Los Angeles Galaxy vs. D.C. United: Live Blog

Sep 14, 2013; Washington, DC, USA; Los Angeles Galaxy teammates pose for the team photo before the game against the D.C. United at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial. Mandatory Credit: Paul Frederiksen-USA TODAY Sports

Bruce Arena’s Los Angeles Galaxy and Ben Olsen’s D.C. United battle it out tonight at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. in a match between two historically successful sides in Major League Soccer. The Galaxy and D.C. are both on hotstreaks and will be looking for all three points in this highly-anticipated midweek showdown. Kickoff between the Los Angeles Galaxy and D.C. United is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. PT/10:30 p.m. ET and will be televised by MLS LIVE. The Live Blog will begin at 5:30 p.m. PT/8:30 p.m. ET. Keep it right here on the MLS Multiplex for continuing coverage of the 2014 Major League Soccer season.

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T-120: Welcome to the Live Blog between the Los Angeles Galaxy and D.C. United, here on the MLS Multiplex. I am Jo-Ryan Salazar, co-editor of the Plex alongside Will Perry. This is a massive showdown in the league between two sides in search of their fifth MLS Cup. Here are the standings from MLSSoccer.com.

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

TOP FIVE CLUBS IN EACH CONFERENCE REACH PLAYOFFS

PTS: Points, GP: Games Played, PPG: Points Per Game, W: Wins, L: Losses, T: Ties, GF: Goals For, GA: Goals Against, GD:Goal Difference, HG: Home Goals For, HGD: Home Goals Difference, RG: Road Goals For, RGD: Road Goals Difference,

x – Clinched playoff spot
y – Clinched No. 1 playoff seed in Conference
s – Clinched Supporters Shield, and No. 1 playoff seed in Conference

The preview, from MLSSoccer.com.

REFEREE: Kevin Stott. AR1 (bench): Sean Hurd; AR2 (opposite): Mike Rottersman; 4th: Daniel Radford
MLS Career: 254 games; FC/gm: 25.5; Y/gm: 3.3; R: 61; pens: 62

SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: LA: Dan Gargan … DC: Davy Arnaud
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: LA: A.J. DeLaGarza, Landon Donovan, Alan Gordon, Marcelo Sarvas … DC: Fabian Espindola, Lewis Neal, Chris Korb, Perry Kitchen
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none

HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (40 meetings): Galaxy 18 wins (0 shootout), 63 goals … United 13 wins (1 shootout), 50 goals … Ties 9
AT LA (19 meetings): Galaxy 9 wins (0 shootout), 27 goals … United 5 wins (1 shootout), 18 goals …Ties 5

LAST YEAR (MLS):
9/14: DC 2, LA 2 (Pontius 39; Porter 84 – Keane 7; Stephens 81)
• This is the only league meeting between the teams this season.
• The Galaxy have a nine-game unbeaten streak alive vs. United. Since a 4-1 D.C. win in 2008 at RFK Stadium, the Galaxy have won four times with five draws, including a 2-2 tie last Sept. 14 in Washington in the only meeting between the teams.
• United’s last win against the Galaxy in Carson came all the way back in 2005, a 1-0 victory on July 23.
• Coaches record: Bruce Arena vs. DC: P14 W5 L3 D6 … Ben Olsen vs. LA: P5 W0 L2 D3

The LA Galaxy won their second game on the trot, defeating Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2-0 on Saturday evening at StubHub Center. The Galaxy sit in fourth place in the Western Conference with 40 points from 23 games.

D.C. United won their second game in a row with an impressive win, defeating Sporting Kansas City 3-0 on Saturday evening at Sporting Park. United are in back in first place in the Eastern Conference with 43 points from 24 games.

T-85: It’s a midweek game, so expect a small crowd for this one. This match kicks off another big week in Major League Soccer.

T-75: “Everyone is excited to play there,” said United defender Sean Franklin. “L.A., over the years, has been one of the best clubs in MLS, and for me it was fun to play there. We are up for the challenge. I think today was a good win for us to take the momentum into Wednesday’s game and we have to bring the same mentality. It is going to be a tough game against them.”

T-73: “For me, RFK will always go down as one of the great venues for soccer in this country,” Bruce Arena said of RFK Stadium to Rebeccas Payne of dcunited.com. “There have been great teams from D.C. United, great international games played there, friendlies, World Cup Qualifiers, World Cup matches, so it’s certainly one of the great stadiums in our country.

