute.
  • Juninho was not booked, meaning that he remains on yellow card warning. If he plays two more games without collecting a card, he will have one expunged from his record.
  • Todd Dunivant once again played the full 90 minutes at left back for the Galaxy. He is the only player on the club to start all 23 regular season games while also play the full 90 minutes in each.
  • The Whitecaps were the last team that the Galaxy had not played this season. They are now 10-2-5 in their first game against a team this year.
  • This was the first ever MLS game between the two sides. The Galaxy are now 13-4-2 their first time facing an opponent in MLS.
  • Empire Field is the 35th different stadium that the Galaxy have played a regular season game in. They are now 16-14-5 their first time playing in a new building.
  • The Galaxy now have a 2-1-3 all-time record in Canada in the regular season, going 1-0-0 against the Whitecaps and 1-1-3 against Toronto FC.
  • LA are now 15-6-3 all-time against expansion teams, including 2-0-0 this year, outscoring opponents 7-0. In addition to today’s win, the Galaxy also beat Portland 3-0 at The Home Depot Center on April 23.
  • The Whitecaps will travel to The Home Depot Center for the reverse fixture on Saturday, September 17.
  • The attendance for tonight’s game was a sellout crowd of 27,500, the biggest ever for an MLS game at Empire Field.
  • This was the third time the Galaxy and Whitecaps have played, but the first to come in an MLS game. They played to a 0-0 draw in 2007 in a friendly at BC Place in Vancouver while the Whitecaps won 2-1 in a friendly that was played in Edmonton in May 2008.
  • The Galaxy will remain in Vancouver overnight and face the Whitecaps in a Reserve League game on Sunday at Empire Field. That game will kick off at 11 a.m.
  • Following that game, the Galaxy will fly south to Portland ahead of their next game on Wednesday, August 3 against the Portland Timbers at JELD-WEN Field. That game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. and be shown live on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes. That will be the second and final meeting of the year between the Galaxy and Timbers, with the Galaxy winning 3-0 at The Home Depot Center on April 23.