Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Real Salt Lake: Live Blog

Nov 7, 2013; Sandy, UT, USA; Real Salt Lake midfielder Cole Grossman (12) dribbles the ball past Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Landon Donovan (10) and defender A.J. DeLaGarza (20) during the second half of over-time at Rio Tinto Stadium. Real Salt Lake won the game 2-0 and with the aggregate 2-1, will advance to the Wester Conference Finals. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports

Bruce Arena’s Los Angeles Galaxy open up their 2014 Major League Soccer season when they take on Jeff Cassar’s Real Salt Lake at 7:30 p.m. PT/10:30 p.m. ET at the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif.

RSL defeated the Galaxy last year in the MLS Western Conference semifinals, and the home team will be looking for payback tenfold. The Galaxy have a few new additions to the lineup in Rob Friend, Stefan Ishizaki and Samuel, and they are up against a stacked Real Salt Lake side that returns its core of players, including Javier Morales, Nick Rimando, Alvaro Saborio and Kyle Beckerman.

The match will be televised by MLS LIVE.

The Live Blog begins at 5:45 p.m. PT/8:45 p.m. ET. Refresh the screen for updates.

T-105: Welcome to the Live Blog between the Los Angeles Galaxy and Real Salt Lake, from the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. My name is Jo-Ryan Salazar, the Editor of the MLS Multiplex. This is Week 1 of the 2014 Major League Soccer season.

T-102: A little house call to start this Live  off. We have a final from CenturyLink Field in Seattle. A 94th minute goal from Chad Barrett gave Sigi Schmid’s Seattle Sounders a 1-0 victory over Peter Vermes’s Sporting Kansas City. Live scores going on right now…Columbus Crew lead D.C. United 2-0 late in the second half, the new-look Vancouver Whitecaps lead the New York Red Bulls 1-0 at the break, FC Dallas and Montreal Impact are tied early and the Houston Dynamo lead the New England Revolution 1-0 very early in that contest.

T-100: A preview of the match, from MLSSoccer.com.

REFEREE: Javier Santos; SAR (bench): Jairo Morales; JAR (opposite): Jose Da Silva; 4th: TBA MLS Career: First game.

SUSPENDED: none

DISABLED LIST: none

INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none

HEAD-TO-HEAD ALL-TIME (25 meetings): Galaxy 10 wins, 40 goals … Real 10 wins, 43 goals … Ties 5 AT LA (13 meetings): Galaxy 7 wins, 22 goals … Real 5 wins, 21 goals … Ties 1 RETURN MATCHES: 3/22: Real Salt Lake vs. LA Galaxy, 2 p.m. MT; 7/12: LA Galaxy vs. Real Salt Lake, 7:30 p.m. PT LAST YEAR (MLS): 4/27: RSL 0, LA 2 (Magee 6; Rugg 13) 6/8: RSL 3, LA 1 (Stephenson 44; Garcia 84, 92+ – Donovan 46+) 8/17: LA 4, RSL 2 (Keane 56, 67, 86; Gonzalez 75 – Plata 53; Findley 95+)

• The Galaxy won two of three regular-season meetings between the teams, including a 4-2 win Aug. 17 at StubHub Center in their only home game vs. RSL.
• The teams also met last year in a gripping Western Conference Semifinal, Real Salt Lake coming back to take the series 2-1 on aggregate following an extra-time win in the second leg at Rio Tinto Stadium to end the Galaxy’s bid for a third consecutive title.
• It was the third time in five seasons the teams had met in the MLS Cup Playoffs. The Galaxy claimed a 3-1 victory over Real in the 2011 Western Conference Championship at The Home Depot Center. They also met in MLS Cup 2009 in Seattle, dramatically won by Real Salt Lake on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw through 120 minutes.
• Coaches record: Bruce Arena v RSL: P16 W6 L6 D4 … Jeff Cassar vs. LA: first game

After seeing their bid for an historic third consecutive MLS Cup title put to an end at Real Salt Lake last year, the LA Galaxy begin their 19th MLS season as the winningest club in league history. Bruce Arena is back for another season in charge, his sixth full season with the Galaxy, having brought the club to three MLS Cups in that time. Coming off an MLS Cup appearance for the second time in club history,

Real Salt Lake begin a new era in 2014 as Jeff Cassar takes over as head coach. Real fell on penalty kicks to Sporting Kansas City in MLS Cup 2013, making a sixth consecutive appearance in the MLS Cup Playoffs.