“As a team, we at D.C. United loved the home-field advantage. Visiting teams didn’t particularly like being there but loved that fact that you could go and play on a real soccer field. There’s always been a great field there, the players on both teams both always enjoyed playing at D.C. United.

T-50: Both teams begin warmups. Lineups will be coming in a bit.

T-37: The Galaxy are saluting Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles tonight. Click here for more.

T-34: Lineups, etc.

Lineup

Bench

Officials

T-30: We are 30 minutes away from kickoff, here at the Hub. Got something to say about the game? Sound off in the comments section below!

T-22: So Robbie Keane is a scratch today. In his place is Alan Gordon. Watch for Keano to come back with a vengeance in the match against Chivas this Sunday.

T-12: Both teams conclude warmups.

T-0: Teams reenter the pitch to the strains of the MLS Processional Anthem.

National anthem by Michelle Monica. The D.C. United players award Landon Donovan with an orange folding chair as a goodbye present.

FIRST HALF START: 7:38 P.M. PT/10:38 P.M. ET

1′  – The first half begins. For D.C. United, they are on a mission: to keep building steam and make a bid to win one for the thumb. However, the home team, the Los Angeles Galaxy, have other plans. They also want to win one for the thumb to. Who will prevail on this big Wednesday?

2′  – Long pass. David Estrada now. Now here is Lewis Neal. Bobby Boswell, the D.C. captain…oops!

GOAL! Los Angeles Galaxy 9 Alan Gordon
Well, that’s what his ability can do. A true poacher with a deadly finish.

3′  – Well, that took D.C. by surprise. The poacher, Alan Gordon, makes it 1-0 Los Angeles. Leonardo in a heavy collision.  Too heavy for Juninho.

4′ – Jaime Penedo. And a free kick. Good passing this minute from LA.

5′ – Estrada with the collection. Kevin Stott, an L.A. native, awards a free kick. Back come United. Here’s Omar Gonzalez. He concedes a throw. Restart, United.

6′ – From 25 yards out. Cleared. Steve Birnbaum now. Taylor Kemp. And now it’s Bill Hamid.

7′ – Marcelo Sarvas wins a restart. This is a bit of a ball possession battle right now.

8′ – Good ideas there from Landon Donovan. Bad giveaway. And the collection from Penedo.

9′ – Donovan with a quick restart. Gyasi Zardes in a jam. No dice. Throw-in, visitors.

10′ – Good backtrack from Leonardo, wasn’t out of position. Luis Silva is denied by Penedo.

11′ – Baggio Husidic, with the layoff. Gordon! Just wide.

12′ – From 30 yards out, a free kick for D.C. United. Cleared. And Stott awards a goal kick to Penedo.

13′ – Offsides, Zardes. Galaxy are looking to be a bit organized against this D.C. United team. Too strong for Eddie Johnson.

14′ – Hamid with the next sequence. Galaxy sweep. Todd Dunivant now. Too long for Husidic.

15′ – David Estrada is like a hawk: he’s in on every play. Juninho now. Sarvas.

16′ – This is great passing from Los Angeles this minute.

17′ – Stott awards a restart to D.C. following that foul. Gonzalez the guilty party. Good chance there.

18′ – Yellow card 10 Landon Donovan
Los Angeles Galaxy

19′ – That was a professional foul by Donovan. D.C. walks the tightrope again, and Bill Hamid is called on to make another big save.

20′ – United seem a bit disorganized tonight but they have time to fix that.

21′ – Corner, Donovan. Can he redeem himself with a good corner here? No, he can’t.

Yellow card 11 Luis Silva
D.C. United

22′ – This is getting ugly. A yellow card on either end. Kevin Stott is calling a tight ship early.

23′ – Hamid the with goal kick. Sarvas concedes a restart.

24′ – Now here is Sean Franklin, a former Galaxy bookend. The long delivery, cleared by Leonardo. The transition. Slowed down. Well done by D.C. to get back.

25′ – Corner, Donovan.

GOAL! Los Angeles Galaxy 4 Omar Gonzalez
And Gonzo is piling up the goals. What a delivery from Donovan.

26′ – This is going to get ugly in a hurry for D.C. if they don’t make this a wide-open game.

27′ – And Gonzo heads it back to Penedo for the next sequence. Ben Olsen hearing it from the LA fans.

28′ – Sean Franklin gets the benefit of the doubt. Welcome back, Sean. Goal kick, Bill Hamid.

