Edson Buddle Destroys Philadelphia, Chivas USA Rally For a Point
Galaxy forward Edson Buddle continued his torrid scoring pace last night, adding another brace to his total count. (mlssoccer.com)
Galaxy forward Edson Buddle spearheaded a 3 - 1 thrashing of the Philadelphia Union last night at the Home Depot Center, keeping the blue-and-gold undefeated on the year.
Defender AJ DeLaGarza opened the scoring at the first minute after receiving a pass from Buddle in the six yard box with Union 'keeper Chris Seitz caught out of position. The early goal was indicative of the match as a whole. Control of the match and its pace was quickly ceded to the blue-and-gold following the 1st minute strike.
The Galaxy retained possession for long periods of time, patiently working to create additional scoring opportunities despite the Union's efforts to clog up their half. Their patience would pay off at the 27th minute when Buddle would up his goal count on the year to eight after jamming one in from directly in front of the goal following a scramble for a rebound. Buddle would add another at the close of the first half, bringing his tally to 9 in 6 matches.
With the score now 3 - 0, things only got worse for the Union when ex-Galaxy and now Union midfielder Stefani Miglioranzi earned a direct red card in injury time, leaving the Union a man down for the closing 45. The blue-and-gold continued their dominance in the second half, but noticeably took their foot off the accelerator, instead putting it in cruise control and dictating the pace. At the 84th minute, Jack McInerney would get one back for the Union to close out the scoring on the night.
Earlier in the day, Chivas USA took on the Chicago Fire and earned a 1 - 1 tie at Toyota Park in Bridgeville, Illinois.
The teams fought to assert their respective game throughout the first half, but neither was able to gain any significant advantage over the other. Chicago would eventually open the scoring via Baggio Husidic at the 53rd minute after Marco Pappa sent a great lobbing pass to Patrick Nyarko to get behind the Chivas USA defense. Husidic finished the play by blasting home a cross from Nyarko with Chivas USA 'keeper Zach Thornton caught completely out of position.
The red-and-whites shook it off and fought back. Led by captain Sacha Kljestan, the rebaño gringo steadily began to build momentum on the offensive side as the minutes ticked away. Forward Maicon Santos would enter at the 69th minute to give the L.A. side a lift on the offensive side. Seven minutes later, Santos would do just that, tying the score with a strong header off a corner kick from Kljestan and ending the red-and-white's scoring drought in Chicago that dated back to June 2007.
The 1 - 1 tie gives Chivas USA an added boost of confidence following an impressive 3 - 2 victory last Saturday at home against San Jose. It is their first point on the road under Head Coach Martin Vasquez and is a positive start to their two game road trip that will next take them to New England to face the Revolution.