15Oct/110
Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Chivas USA Live Blog: Play-by-Play Analysis, Reaction
Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy have been rock-solid at home, to say the least. Major League Soccer's top side completed an unbeaten regular season home campaign when they hosted fellow Home Depot Center tenants Chivas USA in the renewal of the Honda SuperClasico on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011 and prevailed, 1-0.Chad Barrett scored the game-winner in the 53rd minute of play for the Galaxy, who improve to 19-4-10 on the year.Keep it right here on Bleacher Report for continuing coverage of the 2011 Major League Soccer season.Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com13Oct/110
MLS: Why the Supporters’ Shield Is the True League Championship
I have been a beat writer for the Los Angeles Galaxy for the past couple of years. In both of the seasons I have covered Bruce Arena's club, they've won the Supporters' Shield. The Shield—or, as I enjoy jocularly calling it, the "Pontiac on a Pedestal"—is given to the team that has the best regular season record. In most countries around the world, this would, in fact, be the league championship trophy. To me, I believe this is the trophy.Let's face it: this trophy is given to the team with the best regular season record. The team that has gone through 34 (soon to be 36) rounds of football to finish at the top of both the Eastern and Western Conferences. This isn't an easy trophy to obtain, ladies and gentlemen on the View from Victoria Street and Bleacher Report. In a perfect world, Los Angeles would have four stars above their crest, not the two that they currently sport—both earned from winning the Americans' closest equivalent to the Carling Cup—which is of course, the MLS Cup. D.C. United have also won the Shield four times, so their jersey would stay unchanged anyway, since that is also the same number ...13Oct/110
Los Angeles Galaxy Ins and Outs, October 13, 2011
Give All The Good Guys... Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy were getting their doop on last weekend as they cheered the Philadelphia Union to a 2-0 victory over the Seattle Sounders at CenturyLink Field. The Union victory completed a successful Major League Soccer Supporters' Shield defense. “It’s one of those things that you want to be a direct result of what you did that day,” Galaxy goalkeeper Josh Saunders told MLSSoccer.com's Luis Bueno. “However, it was kind of nice to be able to sit back and watch someone else do some of the work for us.” Omar Gonzalez, Landon Donovan, Sean Alvarado and Mike Magee were all watching the match. “We were cheering when Philadelphia was scoring,” Gonzalez said on Monday. “It was nice. It was fun.” For defender Todd Dunivant, the defense was going to be a challenge, and needing help from their rivals was going to be necessary. “It’s the hardest thing to do in this league,” Dunivant said. “You get all the credit for winning MLS Cups, but winning the Shield is the hardest thing to do in this league. It’s nothing to scoff at. We wanted to have a nice night to celebrate it.” But for ...12Oct/110
Los Angeles Galaxy Ins and Outs, October 11, 2011
Endless Reserve Division misery for Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy reserves don't seem to be up for contention in the MLS Reserve Division as they fell to Chivas USA 2-1 to drop to 1-6-2 on the year. Hector Jimenez scored for the Galaxy in the 25th minute thanks to home grown player Jack McBean. Marcos Mondaini and Victor Estupinan scored for Chivas USA later in the match. The Galaxy reserves will conclude their Reserve League season on Tuesday, Oct. 25 when they take on the San Jose Earthquakes at the Home Depot Center. Robbie Keane injured Galaxy forward Robbie Keane injured his adductor muscle in Ireland's 2-0 victory over Andorra at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. The injury means that Keane will be sidelined for four weeks and could potentially miss part of the MLS Cup Playoffs. Keane is sure to miss the matches against Chivas, Motagua and the Houston Dynamo next week. Ireland were able to secure a spot in the Euro 2012 qualification playoffs with a 2-1 victory over Armenia. Galaxy return to action The USA lost to Ecuador 1-0 in an international friendly in Tuesday. One of those players who could have been with team is Omar ...10Oct/110
San Jose Earthquakes’ Chris Wondolowski Key in 2-1 Win over NE Revolution