29′  – Sarvas with football’s version of the “don’t argue.” Donovan is denied by Hamid.

30′ – Poor distribution from Penedo. D.C. play it back, though. Here’s Hamid again.

31′ – Stott plays advantage. Can D.C. string something threatening in the first half?

32′ – Hamid saw the danger and pushed it away. He’s on a roll, despite two goals down.

33′ – Husidic is not winning his duels. Red flag alert? Zardes. Husidic with the mishit. Double red flag.

34′ – United win another restart. Crowd seems to go after Johnson, after his sorry stint with Seattle.

35′ – Boswell. And here is a corner for D.C. Silva will take this.

36′ – We have a player shaken up. Juninho has had a history of taking knocks. That was his most recent one.

37′ – Taken short. Cleared. What a chance from Zardes. Collected by Hamid. Billy the Hammer’s as advertised.

38′ – A break now for United. And Galaxy sweep that up. Donovan now. Estrada does work again. Silva took one to the shin, I believe.

39′ – Neal. The long delivery. Now here’s Donovan. Sarvas. Kemp with the interception. Sean Franklin, now here’s Eddie Johnson.

40′ – No dice for Alex Caskey, a former Seattle Sounder. Birnbaum plays it forward. Boswell now. Here’s Hamid. Juninho loses that duel, Gonzo cleans up.

41′ – Good agility from Caskey. Estrada. Zardes wins a restart. Galaxy are sniffing at the third before the break.

42′ – Gordon gives that away,  forcing LA’s backline to react. Good ball possession battle late this half. Perry Kitchen. Can he be a breakthrough player for D.C. tonight?

43′  – Leonardo. Now here’s Juninho. Gordon won’t reach that; he’s double-teamed.

44′ – Dunivant. Zardes is denied by Boswell.

45′ – I think LA are content with this lead. Same as the last match. Or, maybe not.

45′ + 1′ – GOAL! Los Angeles Galaxy 6 Baggio Husidic
Oh my, this has gotten ugly.

45′ + 2′ – Two minutes of injury time. Watch for Fabian Espindola to arrive in the second half.

HALFTIME
Los Angeles Galaxy 3
D.C. United 0

Team Statistics

Los Angeles Galaxy in gold, D.C. United in black

Goals and Assists

Assisted By: Landon Donovan

45’+1′

Baggio Husidic

Assisted By: A.J. DeLaGarza, Landon Donovan

Disciplinary

Reason: Foul

21′

Luis Silva

Reason: Foul

If Los Angeles are smart, they will build their game plan against stopping Nick DeLeon, Fabian Espindola and Davy Arnaud, as those three are tipped by the Plex to come into the match in the second half.

SECOND HALF START: 8:41 P.M. PT/11:41 P.M. ET

46′ – The second half begins.

47′ – D.C. are looking to win the ball early as they have elected to not go with any halftime substitutions. A bad touch from Gordon.  Husidic, Sarvas, and now, the man of the hour, A.J. DeLaGarza. Too wide. Goal kick, Bill Hamid.

48′ – Lewis Neal. Ben Olsen’s putting faith in his first XI.  Zardes. Tried to find DeLaGarza there.

49′ – Birnbaum caught ball-watching. Goal kick again to Hamid.

50′ – Zardes plays it back. Now it’s DeLaGarza. And that cross missed everything.

51′ – Eddie Johnson with the touch. The cross. Headed out by Omar Gonzalez. Sean Franklin backtracks. He knows the Galaxy more than anyone else. Why? His career started with LA, of course.

52′ – Luis Silva tried to win a penalty there. Not gonna work.

53′ – Penedo has been struggling with his distribution. His clearances are a lottery in an of itself.

54′ – DeLaGarza is called for bailing Husidic out of a sticky double-team.

55′ – I think Zardes has hit a snag in his form and will need to get back on the road to finding out what went wrong. Apologies, Mr. Cat Stevens.

56′ – Another speculative clearance from  Penedo.

Substitution D.C. United
IN 25 Jared Jeffrey
OUT 11 Luis Silva

57′  – Well, this is a surprise. Jeffrey’s coming in for Silva here. Hamid needed to get rid of that quickly. Johnson.

58″ – GOAL! D.C. United 7 Eddie Johnson
That was a bad clearance attempt from Penedo and Johnson made them pay the price.

59′ – Well, this is absolutely strange. The substitute P.A. announcer for the Galaxy does not even announce the Johnson goal. Really strange.

