A sellout crowd of 27,000 showed up to the Home Depot Center to see the Los Angeles derby between the Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA, but they weren't treated to the prettiest of matches. The lone goal came on a set piece, the play wasn't overly beautiful for most of the 90 minutes and there wasn't even the bad blood intensity that is the norm in the Galaxy vs. Chivas matches. What has been the norm and continues to be though is Galaxy dominance, something that only continued with their 1-0 win and keeps Chivas without a win against their rivals since 2007.
Chivas USA Vs. LA Galaxy, SuperClasico: Galaxy Continue Dominance Of Chivas WIth 1-0 WIn
With the win, Los Angeles is up to 23 points, most in MLS. It was essential that the Galaxy get the win tonight with a midweek match coming up and facing a month without Landon Donovan, who will be with the United States team for the Gold Cup.
Chivas’ strong run of form came to an end on Saturday night, losing for just the second time since March 29. Even so, the Goats are on 12 points, which isn’t good enough for a playoff spot, but has them within striking distance.
It was actually Chivas who started quickly, setting up Justin Braun on a corner kick within a minute. The Galaxy looked uninspired to start and the Goats took advantage in earned the corner. It looked like it paid off when Braun got his head on the corner kick, but it flashed just wide of the post.
From then on, it was all Galaxy in the first half. They pressured the Chivas back line and dominated the midfield play, holding the ball for long stretches. Mike Magee had one great chance at goal blocked, while a bad touch from Juan Pablo Angel took him away from a good chance.
It took until the 26th minute for the Galaxy's superior play to show on the scoreboard. A free kick from the edge of the left corner of the penalty box gave David Beckham the chance to hit one of his patented free kicks. That's exactly what he did, putting the ball right on the head of an amazingly unmarked Chad Barrett to nod past Dan Kennedy for the goal.
The goal did not stop the Galaxy from looking to go forward. Los Angeles continued to press for the rest of the first half, but despite their chances they couldn’t get a second goal.
No one had a better chance than Barrett, who easily could have made it 2-0 just after halftime. Angel controlled a pass beautifull and perfectly weighted a ball into Barrett’s path. Barrett had beat Chivas’ offside trap and was in alone on goal. He dribbled in and rounded Kennedy, leaving him an open goal. Barrett, as he has made a nasty habit of doing in his MLS career, missed the open goal though and the LA lead was still just 1-0.
The longer the second half went on, the more it looked like Chivas might be able to grab an equalizer. Despite dominating the Goats with an aggressive approach, the Galaxy got more and more defensive as the second half wore on and Chivas was only too happy to take advantage of the space LA was giving them in the midfield.
Ben Zemanski had the best chance for Chivas and it looked like he had himself the equalizer, but the post had its own thought. Alejandro Moreno did well to hold off his defender and win a header at the Galaxy penalty spot. He nodded it back for Zemanski at the top of the box and Zemanski struck it well. Donovan Ricketts was beat, but the ball clattered off of the post and away.
Ricketts gave Chivas a couple chances late, but neither got across the goal line. First, the Jamaican bobbled a long shot. He spilled the rebound right in front and forced the Galaxy defenders to scramble for a clearance. The clearance went over the end line for a corner kick, one that Ricketts got caught in traffic on. That allowed the ball to bounce around in front of the goal, but it was cleared away and the Galaxy managed to hold on for three points.
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