Galaxy brightens with 2-1 victory
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That most rare of sights was seen in Carson on Sunday night: Galaxy players and coaches actually smiling and laughing.
Winning will do that for a team that has made losing a habit during the 2007 Major League Soccer season. And because Sunday’s 2-1 victory over FC Dallas at sold-out Home Depot Center was deserved, not gifted, the smiles were broader, the laughter louder.
The Galaxy had won only once in MLS play since the beginning of August, going 1-8-1, and its chances looked bleak when Dallas took the lead in the 11th minute on a goal by midfielder Dax McCarty.
Dallas (12-10-4) had beaten Los Angeles twice earlier in the season and although the Galaxy got a measure of revenge with a 6-5 victory in Texas during the SuperLiga tournament, Dallas was seen as having an edge.
McCarty’s early goal confirmed that. Defender Chris Gbandi, overlapping down the left wing, sent a cross into the goal area, striker Carlos Ruiz distracted the Galaxy defenders just enough, and the ball fell to McCarty, who hammered it into the net from close range.
The Galaxy (5-13-6) was 0-11-3 after giving up the first goal this season, so a recovery seemed unlikely, but it happened.
In the 25th minute, Gbandi, who earlier had been yellow-carded by referee Michael Kennedy for a retaliatory foul on Galaxy midfielder Kevin Harmse, made another, more serious blunder.
This time he tugged Galaxy forward Alan Gordon down from behind in the penalty area, and Kennedy had no choice but to eject Gbandi, leaving Dallas to play the final hour and more a man down.
Landon Donovan scored from the penalty spot to tie it up, even though he was made to take the kick twice after goalkeeper Dario Sala moved early while blocking the first attempt.
The score was still knotted when halftime arrived.
“I said to the guys at halftime, ‘You won’t get a better chance of getting three points in a game, at home, against 10 men. This is it. Let’s go,’ ” Galaxy Coach Frank Yallop said.
“I felt in the second half, apart from a couple of scares, we looked as if we wanted to win it,” he added. “We looked positive with our passing. We tried to do the right things.”
They were earned when Cobi Jones, playing in his 300th regular-season MLS match, spotted wide-open teammate Chris Klein and delivered the perfect pass.
Klein, who had scored a memorable bicycle kick goal against Chivas in the SuperLiga final, this time managed an equally good one with a searing right-foot shot from 20 yards that left goalkeeper Sala grasping nothing but air.
“I’m really happy for Chris,” Yallop said. “He’s one of the best players I’ve ever worked with and a winner. He wants to win every game.”
