LA Galaxy 2, San Jose Earthquakes 0
Saturday, August 20, 2011
The Home Depot Center – Carson, Calif.
Scoring Summary:
LA – Robbie Keane 1 (David Beckham 11) 21’
LA – Mike Magee 3 (Sean Franklin 2, Landon Donovan 3) 90’
Misconduct Summary:
SJ – Rafael Baca (Yellow Card) 54’
LA – Frankie Hejduk (Yellow Card) 68’
SJ – Steven Beitashour (Red Card) 82’
Lineups:
LA Galaxy: Josh Saunders; Frankie Hejduk, Omar Gonzalez, Gregg Berhalter, Todd Dunivant; Sean Franklin (Dan Keat 90’), David Beckham, Juninho, Landon Donovan©; Adam Cristman (Miguel Lopez 79’), Robbie Keane (Mike Magee 72’).
Subs Not Used:Brian Perk, A.J. DeLaGarza, Michael Stephens, Chris Birchall.
San Jose Earthquakes: Jon Busch; Steven Beitashour, Jason Hernandez, Bobby Burling, Justin Morrow; Ramiro Corrales©, Joey Gjersten (Ellis McLoughlin 86’), Rafael Baca, Bobby Convey; Khari Stephenson (Edmundo Zara 71’), Chris Wondolowski (Simon Dawkins 71’).
Subs Not Used: David Bingham, Chris Leitch, Jacob Peterson, Matt Luzunaris.
Referee: Andrew Chapin
Referee’s Assistants: Greg Barkey and Colin Arblaster
4th Official: Alejandro Mariscal
Notes:
- With the win, the Galaxy are now 14-3-9 on the season, giving them a league-best 51 points. They remain in first place in the Western Conference and are now six points ahead of second place Seattle, who beat FC Dallas 1-0 earlier tonight to move into second place. Dallas are now in third place, eight points behind the Galaxy with all three teams having played 26 games this year.
- The Galaxy are the first team to reach 50 points on the season. They were also the first team to reach 20, 30 and 40 points.
- This is the 16th time that the Galaxy have reached the 50 point plateau and the second straight year that they have done so.
- With the win, the Galaxy remain undefeated at home with an 8-0-5 record. They are the only team without a loss at home this season in MLS.
- Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena made two changes to the team that beat FC Dallas 3-1 in their last league game. Frankie Hejduk made his second start of the season at right back, replacing A.J. DeLaGarza while Robbie Keane made his MLS debut, starting up front in place of Mike Magee.
- The Galaxy had used the same starting lineup against Dallas as they did in the 2-0 win over Motagua in the CONCACAF Champions League on Tuesday.
- Keane got the start up front alongside Adam Cristman who was making his second straight start in the league and third in all competition.
- The Galaxy were once again without Sean Alvarado, Chad Barrett, Jovan Kirovski, Leonardo and Donovan Ricketts, who all missed the game through injury.
- Frankie Hejduk made his second appearance and second start of the year at right back, playing the full 90 minutes. Hejduk made his Galaxy debut in the 2-1 win in Chicago on April 17. He played 80 minutes in that game, collecting a second half yellow card just as he did tonight.
- Robbie Keane gave the Galaxy a 1-0 lead in the 21st minute with the first goal of his MLS career.
- Keane became the 18th player in Galaxy history and the fifth since 2005 to score on his debut for the club.
- Prior to Keane, Alecko Eskandarian was the last Galaxy player to score on his debut for the club, doing so in a 1-0 win over New England on July 4, 2009.
- The Galaxy are the fourth club that Keane has scored on his debut for, joining Wolves and Coventry City, who he scored twice for each in his debut, as well as West Ham, who he scored for last year in his first game on loan from Tottenham.
- David Beckham was credited with the assist on the goal, giving him 11 on the season.
- Beckham’s 11 assists are the most he has ever recorded in an MLS season, eclipsing the previous mark of 10, which he set in 2008.
- Despite his assists tonight, Beckham remains in second place in assists in MLS, one behind Houston’s Brad Davis, who tallied his 12th assist of the year in a win over Real Salt Lake earlier tonight.
- Mike Magee rounded out the scoring with his third goal of the season in the 90th minute, getting on the end of a Sean Franklin cross. Landon Donovan was also credited with an assist on the goal.
- The three goals this year are the most of Magee’s Galaxy career and four goals shy of his career-high of seven that he set as a rookie in 2003.
- After not scoring in any of his first 31 regular season and postseason home games as a member of the Galaxy, Magee has now scored in each of the last two. He also scored in LA’s 3-1 win over FC Dallas on August 6.