T-90: Also, some more news from LA: the club has signed defender Dan Gargan to a deal. Per league and club policy, the terms were not disclosed. “We are pleased to add Dan Gargan to our roster,” Arena said. “Dan’s experience in the league and ability to play multiple positions across the backline provides us solid defensive depth.”

The MLS Multiplex offers its condolences to the family of Stan Koziol, who passed away due to leukemia. Rest in peace, Stan.

T-88: Score updates on the Live Blog…it’s now Vancouver 2, New York 0 in the second half, 1-1 between Dallas and Montreal in the first half, and it’s 2-0 Houston over New England in the first half.

T-83: Another score update. Now it’s 2-1 Dallas over Montreal. What a game of goals at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Tex. Also, Houston have extended their league on New England. It’s now 3-0.

T-81: Also going on at the same time as this game is a match between Portland and Philadephia. The Multiplex has you covered for that match. Tomorrow, the weekend wraps up with Chivas USA hosting the Chicago Fire. T-77: We’re gonna have replacement refs for the time being. The Washington Post’s Steven Goff has the scoop. Final score: Columbus Crew 3, D.C. United 0.

T-60: An hour to kickoff. Vancouver now leads New York 3-0.

T-58: News from Colorado: Pablo Mastroeni is now the manager of the Rapids.

"“I couldn’t be happier with the appointment,” Mastroeni told MLSsoccer.com minutes after the announcement. “Life is crazy. I wanted to be coaching when I was done playing in some capacity. I didn’t know what level it was going to be at. “I think if you’re prepared and you’re willing to take on a challenge, life will present you with crazy circumstances. And I think this is the right situation at the right time for me.”"

T-55: Some of the Loyalists have made the trip down south here in L.A. T-50: The scores keep coming…a final from B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver: Vancouver Whitecaps 4, New York Red Bulls 1. Dallas leads Montreal 2-1 at the break and Houston leads New England 3-0 at the break.

T-45: I don’t think we are going to have a sellout tonight. Maybe a good turnout, maybe?

T-39: Both teams begins warmups.

T-38: Want to share your thoughts on the match? Comment away on the comments section below!

T-35: It’s now FC Dallas 3, Montreal Impact 1 at Toyota Stadium.

T-25: 25 minutes to go. Now it’s 3-2 Dallas. What a game so far in Frisco. T-20:  I’m sure I’ll have some butterflies in my stomach,” Cassar told Christopher Kamrani of the Salt Lake Tribune Wednesday, “but I’m really confident in this group of men, so that leaves me at ease. Really, it’s about putting the best team out on the field to give us the best chance to win on that day.”

T-15: Lineups.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY

Manager: Bruce Arena Formation: 4-4-2 Colors: White tops with blue sashes, white shorts, white socks

18 Jaime Penedo

20 A.J. DeLaGarza —- 4 Omar Gonzalez —- 22 Leonardo —– 26 James Riley

11 Gyasi Zardes —- 19 Juninho —- 8 Marcelo Sarvas —- 10 Landon Donovan

7 Robbie Keane (C) —- 9 Samuel

Substitutions:

33 Dan Gargan DEF 1 Brian Perk GK 21 Tommy Meyer DEF 2 Todd Dunivant DEF 6 Baggio Husidic MID 24 Stefan Ishizaki MID 16 Rob Friend FWD

REAL SALT LAKE

Manager: Jeff Cassar Formation: 4-4-2 Colors: Red tops with yellow bar and blue sleeves, red shorts, red socks

18 Nick Rimando

2 Tony Beltran —- 6 Nat Borchers —- 4 Aaron Maund —- 17 Chris Wingert

5 Kyle Beckerman (C) —- 21 Luis Gil —- 20 Ned Grabavoy —– 11 Javier Morales

8 Joao Plata —- 15 Alvaro Saborio

Substititions:

13 Olmes Garcia FWD 19 Luke Mulholland MID 16 Carlos Salcedo DEF 12 Cole Grossman MID 7 Jordan Allen FWD 24 Jeff Attinella GK 29 Kenny Mansally DEF

T-14: Both teams wrap up warmups.