60′ – At the hour mark, this falls right into Fabian Espindola’s hands, as Donovan misses wide right.

61′ – Substitution D.C. United
IN 9 Fabian Espindola
OUT 24 Lewis Neal

62′ – Now Espindola has had a history of scoring on the Los Angeles Galaxy, as seem from his days with Real Salt Lake. Can Espi work his magic again? Husidic wins a free kick.

63′ – Substitution Los Angeles Galaxy
IN 14 Robbie Rogers
OUT 9 Alan Gordon

The free kick is cleared.

64′ – A poor restart from Husidic. Sean Franklin is denied by Penedo. What a blistering volley.

65′ – And another save from Jimmy P. Well, he’s making his stops tonight. No shutout, but a lot of stops. Here’s the wide-open football we’re looking for.

66′ – Zardes is denied by Hamid again. What a save! Corner, Donovan. Headed out by Husidic.

67′ – Leonardo wins a restart. Juninho wins another.

68′ – From 25 out and that is cleared. Correction on the Johnson goal. It’s an own goal to Leonardo. Obligatory.

69′ – Ouch, a bad pass right there. Leonardo trying to go for the brace and really put D.C. back in this game.

70′ – Espindola. And that misses. It just had to be Leonardo playing like Leonardo. So, when does Bruce sub in Dan Gargan?

71′ – Another bad pass. Lazy passes all around.

72′ – Penedo playing it forward.

Substitution D.C. United
IN 14 Nick DeLeon
OUT 12 Alex Caskey

73′ – Two out of three ain’t bad, at least in terms of D.C.’s subs. Too much hesitation there, but Hamid concedes a corner.

74′ – Handball. Penalty! And it’s gonna be Donovan, of course.

75′ – GOAL! Los Angeles Galaxy 10 Landon Donovan
Hashtag: #Landon141.

76′ – Gonzalez is whistled for the foul. Donovan will not get a 10, more like a 9.5 for the yellow if this result stands.

77′ – LA press the ball the ball again. They’re not satisfied with their performance just yet.

78′ – Stott awards a restart to D.C. They don’t make the most of it.

79′ – Franklin with the backtrack. Very good backtracking from a proven winner with LA.

80′ – Kemp! Nope, that’s going to be a goal kick.

Substitution Los Angeles Galaxy
IN 30 Chandler Hoffman
OUT 4 Omar Gonzalez

81′ – Looks like Rogers is going to play in the back for the last 10 and stoppage, with Hoffman adding an extra spark plug, as well as fresh legs.

16,044 in attendance tonight. Not bad for midweek.

Yellow card 9 Fabian Espindola
D.C. United

82′ – Penedo plays it forward. And a temporary souvenir for the fans.

83′ – Here’s Jimmy P again to play this forward. Todd Dunivant with the clearance. He’s back to health.

84′ – No mistake from Leonardo this time. But that will be a goal kick to Penedo. He’s been on fire tonight.

85′ – Substitution Los Angeles Galaxy
IN 5 Jose Villareal
OUT 10 Landon Donovan

86′ – Welcome back to the team, Jose Villareal, fresh off a loan with Cruz Azul Hidalgo.

87′ – Rogers, Sarvas and Husidic with some fancy footwork. Leo being cheeky and passing it back to Penedo for the next sequence.

88′ – And thus, Zardes is enrolled in the “We’re up 4-1, let’s melt the clock” school of thought.

89′ – D.C. parking the bus, as if they have run out of ideas…and time. Went as well as it was going to work for Chandala-er, Chandler Hoffman.

90′  – Shouldn’t be a lot of time remaining. Doors are closed, lights are out, eggs are cooling, butter’s getting hard and the jello is jiggling. Three minutes.

90′ + 1′ – Villareal wins a restart. Good rep minutes. He may get the nod on Sunday against Chivas USA.

90′ + 2′ – Leonardo, right into David Estrada’s direction. One of the bright spots for D.C. tonight.

90′ + 3′ – That’s a done deal.

FINAL
Los Angeles Galaxy 4
D.C. United 1

Team Statistics

Goals and Assists

Assisted By: Landon Donovan

45’+1′

Baggio Husidic

Assisted By: A.J. DeLaGarza, Landon Donovan

58′

Leonardo

(OG)

Assisted By: Alex Caskey

75′

Landon Donovan

(PK)

Disciplinary

Reason: Foul

21′

Luis Silva

Reason: Foul

81′

Fabian Espindola

Reason: Foul

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