- Sean Franklin tallied his second assist of the season, with the first coming in the 4-0 win in Vancouver on July 30.
- In the Galaxy’s first 21 games of the year, which Franklin played 20 of, he had no goals and no assists. In the last five games, he has two goals and two assists.
- Donovan’s assist was his third of the year, leaving him tied with Chad Barrett and Miguel Lopez for third most on the team. Only David Beckham and Todd Dunivant have more.
- Josh Saunders equaled a career-high with six saves on the night, five of which came in the first half.
- The shutout was the Galaxy’s 13th of the season, setting a new club record for clean sheets in a season. LA had kept 12 shutouts in 2009 and 2010, but have now bettered that mark, shutting out their opponent in exactly half of their
- Frankie Hejduk was the only Galaxy player to be booked tonight.
- 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 26 regular season games while also play the full 90 minutes in each.
- The Galaxy are now 3-0-1 at The Home Depot Center against the Earthquakes since they returned to MLS in 2008. They have scored two goals in each of those four games while allowing just two and keeping three clean sheets.
- The attendance for tonight’s game was a sellout crowd of 27,000 at The Home Depot Center. This is LA’s fourth sellout in 13 regular season games this season.
- The Galaxy return to MLS action on Sunday, August 28 when they travel to New York to face the Red Bullas at Red Bull Arena. That game kicks off at 4 p.m. (PT) and will be shown live on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.
- LA will be back in action at home on Thursday, August 25 when they host Costa Rican side LD Alajuelense in their second game of the CONCACAF Champions League at The Home Depot Center. That game, which features the two teams that are tied for first place in Group A, kicks off at 7 p.m. and can be seen live on FOX Soccer.
Quotes:
LA Galaxy Head Coach Bruce Arena
On tonight’s game:
“This was a hard game for us tonight. I thought San Jose played well and did a good job turning us over in the last 10 minutes of the first half. They were dangerous and possessed the ball pretty well. They played a good game. Our guys, for the most part, did a good job defensively tonight. I think, like I said, we were sloppy the last 10 minutes of the first half. Second half was a grind. We looked tired, didn’t do a good job with our passing, but hung on there. Obviously in the last 10 minutes, we got the second goal and the three points—which was important. Tonight was great to bring Robbie [Keane] into the team. It was nice to get Frankie Hejduk. It was one of our goals tonight to use a few new players, which we did with Robbie and Frankie. Just try to start organizing our team with some sort of rotation as we head into some difficult games over the next two months. I think it’s a positive. The three points is real good. As a team now, we are going to do the best we can to get back and be prepared for a week that’s going to be real tough with the Champions League game at home on Thursday and then traveling to New York for a game on Sunday. We are elated with Robbie. I think he had a great 70 minutes for us tonight. We think there are a lot of great games ahead for Robbie and our team.”
On what Robbie Keane brings to the team:
“He’s a terrific player. He has a great soccer mind. He’s creative in and around the penalty area. And, he can score goals.”
On the play of Frankie Hejduk:
“I thought he did well. I wasn’t quite sure if it made sense to do what we did here tonight. Frankie’s really only played one game this year, I believe, in Chicago. And, he’s struggled with an injury and wasn’t quite sure. We know Frankie’s a good player, an experienced player, and the only way we are going to get him in a position to help our team down the stretch is to get him on the field. I wasn’t sure whether we’d get 90 minutes out of him tonight and we did. I think that it was great, and hopefully, he can be part of a rotation of our backline that we are going to need for the next ten days or so.”
LA Galaxy Forward Robbie Keane
On the team’s performance:
“The first 30 minutes was good. We kept the ball very well. We played good. The last ten minutes or so [of the first half] we were sloppy. We gave them chances, and we made mistakes. All in all we got the three points. The most important thing was to get the three points. I’m sure myself, I will get better and better and then the team will get better and better.”
On getting his first MLS goal:
“I think anytime you are with a new team it’s always nice to get your first goal. It was nice to get the first goal, and hopefully there is a lot more to come. When you play with good players, it’s always easy. I think you’ve seen that with my goal with David’s quick thinking and I was ready for it. We tried that one on a few occasions and we were lucky enough that it worked for the goal. When you play with players like David and Landon [Donovan], they are easy to play with.”
On the fans:
“I think it’s fantastic—the reception they’ve given me since I’ve come here. When I arrived at the airport, it was brilliant, and then the fans again tonight. I just hope I repaid them with a goal and hopefully, there is a lot more to come.”
LA Galaxy Captain Landon Donovan
On Robbie Keane’s debut:
“All things considered, I thought he was excellent. I think when he gets settled a little more, when he’s not less than 48 hours from getting off a flight, you’ll probably see a little more energy. But I thought he was in great spots, did well with the ball, obviously, his goal was fantastic and I think all-around we’re really happy.”