T-11: Take a look at the MLS Match Ball all 19 teams will use this season.

T-5: And all the stars on Lalas Hill are silver…

T-0: Players enter the pitch.

National anthem by Ashley Peale. I will say this: the Angel City Brigade laid a massive egg with that tifo.

Final Scores…FC Dallas 3, Montreal Impact 2….Houston Dynamo 3, New England Revolution 0.

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

1′ – And the season begins.

2′ – At least the Riot Squad saved face with their tifo. Now here is Juninho playing the ball forward. And our first foul of the season, on James Riley. Nick Rimando to play this forward. These replacement referees will make this quite the adventure.

3′  — Landon Donovan to restart. He plays it back to Omar Gonzalez. Robbie Keane through traffic.

4′  – A good shot. And that will be snatched up by Nick Rimando. Joao Plata with the foul. Here’s Leonardo.

5′ – Galaxy try to press forward, Gyasi Zardes in a jam. Juninho to Donovan.

6′  Nice shot there from Marcelo Sarvas. Ignore me at your own peril, he says. Here’s Kyle Beckerman. Plays it safe. Forward to Alvaro Saborio.

7′ – RSL elect to play the same style as before. If it ain’t broke, why fix it? And Robbie Keane gets jammed. Landon Donovan wins a corner.

8′ – Cleared. Here we go again? Zardes tried to get to that cross. LA are pressing. A long cross to Donovan fails to connect. He wants that record, LA’s No. 10 does.

9′ – Rimando slows the pace down, and here is a free kick for the aformentioned Javier Morales. Back to Zardes, now it’s Riley.

10′ – Through ball cut off. Real Salt Lake opt to pick their poison when they counter. Calculated moves can bring positive results. RSL win a restart.

11′ – Morales. Short. Tony Beltran whiffs. Throw-in for Donovan. And now here’s A.J. DeLaGarza. Almost. But it’s a corner.

12′  –  Donovan to take this. A foul in the box, a goal kick to Rimando.

13′ – Here’s Aaron Maund for RSL. A young man with promise. LA win the restart. Maund closes space to win a throw.

14′   Jaime Penedo plays it forward, but a Real Salt Lake player is down; might be Nat Borchers. He gets up, and RSL continue the attack.

15′  – Opening 15 looks like a open door scrimmage with good chances, most from LA. Here’s Nat Borchers. Leonardo takes that one.

16′ – Los Angeles will win that restart.

17′ – Here’s a chance for Real Salt Lake. LA are there to surround. Tony Beltran ties his laces and gets back in line.

18′ – This is Ned Grabavoy for the visitors. Morales. Held up by Gonzalez.  Javier Santos awards a restart to the Galaxy.

19′ – Aaron Maund cleans up again. Marcelo Sarvas. Juninho to Riley. Now Donovan. A cross to Keane. Skied.

20′ – Zardes lets that go. You can tell that this RSL team is no longer managed by Jason Kreis.

21′ – RSL with their first big shot on goal. Just wide. It will be a corner for Morales.

22′ – “Javi! Javi!” the Loyalists say. To no avail. Foul in the box. Transition. Corner, LA. Wide open game so far. Donovan will try this from the Northeast corner. No dice.

23′ – Donovan. What a clearance from Beltran. That through ball was headed in Keane’s direction.

24′ – Now here’s Beltran again. Borchers plays it back.

25′ – James Riley now. Joao Plata’s 1-v-1 shot is saved by Jaime Penedo. Corner. 26′ – Morales to take…cleared. Wingert. And another save from Penedo.

27′ – Robbie Keane is whistled for a foul. No dice for Sabo. Goal kick to Penedo, who has gotten to work early.

28′ – Gyasi Zardes wins another restart. Good game so far. Maund and Wingert double-team Keane. RSL ball. Maund plays it back to Rimando.

29′ – Marcelo Sarvas. A ball for Donovan is taken by Luis Gil.