Frank Yallop’s San Jose Earthquakes aren’t going to be making the MLS playoffs this year, but they did establish some sort of pride to what has been a sorry season.The Quakes, through the boot of Chris Wondolowski, earned a 2-1 victory over the New England Revolution on Saturday night at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Wondolowski, a local product from Chico State University, recorded his 13th goal of the season in the eighth minute. Goalkeeper David Bingham, making his first-ever Major League Soccer start, hoofed a long pass to Wondolowski, who took down the service with an excellent first touch and finished past New England netminder Bobby Shuttleworth. In the 55th minute, Benny Feilhaber recorded his fourth goal of the season off chaos in the Revs’ attacking third. A free kick from Chris Tierney found Ryan Guy, forcing Bingham to make a save. Milton Caraglio’s rebound hit the crossbar but eventually found Feilhaber. San Jose would secure the game-winner eight minutes from stoppage time. Simon Dawkins and Sam Cronin teamed up to deliver a cross to Wondolowski for his 14th goal of the season, which ties him for the league lead with Thierry Henry of the New York ...9Oct/110
2011 MLS Power Rankings: Week 30
In this week's Major League Soccer Power Rankings, the push for the playoffs continues. In spite of stumbling against the New York Red Bulls, the Los Angeles Galaxy secure the Supporters' Shield. They aren't the top team this week, though.The Seattle Sounders made it three straight U.S. Open Cups with their win over the Chicago Fire, but they aren't the ones on top, either.Let's take a look at this week's power rankings and see who is at the head of the pack this week.Begin Slideshow9Oct/110
Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Chivas USA: The Push for the Playoffs Continues
With the Major League Soccer Supporters' Shield staying in the Los Angeles Galaxy front office for another year, Bruce Arena's men can think about starting some fringe players for next Sunday's Honda SuperClasico match against Chivas USA. The Galaxy clinched the Shield thanks to the Philadelphia Union's 2-0 victory over the Seattle Sounders on Saturday night at CenturyLink Field. However, a SuperClasico is a SuperClasico, regardless of the record between the Galaxy and Chivas. Currently, the Galaxy, who are also MLS Western Conference regular season champions, have a 18-4-10 record (64 points). As for Chivas, who are coming off a 1-1 draw at home to the Union, they currently sport a 8-12-12 record (36 points) and were eliminated from the MLS Cup playoffs with LA's 2-0 away defeat to the New York Red Bulls. But the main reason why this will be a game to watch this weekend is the play of Juan Pablo Angel. A former swing-man for the Galaxy, Angel rediscovered his scoring touch at Chivas and has recorded seven goals this season. However, Angel is not the top scorer on the team. That honor jointly belongs to Nick LaBrocca and Justin Braun, who each have eight goals ...7Oct/110
Los Angeles Galaxy Ins and Outs, October 7, 2011
Beaten but not unbowed For Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy, their season still hangs in the balance. Unable to secure the Major League Soccer Supporters Shield on Tuesday night against New York, the Galaxy manager decided it was time for a house call and gave the team the week off to recharge their batteries. “We looked like a tired team tonight, and this is the culmination of a lot of games in a short period of time,” Arena told MLSSoccer.com's Nick Firchau. “And it showed.” Los Angeles played nine games in 30 days and managed a decent record of 5-3-1, the most lopsided result coming against the Red Bulls. “We’re a bit tired after all the games we’ve been playing, but it was disappointing losing, of course,” midfielder David Beckham said. “We had a hard game over the weekend against Salt Lake, and then obviously the travel, the time zones, and all that. "It was a quick turnaround." Los Angeles will have some important games coming up though, including the home final against Chivas USA on Sunday, Oct. 16 (kickoff: 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET, ESPN and ESPN Deportes) and C.D. Motagua on Thursday, Oct. 20 (kickoff: 7 p.m. PT/10 ...5Oct/110
Los Angeles Galaxy Lose 0-2 vs. Red Bull New York: Don’t Count out the Red Bulls
Allow me to open this envelope and bring you great news. Ahem. The winner of of the 2011 Major League Soccer Supporters' Shield is...three letters. TBA. To Be Announced. What? To Be Announced? As I rip this envelope to shreds, I would like to take this time to inform you that the race for the MLS Supporters Shield is not over. Hans Backe's New York Red Bulls will go down as the Challenger of Record for Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy. If there was one team that knows how to get a positive result and stay unbeaten in the regular season against LA...it's the Red Bulls. What's all this talk about New York being a team in complete and utter disarray? What is that? That is all hogwash. Lies. Trash. Rubbish. The type of jumped conclusion that deserves to be killed with fire. No, I'm not talking about Chicago, that's U.S. Open Cup, a different story altogether. But New York's top scorers provided the heat. Luke Rodgers opened the scoring in the 31st minute and Thierry Henry closed the deal at the hour mark to give the Red Bulls a breakthrough 2-0 victory over the Galaxy at Red Bull Arena ...3Oct/110