On Keane’s goal:
“Fantastic finish on the goal. He made it look easy, and it’s not an easy play. He made Jon Busch look foolish and scored the goal. It was a fantastic, fantastic goal and that’s what you want.”
LA Galaxy Midfielder David Beckham
On Robbie Keane’s debut:
“It’ a great night, you know. Obviously, Robbie playing for the first time and it was a good game for him and to get off the mark with a goal straight away, it’s always important for a goal scorer to due that, but overall it was important to get the three points. Robbie played a good 65-70 minutes, he (Head Coach Bruce Arena) couldn’t play him too much because of his travel, not training and stuff like that, but it didn’t show. First half he looked sharp. He could have had one or two more goals. Happy he could that he got off to a good start.”
On how he and Keane teamed up for a goal:
“I knew he was going to be running, I knew where to put it, but sometimes they come off, sometimes they don’t. He’s a player that obviously knows where to run and he can play the game well, he can read the game really well. If you’re on the same wave-length as him then you have a chance.”
LA Galaxy Forward Mike Magee
On Robbie Keane:
“Obviously it’s an amazing addition. It’s incredible to one day say I played with some of these guys. Robbie is another guy who’s just in a different class, he showed that tonight. He just got off a plane about 24 hours ago and he comes in and won us the game.”
On his goal:
“Landon (Donovan) played it to Sean (Franklin) and I just took off. I just wanted to get behind them and Sean just gave me an absolute peach.”
LA Galaxy Defender Frankie Hejduk
On Keane’s goal:
“For him to come in right away, it’s not easy to do what he did. You know, to travel all that way, and not really know his teammates and play like he did, it was like he’s played with us the last five years, gifted players know how to adapt to situation and he’s definitely an incredible player, his resume speaks for itself and I don’t have to say anything more there. It was good to have him on the field and he brought some energy and he’s buzzing around and doing the things we’ve seen him do in the past and just happy to be with him.”
On getting back onto the field for the first time since April:
“I was trying to pick and choose my times and, like you said, I haven’t played in a while and didn’t want to run myself into the ground in the first half, so I tried to make as many smart runs as I could. Obviously my itch is to get forward as much as I can and sometimes I overdo it a little bit. First 10 minutes of the second half, Bruce (Arena, Galaxy Head Coach) came over and said, “Frankie, calm it down.” I had gone forward a few times, but that’s in my nature. That’s what I like to do. It’s good that I had him on that side of the side to tell me to take it easy, because at times I think I’m a right winger.”
San Jose Earthquakes Head Coach Frank Yallop
On tonight’s game:
“Obviously losing 2-0 is not good. On general play I thought we played well enough to maybe get something out of this game but obviously the Galaxy took their chances when they came along and we didn’t seem to do that. I am not faulting the guys for effort. They did a terrific of going for 90 minutes and obviously the last 12 or so games. It’s a tough place to come and play but I think we can walk away with our heads held high.”
On facing Beckham, Donovan and Keane:
“They are three quality players. Any time you have three players of that caliber in the field at the same time you are going to be a pretty dynamic team. I think they had a good spell in the first half when they go their goal actually. They we sort of getting it together a little bit. Yes we lost, but I thought our performance was not the worse, at least we moved the ball well and we created some great chances, we had five shots on net which is a positive. It is tough taking a positive out of a 2-0 loss. I think we had chances to at least score one goal.”
San Jose Earthquakes Goalkeeper Jon Busch
On tonight’s game:
“It’s a tale of finishing chances. They finish theirs and we had some good chances and unfortunately we didn’t finish ours. I thought we played well again tonight but in the end we didn’t get anything out of it. That aspect is frustrating because it has been that way a lot this season where we have done the right things and haven’t gotten a just result. I think tonight we had some very good chances when it was 1-0 to make it 1-1 and unfortunately we couldn’t find the back of the net. They get their second one late after the red card and that’s it.”
On the team’s performance:
“I thought we played well. I thought we played well in both halves. Again the unfortunate part is they had a couple of chances I think [Robbie] Keane had three chances and I saved two and the third he got. We had some good chances and couldn’t put them away. That is the story of the game at the end of the day.”
San Jose Defender Jason Hernandez:
On tonight’s game:
“It’s unfortunate. We did a lot of right things tonight. It just seems to be our M.O. We can’t keep 11 guys on the field but I think the story of the game is you see the quality of players they have. They just need one or two looks or one or two final passes and they got some goals out of it. Unfortunately we weren’t able to capitalize on our chances on the other end and that is the story of the game.”