30′ – Half-hour mark, no score, but a hatful of chances for both teams. Joao Plata is offsides.

31′  – Bad ball-handling by DeLaGarza…a chance for Sarvas is saved by Rimando. Now here is Morales. Kyle Beckerman moves forward, and now here is a chance for the visitors. Swept. Easily.

32′ – Sarvas was a bit clumsy there. Good call, Javier Santos. Now here is a free kick for Grabavoy and he takes it short.

33′ – A free kick for LA. Juninho to take. 10 yards, says Santos.

34′ – Good catch by Rimando. Easy collection.

35′ – A shot for Keane hits the woodwork. Bad luck to go with bad tifo work. It’s all going wrong for LA this half.

Yellow card 11 Javier Morales
Real Salt Lake

36′ – A foul in the box off the LA free, and a goal kick awarded to Nick Rimando.

37′ – Penedo plays it forward. Sarvas. Riley. And now here is Gonzalez. DeLaGarza, who was recently called up to the Guam national team. Another shot collected by Rimando.

38′ – And Marcelo Sarvas clips Grabavoy. That was a sequence that nearly paid off.

39′ – DeLaGarza now. Zardes! And Rimando collects. He’s been playing lights out tonight.

40′  – A speculative effort from Juninho. Too high and wide. Same as before.

41′ – Donovan now and Morales pickpockets him. He gets challenged in return.

42′  – LA settle down and try this next sequence. Good work by Grabavoy to break it up.

43′ – Poor shot. Penedo with the goal kick.

44′ – Now here is A.J. DeLaGarza. Leonardo now, and Zardes gets challenged.

45′  – Signs point to a scoreless first half. A mugging in order? And Juninho ruins that sequence.

Yellow card 26 James Riley
Los Angeles Galaxy

45′  + 1′ – One minute additional time.

Halftime, then.

HALFTIME
Los Angeles Galaxy 0
Real Salt Lake 0

Halftime at Providence Park…it’s scoreless between the Portland Timbers and Philadelphia Union.

 SECOND HALF START: 8:40 P.M. PT/11:40 P.M. ET

46′ – The second half begins. RSL to kickoff.

47′ – No substitutions at the break.  A through ball from Keane is deflected. Close call there. Goal kick, Rimando. Not sure where Zardes was heading that to. Gonzalez wins the restart. Some plesantries there.

48′ – Here is Jaime Penedo, who has made a number of key saves so far. This match could be determined by the super subs. End-to-end action. That first half was a keeper’s clinic, and good keeper’s clinic at that.

49′ – Throw-in now for Real Salt Lake. Penedo collects, foiling Plata.

50′ – Penedo plays it forward after RSL foul on the free.

51′ – Hey, there’s the Gyasi Zardes we all know and love. And loathe. Mainly for his poor finishing. Other than that, well…

52′ – This will be a corner for Donovan. Missed Omar Gonzalez there.

53′ – Rimando hoofs it to James Riley. Duel won. Now here come LA, but that was a poor cross from Samuel. Zardes. And that is taken by Slick Nick.

54′ – Zardes wins the restart. Good swarming from the RSL backline. Leonardo with the foul.

55′ – Samuel reads that, but RSL regroup. And as soon as that happens, they get closed down.

56′ – That was an easy opportunity for Alvaro Saborio, but he makes a meal of that. Ouch. Both teams opt for the wild side over the safe side.

57′ – Both teams are definitely still in preseason form, although the action has been a bit more wide-open. Samuel should have done better there. Zardes wins a free kick, as Aaron Maund is shaken up.

58′ – This free kick for Donovan is from about 25 yards out. Zardes with the recovery. Robbie Keane couldn’t make the successful reach-out.

59′ – Nat Borchers denies Keane again. What a glorified scrimmage this is.

60′ – Hour mark, no score as Mauns intercepts the Zardes pass. Corner for Donovan. Take…two.

61′ – Cleared, and DeLaGarza with the throw.

62′ – So Los Angeles have won the possession battle but that isn’t what wins you games. Of course, LA knows this too well. Meanwhile, RSL are on cruise control, picking their poison as usual.

63′ – RSL win a restart. Here’s Javier Morales, from 30 out. Short. The cross. The clearance. The deflection from Penedo.

