Forgettable Day for Los Angeles Soccer as Galaxy, Blues Crumble

The first of May 2011 will go down as a lousy day for the Los Angeles area soccer teams.This is different from the last day of April, in which Chivas USA did the business against the New England Revolution. Both Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy and Charlie Naimo's dropped critical matches in their respective leagues.The Galaxy fell late in the second half thanks to Brek Shea's 88th minute heroics 2-1, while the Blues did not play like the Blues and were left singing the blues in a 1-0 shutout defeat to Antigua Barracuda FC. Antigua Barracuda FC, of all teams!A now-not-so-diminutive club from the tiny island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, which happens to be home to the 100th-best national team in the world.Oh yeah. So much for Antigua being just a cricket country. That's a full-blown lie, as Steffan Smith proved in the 24th minute on a hot, dusty, stifling, excruciating afternoon at Titan Stadium.One has to give credit to the fans who bothered to show up to the home opener on Sunday, because they were dealt a cruel, unacceptable, unforgivable injustice in the form of the Los Angeles Blues playing nowhere close to the team that stormed through ...

Real Salt Lake vs. Monterrey Live Blog: Play-by-Play Analysis, Reaction

Jason Kreis's Real Salt Lake will look to be the first Major League Soccer club to win the CONCACAF Champions League and punch their ticket to the FIFA Club World Cup when they take on Victor Vucetich's CF Monterrey in the second leg of the 2010-11 CONCACAF Champions League Final.Join Bleacher Report's Jo-Ryan Salazar as he provides you with a rundown on tonight's action in the deciding match of this prestigious continental tournament live from Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah.Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

Los Angeles Galaxy vs. FC Dallas: Back on the Revenge Tour

Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy hit the road on May 1 to take on Schellas Hyndman's FC Dallas at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas.One player that the Galaxy will not have to worry about is 2010 MLS MVP David Ferreira, who suffered a broken right ankle in the Hoops' 2-1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps.“He’s a special player in this league,” Arena told LAGalaxy.com's Larry Morgan, “as evidenced by the MVP award last year and Dallas’ progression to the Cup final."“He’s a terrific player and we want all good players on the field as much as possible.”Of course, the G's will be without the services of Leonardo, who suffered torn knee ligaments and will be out for the remainder of the season.“It just sucks for their team,” central defender Omar Gonzalez said. “He was the MVP last year and he carried them a long way. For them to lose a high-caliber player just sucks, like it did for us when we lost Leo. There have been a lot of injuries around the league, and it’s sad to see it happen."“If he was on the field then we would have to keep an eye on him the whole game. But ...

2011 MLS Power Rankings: Week 6

In this Easter Sunday edition of the MLS power rankings, Real Salt Lake are back on top for another week after holding Monterrey to a 2-2 draw in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League Final.Meanwhile, in MLS action, the New York Red Bulls make their move, while league-leaders Los Angeles Galaxy continue to chase Real in the power rankings.Let's take a look at some of the movers and shakers this week.Begin Slideshow

Landon Donovan, LA Galaxy Chop Down Portland Timbers 3-0

Allow me to do my own, cheesy Agent Smith impersonation, ahem. Here it goes.Welcome back, Mr. Landon Donovan. Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy missed you.End impersonation. It doesn't look like that right knee seems to be nagging him too much, as he was able to score a brace in the Galaxy's 3-0 victory over John Spencer's Portland Timbers, who lacked the execution and skill that powered them to success last week.“I felt good," Donovan said after the game. "I didn’t feel as sharp or fit after 60 minutes, but it was good to get 70 minutes, I think. In the beginning of the week, 45 would have been a stretch, so I’m happy to play and it was a good result.”Oh, how can things change in the course of a week. And I will note this to all of you readers again: the Portland Timbers are not MLS Cup Playoff contenders, at least not yet. They will get their share of wins, but as you can see, they don't have what it takes to contend with the Real Salt Lakes, New York Red Bulls and Los Angeles Galaxies of the world.Interestingly enough, Real Salt Lake is the Timbers' next opponent. ...

Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Portland Timbers: Live Blog, Analysis, Reaction

Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy return home to take on John Spencer's Portland Timbers tonight at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. The Galaxy currently have a 3-1-3 record and are seeded second in Major League Soccer overall and the MLS Western Conference. As for the resurging Timbers, they are 2-2-1 and will look to build on their two-game winning streak. Keep it here on Bleacher Report for continuing coverage of 2011 MLS season.Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

Los Angeles Galaxy Ins and Outs, April 20, 2011

Los Angeles Galaxy manager Bruce Arena confirmed that José Leonardo Ribeiro da Silva will miss the entire season due to a torn ligaments in his right knee.“Those things happen," Arena told MLSSoccer.com's Luis Bueno. "You can never understand why they happen. Unfortunately it’s all part of the game but we’re going to do everything we can to get him back on the field and work with him. I’m confident he will be back on the field with the Galaxy.”The training staff was unable to tend to the Brazilian at the time he injured his knee, as the match was late into stoppage time.“It was the last play of the game,” Arena said. “We thought it was serious but the referee wouldn’t let our trainer onto the field.”Either Sean Franklin or A.J. DeLaGarza will be called to fill in the void left by Leonardo. Gregg Berhalter is two to three weeks away from reaching full match fitness.“We have cover there with Franklin and DeLaGarza, and the whole preseason we did that so they’ve been playing there throughout,” Arena said. “We didn’t want to predict an injury, but we said if we had an injury, we wanted to be prepared for ...

Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Portland Timbers: Ending the Chainsaw Massacre

Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy ended their three-game road tilt with five points out a possible nine. While league leaders Real Salt Lake have three games in hand on the G's, LA got a huge boost on Sunday with their 2-1 win over the Chicago Fire.The win sets the stage for the Galaxy's first encounter with one of the new teams this year, albeit in name only: John Spencer's suddenly-high flying  Portland Timbers on Saturday, April 23 at the Home Depot Center.“It’s important because we had five of our first seven goals… on the road. Whenever you can get points on the road, it’s important,” Arena told MLSSoccer.com's Luis Bueno. “The three points were critically important. At this stage of the season, with what we’ve dealt with—with injuries and the road games and the situations we’ve had to deal with—and to… have 12 points after seven games isn’t bad.”The Galaxy manager credited the Chicago victory to their depth, which will be needed once again.“We didn’t have a lot of guys eligible to play,” Arena said. “Guys stepped up (Sunday) that haven’t been playing regularly like Paolo Cardozo, Miguel Lopez, Mike Stephens and Frankie Hejduk. We’re happy Omar was able to ...

2011 MLS Power Rankings: Week 5

We are now five weeks into the 2011 Major League Soccer season, and we have been treated to some great action from across the country. At the top of the list once again is Real Salt Lake, who are primed for even bigger riches ahead with the CONCACAF Champions League Final looming in the distance.Also on the move are the Portland Timbers, who have finally hit their winning stride this week.Bleacher Report brings you this week's MLS Power Rankings.Begin Slideshow

Omar Gonzalez Breaks Chicago Fire Hearts Again in LA Galaxy 2-1 Victory

The drought is over.Last season at Toyota Park, the Los Angeles Galaxy's Omar Gonzalez equalized at the death to take victory away from the jaws of the Chicago Fire in their 2-2 draw.On Sunday, Gonzalez broke the hearts of Fire fans in Bridgeview yet again, scoring on a 72nd minute corner kick from Argentine international Miguel Lopez to break the two-game winless streak for Bruce Arena's club in a 2-1 victory.Chad Barrett opened the scoring for the G's in the 42nd minute of play.While Dominic Oduro was able to pull one back in the 89th minute, the goal came too little too late, as the Galaxy defense held firm in their own third, which was part of the theme of the day for Los Angeles.Another part: bad finishing from Chicago, namely Marco Pappa, who had a lion's share of chances to finish, all of them missing wide of the the mark.Meanwhile, Los Angeles's shoddy passing was more polished as the match wore on, though they still need to work on delivering to the right side. Possession-wise, the Galaxy will look to improve on capitalizing on the space they earn.Case in point: Frankie Hejduke late in the first half. He had ...