American Soccer News
It didn’t feel like one day, or even a whole season was riding on Sunday night’s MLS Cup matchup.
No, for the Los Angeles Galaxy, Sunday night’s final against the Houston Dynamo had more like a weight of five years. From the moment David Beckham arrived in Los Angeles in 2007, to all the ups and downs, to Bruce Arena coming in as head coach and general manager a year later to the midseason acquisition of Robbie Keane this year, all the attention, all the pressure, all the weight was on the Los Angeles Galaxy to win the 2011 MLS Cup.
Well, after 90 minutes and one strike from Landon Donovan, all off the pressure, whatever you want to call it, its all out the window now, as a 72nd minute strike in which all of LA’s three Designated Players took part was all LA needed to hold off a resilient Dynamo squad 1-0 and celebrate the Galaxy’s third MLS Cup title in front of 30,281 rabid fans at the Home Depot Center.
“This year, we were determined,” Arena said. “We worked our asses off to build this team into a champion. It’s been great year for our team and our organization,”
The win caps off a historic season for the Galaxy, which adds the MLS Cup to a long list of achievements in 2011, such as its second straight Supporters’ Shield, advancement into the knockout stages of the CONCACAF Champions League, an undefeated season at home and are also the first team with Designated Players to win an MLS Cup.
“This has been a long year (and) a trying year,” Donovan said. “There are times through it all when you get tired and mentally wear down, but this guy (Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena) keeps us going.”
After 71 minutes, the Galaxy got the long awaited goal. Beckham flicked a header forward for Robbie Keane to chase down, Keane then laid a ball inside the penalty area for Landon Donovan, who the touched a ball past Dynamo keeper Tally Hall that squeaked inside the far post for a goal that Los Angeles made sure it held up. When referee Ricardo Salazar blew the whistle after the 93rd minute, Beckham and Donovan embraced in celebration, their teammates and later the coaches joined in, and the Home Depot Center, save for the Dynamo fans who were in attendance, erupted as well.
“I didn’t care who scored, I didn’t care if it was an own goal or how the ball went in,” Donovan said. “I just wanted that ball to go in.”
LA did have several chances to get a goal early in the match. The first opportunity came in the 12th minute, when Keane won LA a corner, Beckham sent a ball into the 18 for Adam Cristman, but he instead sent his header wide right. Cristman had another chance in the 27th minute when an unmarked Beckham crossed a ball into the box, but again Cristman missed the far post. LA continued its onslaught in the second half, as Omar Gonzalez sent a ball off a Dynamo player in the 4th minute and Robbie Keane quickly made his run into the box. Keane shot for the far post, but missed. Keane actually did find the back net in the 57th minute, but was called back due to offside.
“We certainly didn’t do well inside the penalty area,” Arena said. “We struggled in our finishing tonight.”
While LA was buzzing around the Houston net, the same could not be said for the Dynamo, who surely felt the absence of midfielder Brad Davis. Of the eight shots Houston attempted in the match, only one, a long attempt by Danny Cruz, required the action of Galaxy keeper Josh Saunders. Adam Moffat was unmarked in the 18 in the 66th minute as Corey Ashe crossed a ball in, but Moffat’s header missed the far post.
“Houston put up a great fight,” Beckham said. “We knew it was going to be a difficult game, so a lot of respect to them.”
Houston, which had won two straight cups since the franchise’s move to Houston in 2006, suffers its first final loss.
“When we got into those good areas, our delivery was off,” Kinnear said. “We gave ourselves a chance, (but) to not put them under pressure, we let them off the hook.”
For the Galaxy, the 2011 MLS Cup title was a championship five years in the making. It mostly began in 2007 when the Galaxy shocked the world by brining in David Beckham not only to win trophies for the storied MLS franchise, but more importantly, to raise the profile of the league and the sport in the Unite States. Beckham’s U.S. adventure didn’t get off to a good start his first two years in LA, as the Galaxy missed the playoffs his first two years in the league and making matters worse, the Galaxy locker room during those two years were not the most harmonious place to be.
In stepped Bruce Arena, who assumed both the head coach and general manager duties midway through the 2008 season. Arena incurred some bumpy roads during his first few months in charge of the Galaxy, with the most bumpiest being Beckham’s flirtation with Italian superpower AC Milan during the first two months of 2009. The 2009 season itself was a roller coaster, as the Galaxy at one point played to draws in nine of ten matches. Yet despite all that, the Galaxy quickly asserted themselves midway through that season and made all the way to the final, but more heartbreak ensued, as they lost in penalties to Real Salt Lake.
Last season, the Galaxy started strong, reeling off wins in 10 of its first 12 matches and won the Supporters Shied, but lost in embarrassing fashion to FC Dallas in the Western Conference final, so this season had to be the time for the Galaxy, especially with Beckham in the final season of his contract and speculation running rampant about where he will play next. LA was atop the league throughout the season, but Galaxy management felt more was needed, especially up top at the striker position, so another bold move was made, this one in the form of celebrated Irish national striker Robbie Keane in August. Keane made an immediate impact, scoring in his first match with the team, but was in and out of the lineup due to national team commitments and injuries. Keane was there for Los Angeles in the Galaxy’s most important moments, scoring a fantastic goal in the Conference final against Real Salt Lake and posing numerous threats to the Houston defense on Sunday night.
“We’ve all played our part this season,” Beckham said. “Being successful always feels good. We’re proud to be a part of this.”
Los Angeles Galaxy 1, Houston Dynamo 0
2011 MLS Cup Final
November 20, 2011; Home Depot Center
Scoring Summary:
LA — Landon Donovan 3 (Robbie Keane 1, David Beckham 4) 72
Misconduct Summary:
HOU — Bobby Boswell (caution; Handball) 13
LA — Adam Cristman (caution; Reckless Tackle) 40
HOU — Andre Hainault (caution; Reckless Foul) 74
LA — David Beckham (caution; Tactical Foul) 82
LA — Landon Donovan (caution; Delaying a Restart) 94+
Lineups
Houston Dynamo — Tally Hall, Andre Hainault, Bobby Boswell, Geoff Cameron, Jermaine Taylor, Danny Cruz (Colin Clark 78), Luiz Camargo, Adam Moffat, Corey Ashe (Je-Vaughn Watson 84), Brian Ching, Calen Carr (Carlo Costly 66).
Substitutes Not Used: Will Bruin, Hunter Freeman, Eddie Robinson, Tyler Deric.
LA Galaxy — Josh Saunders, Sean Franklin, Omar Gonzalez, A.J. DeLaGarza, Todd Dunivant, Landon Donovan, David Beckham, Juninho, Mike Magee, Adam Cristman (Chris Birchall 57), Robbie Keane.
Substitutes Not Used: Gregg Berhalter, Paolo Cardozo, Frankie Hejduk, Jovan Kirovski, Michael Stephens, Donovan Ricketts.
Referee: Ricardo Salazar
Referee’s Assistants: Craig Lowry; Peter Manikowski
4th Official: Hilario Grajeda
Attendance: 30,281
Time of Game: 1:52
Weather: Rain and 53 degrees