64′ – Marcelo Sarvas wins that argument. Now it’s Juninho. Gyasi Zardes is stonewalled. Throw-in, LA.

65′ – Correction: it’s a free from the Southwest corner. Donovan to take. A foul in the box. And that will be a goal kick to Rimando.

66′ – Substitution Real Salt Lake
IN 19 Luke Mulholland
OUT 21 Luis Gil

67′ – Joao Plata was offsides again. Very good match called by Javier Santos so far. Perhaps these replacements are better than the regulars?

68′ –  Now here is Zardes. And he didn’t get the hold down. But here comes LA, and Donovan. Wide right.

69′ – Substitution Los Angeles Galaxy
IN 24 Stefan Ishizaki
OUT 11 Gyasi Zardes

And Nick Rimando is hurt on that collection.

70′ – Might be a knee issue. Early in the season, and Rimando is taking his lumps.

71′ – No dice for Samuel. Too strong. James Riley with the sweep.

72′ – Good ball movement here from LA. Now here is Stefan Ishizaki, and that pass is intercepted. DeLaGarza with the “don’t argue.”

73′ – 25,634 in attendance.

74′ – Kyle Beckerman is trying to move the goalposts here. Not sure why. Morales now, and that is swept. Another collection by Rimando. Now I did call for a draw in my Bold Predictions, but now it looks like it could be even better: a scoreless draw. Will it happen? Stay tuned…

75′ – Penedo picks that up, and back come LA. This is crunch time football for both teams.

76′ – A bit of a speculative clearance from Leonardo. Now here come Real Salt Lake. No goal. That looked like it was a goal but the scorer was offsides. Corner, LA.

77′ – Substitution Los Angeles Galaxy
IN 16 Rob Friend
OUT 9 Samuel

78′ – Substitution Real Salt Lake
IN 12 Cole Grossman
OUT 11 Javier Morales

79′ – Yellow card 19 Luke Mulholland
Real Salt Lake

This is what you call drama at StubHub. And Real Salt Lake win a restart.

80′ – GOAL! Real Salt Lake 8 Joao Plata

Los Angeles were caught napping on the transition and it cost them.

81′ – This was an issue last year: the inability to win the last 15 minutes. Again, they fail to do this, and this is not going to help them into the match against Tijuana.

82′ – Real Salt Lake win another corner. Corners have come at a premium for the visitors today. This is a dream start for Jeff Cassar in his first game.

83′ – Punched aside.

84′ – Remember what I said about RSL picking their poison and being on cruise control? I hate to say I told you so. But I told you so.

85′  – Meanwhile, corners have been common for LA, but the finishing has come at a premium.

86′ – LA’s shutout streak dates back to their last meeting with RSL in the 2013 MLS Western Conference Semifinal second leg, and it looks like it will be extended for another 90 unless something happens for the Galaxy.

87′ — “Plata was not offside on the goal, folks. Clearly in line with DeLaGarza when Beckerman plays it, and Sabo never touches it. Good goal.” -Matthew Doyle

Yellow card 15 Alvaro Saborio
Real Salt Lake

88′ – Substitution Los Angeles Galaxy
IN 6 Baggio Husidic
OUT 19 Juninho

Corner now for the G’s. Another one. Yawn.

89′ – Cleared. Double Yawn. That shot hits the side netting. And that is the microcosm of the night for the Galaxy

Substitution Real Salt Lake
IN 7 Jordan Allen
OUT 8 Joao Plata 

90′ – Here’s Kyle Beckerman with the restart.

90′ + 1′ – Three additional minutes.

90′ + 2′ – Another cross is cleared. Can RSL add one more for good measure? Nope, they may be content with just the 1-0 bread and butter win.

90′ + 3′ – But hold on, we may have a penalty here. The drama is not over yet, it looks like…

Yellow card 18 Nick Rimando
Real Salt Lake

90 + 4′ – Cleared! What a save.

90 + 5′ – That may do it right there.

FINAL 

Los Angeles Galaxy 0

Real Salt Lake 1
Joao Plata 80′

Stay tuned for a recap of the action from tonight on the MLS Multiplex. Thanks for following this Live Blog.