Los Angeles Galaxy beat Houston Dynamo 2-0 – Recap and Video Highlights – Friday, November 13, 2009
The Major League Soccer Playoffs had its Conference Finals this weekend as the LA Galaxy hosted the Houston Dynamo in the Western Conference and Real Salt Lake traveled to Chicago Fire in the Eastern Conference. The first match was the Dynamo and Galaxy who played on Friday, November 13, 2009. Who won and what happened in the match? Here’s a recap of the match along with video highlights.
Los Angeles Galaxy beat Houston Dynamo 2-0 – Video Highlights
1st Half
The match started out with the Galaxy getting chances early. Landon Donovan got behind a defender and passed to Mike Magee who had a shot in the 4th minute. Houston Dynamo goalkeper Pat Onstad came up with a nice save to keep it scoreless. The Dynamo started to work their way into the match and by the 10th minute they started to create some decent scoring chances.
The momentum was with Houston for the next 5-10 minutes as they had most of the possession and chances. Around the 18th minute the match was temporarily suspended as the lights at the stadium went out. The lights would come back on about 15 minutes later and the match would resume. It was a much needed break for the Galaxy as Houston was starting to get great scoring chances.
The Galaxy came out after the break much stronger and put the pressure back on Houston. Los Angeles almost scored in the 25th minute as a long throw-in was sent in the box. Onstad tried to come out and punch it but missed and Donovan sent a header going on goal until Stuart Holden headed it away. Holden made several great defensive plays on crosses in the match.
David Beckham had several set pieces and nearly scored in the 27th minute off a free kick. It was sent over the wall and into the upper near corner but Onstad made a terrific diving save. A minute later on the counterattack, the Galaxy defense showed problems with the speed of Houston. Oduro beat a defender with his speed and earned a free kick. Fortunately for the home team, it was cleared by the defense. The intensity of the match started to really pick up around this time.
It was night and day for the Galaxy after the lights went out. Before they were not the better team and struggling a bit. After the match resumed, they were the stronger team and were playing much better. It was still 0-0 as the match entered the 40th minute. After the Galaxy came out strong when play resumed, the Dynamo slowly worked their way back into the match. For the final 10 minutes of the first half the play was about even. It was 0-0 heading into halftime.
2nd Half
The Galaxy continued their strong play at the start of the second half with chances early. Donovan had a shot that forced Onstad to make a save in the 46th minute and Beckham had several corner kicks. The Dynamo would come back as Hainault had a shot on goal but LA goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts made the save. The unthinkable would happen in the 51st minute as the lights would go out again. The reason was a blackout in the area that caused the power to temporarily go out.
It was extremely frustrating to the players and coaches who had to deal with over 30 minutes of waiting for the lights to come on (once at the 18th minute and again at the 51st minute). Finally, play would resume in the 51st minute as the lights came back on. The Galaxy remained the better team in the first few minutes but both teams were up and down. It was expected with the lengthy delays in each half.
Beckham continually sent crosses into the box but nobody was able to get on the other end of it. It was still scoreless heading into the final 15 minutes of regulation time. Brian Ching almost gave Houston the lead as he headed a cross on goal. Galaxy goalkeeper Ricketts responded quickly and got a hand on it before it deflected off the crossbar. The following corner in the 80th minute appeared to be a goal for the Dynamo but it was waived off because of a foul. The replays show it was a lucky break for Los Angeles.
The match was 0-0 through 82 minutes and seemed destined to go to overtime. Neither team would score in the final few minutes and it would go into extra time. The Dynamo had the momentum with the better chances late in the second half.
1st Overtime
Fatigue was starting to set in for both teams as the pace slowed down a bit. The Galaxy started out the first overtime with most of the chances. Houston struggled to clear the ball but managed to defend the crosses into the box very well. Finally the Galaxy would break through in the 103rd minute as Greg Berhalter would score to make it 1-0. Beckham sent a free kick into the box that was headed on goal, deflected off a Dynamo defender, and to Berhalter who shot it into the back of the net.
It was a well deserved goal as LA was the better team in the first overtime and created numerous chances.
2nd Overtime
The Galaxy continued to control most of the play and could put the match out of reach with another goal. Late substitute Alan Gordon would get the ball in the box after a good run and earn a penalty kick. The fresher Gordon was tripped by a Houston player early and Landon Donovan would take the penalty kick. Donovan would convert the penalty easily as Onstad guessed wrong and it was now 2-0.
Houston would get a few chances late including hitting the crossbar but it was not enough as the Galaxy would win 2-0 and advance to the MLS Cup Final.
| Dynamo 0 |
120:00
Final |
Galaxy 2 |
| Scoring: | ||
| LA — Gregg Berhalter 1 (unassisted) 103 | ||
| LA — Landon Donovan 3 (penalty kick) 109 | ||
| Discipline: | ||
| HOU — Brian Mullan (caution; Reckless Tackle) 26 | ||
| LA — Dema Kovalenko (caution; Reckless Tackle) 77 | ||
| LA — Landon Donovan (caution; Reckless Tackle) 89 | ||
| HOU — Bobby Boswell (caution; Reckless Foul) 111 | ||
| HOU — Luis Angel Landin (caution; Reckless Foul) 119 | ||
| Game Stats | ||
| Houston Dynamo | Los Angeles Galaxy | |
| Total Shots: | 14 | 16 |
| Shots on Goal: | 5 | 6 |
| Total Saves: | 4 | 5 |
| Fouls: | 20 | 21 |
| Offsides: | 7 | 0 |
| Corner Kicks: | 9 | 4 |
Referee: Terry Vaughn
Referee’s Assistants: Thomas Supple; Darren Clark
4th Official: Paul Ward
Time of Game: 120:00
Weather: Clear -and- 62 degrees
Attendance: 25,373
