Not much was riding on the regular season finale between the Los Angeles Galaxy and Seattle Sounders at the Home Depot Center on Sunday evening.
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The Sounders did have a chance to overtake Real Salt Lake for second place in the Western Conference standings with a win over the Galaxy, but LA prevented Seattle from doing so at their expense, and Mike Magee supplied the blow with a volley late in the second half, and the Galaxy concluded an up-and-down regular season with a 1-0 win over the Sounders.
“Tonight was a real good game, very competitive game (between) two good teams,” Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena said. “To come out on top is terrific.”
Magee, a starter throughout the regular season started game on the bench, but entered in place of Edson Buddle in the 75th minute, but it took until the 83rd minute to display the clutch-ness that he displayed in last year’s MLS playoffs. It started when he sent a ball for Robbie Keane, who held onto the ball for a short time before touching it back to Magee, who then one-timed a ball at the top of the penalty area that beat Sounders keeper Michael Gspurning far post to put Los Angeles in the lead.
“If I do that again on Thursday, I’ll be a lot more happy,” Magee said.
Seattle came close to grabbing the equalizer in stoppage time when a cross was played into the box towards Steve Zakuani, Zakuani headed the ball towards Fredy Montero, but the ball hit the striker’s hand as he went to the ground, even though he managed to get a chance on goal, which was easily sent back by Saunders. The handball call against Montero though did cancel out Brad Evans’ equalizer on the rebound.
Before then, the two teams had plenty of chances to find the back net. Both teams had nine attempts on goal in the first half. Seattle had the first best chance of the match when Galaxy keeper Josh Saunders handled a ball outside the penalty box, giving the Sounders a free kick just outside the box. Marc Burch sent his set piece off the wall, but got a second chance on goal, but was deflected out. Then in the 25th minute, Left Back Marc Burch crossed a ball for Eddie Johnson, but Saunders managed to parry away Johnson’s diving header. Seven minutes later, Burch was on the overlap run again, this time after receiving a ball from Fredy Montero. The left back crossed into the penalty area, this one back to Montero, but his header bounced off the left post. The Galaxy also had some chances themselves in the first half, such a through ball by David Beckham to Sean Franklin, who then whipped a short cross towards Robbie Keane, but was cut off by Jeff Parke. Beckham had a chance himself in the 22nd minute as he chased down a loose ball and launched a one-timer on goal, but sailed wide right. LA had one more good look in the 41st minute when Landon Donovan led a break on goal and switched a ball towards a sprinting Robbie Keane, but the striker’s chip shot hit the side netting.
“It was a good performance tonight, and I think the biggest thing we came take from it was the shutout,” Galaxy defender Todd Dunivant said.
Both teams continued to get chances in the second half. Robbie Keane had a couple attempts in the opening minutes, but a chip shot a minute into the half just missed to the far post while another chipper hit the crossbar. Seattle had a few looks on goal, such as a ball sent into the box by Brad Evans to Fredy Montero in the 59th minute. Montero was open between Saunders and Center Back Tommy Meyer and touched a ball towards goal, but and alert Saunders quickly parried away the shot. Saunders came up big again in the 68th minute when Montero played a ball for Mauro Rosales in the penalty area, the midfielder then turned Center Back Omar Gonzalez, but saw his shot attempt sent back by Saunders.
“Josh was ridiculous tonight,” Magee said. “That’s how we need Josh and that’s the Josh we know.”
The win concludes a season for the Galaxy that saw the reigning MLS Cup champions deal with numerous injuries while stumbling off to 3-8-2 start. Even as LA eventually weathered the storm to a fourth place finish in the Western Conference, the injury bug was still a concern for LA, as the Galaxy welcomed Beckham and Donovan back into the lineup after the two had missed last Sunday’s game against San Jose, Donovan with a banged up knee and Beckham and injured ankle. Galaxy Center Back AJ DeLaGarza will probably miss Thursday’s game with a Left Knee Sprain.
While the Galaxy were getting players back from injury, the Sounders may have lost a key cog in its attack, as striker Eddie Johnson, who had formed a formidable partnership with Fredy Montero throughout the season, pulled up lame with what appeared to be a left hamstring injury and was eventually subbed out for Sammy Ochoa.
The Galaxy begin defense of its MLS Cup title on Thursday, as they host the Vancouver Whitecaps in the Western Conference play-in game, with the winner advancing to the conference semifinals against the Supporters’ Shield winning San Jose Earthquakes. Seattle meanwhile begins its playoff run on Friday night by hosting the first leg of its semifinal series against Real Salt Lake.
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