Galaxy Destroy Houston, Chivas USA's Woes Continue
Galaxy forward Jovan Kirovski scored a brace last night to lead the Galaxy to a 4 - 1 victory over Houston. (lagalaxy.com)
The L.A. Galaxy demolished the Houston Dynamo by a score of 4 - 1 last night at the Home Depot Center, while Chivas USA fell to the New York Red Bulls by a score of 1 - 0, extending their losing streak to 5 games.
The scoring started early at the Home Depot Center as forward Jovan Kirovski gave the Galaxy the lead a mere 47 seconds into the match through a header in front of the net following a great cross from defender Sean Franklin. Houston seemed to be stunned by the early strike and struggled to respond. Through a stroke a luck, the Dynamo were able to tie at the 7th minute, when on a rare run at the Galaxy goal, a clearance attempt by blue-and-gold 'keeper Donovan Ricketts ended up bouncing off of Houston forward Cam Weaver and back towards the goal with just enough momentum to cross the goal line.
That would be it for Houston in the first half. Following their odd goal, the blue-and-gold would then completely dominate the game. At the 21st minute, the Franklin/Kirovski combination was at it again, generating a second goal to once again give the Galaxy the lead. The blue-and-gold continued to pressure and much of the first half ended up being played in the Houston defensive half. Long passing sequences by the Galaxy made it even more difficult for Houston to mount any threats and on rare occasions where the Dynamo managed to exit their own half, their efforts stalled shortly after entering the Galaxy's defensive half, the result of great work by the Galaxy midfield and back four.
The second half began with similar characteristics as the first and at the 48th minute, Tristan Bowen extended the lead to 3 - 1. Alex Cazumba would later close out the scoring at the 56th minute on a night that also saw rookie midfielder Michael Stephens earn three assists. Things slowed down a bit following Cazumba's goal but overall, it was perhaps the best performance ever against Houston by the Galaxy.
The victory keeps the Galaxy undefeated on the season and atop the overall league standings with 32 points.
For Chivas USA, their woes continue to sink them. A 27th minute strike by New York's Seth Stammler gave the Red Bulls the lead and all they needed to seal the victory at the Red Bull Arena in New York.
Despite their woes, Chivas USA midfielder Ben Zemanski nearly opened the scoring for the L.A. side early in the match, but his great strike from about 20 years hit the cross bar and stayed out. That would be the closest the red-and-white would come to scoring as they struggled to generate offense throughout the game.
With Sacha Kljestan missing from the lineup, the red-and-white midfield lacked organization, complicating things for Maykel Galindo and Justin Braun, although Braun made the best of the few opportunities he got and represented the red-and-white's biggest offensive threat.
The loss leaves Chivas USA in last place in the Western Conference with one more road game against San Jose before they take their break for the World Cup. Upon returning, the team will need to quickly find answers or they might end up missing the playoffs. Rumors floating around in the past week seem to indicate that Kljestan and Jonathan Bornstein are both on their way out on transfers. That would complicate things further for first year Head Coach Martin Vasquez.
If the rumors materialize, the team will likely need to bring in some new players to fill that void. Even if they do not materialize, they desperately need to make some adjustments to right the ship. Expect a lot of movement in the Chivas USA camp once post-World Cup MLS action starts again in July.