It looks like there will be a first time MLS champion this year, as FC Dallas rolled over Los Angeles Galaxy last night 3-0. In the early moments of the game, Galaxy of course enjoyed the majority of possession. However, the was an early half chance by Dallas in which Atiba Harris was sprung on a breakaway the gave Dallas hope. Then, completely unexpectedly, David Ferreira opened the scoring in the 26th minute with a brilliant piece of skill. He received a bouncing ball on the eighteen with his back to goal, took a touch and turned while freezing his defender, and ripped the ball of the halfvolley under Ricketts and in the far lower corner. Soon after, Donovan had a chance that almost found the net with a hard and low shot the went across Hartman but was just wide. Read more....
In the second half, Galaxy looked threatening still when Brek Shea stole the show with a low cross through traffic to find defender George John at the back post. John put Dallas up 2-0 in the 54th minute, and the Galaxy started to look uneasy. Later Donovan missed a golden opportunity when Hartman came out to the eighteen to punch a ball. The ball went straight up in the air and fell to Donovan, who lobbed the shot just over the crossbar. As the game progressed, LA diverged from the possession tactics and resorted to the game plan two years ago: find Beckham out wide and let him dump and early cross in the box. Hartman and the Dallas backline was relentless in their defense though and effectively silenced Buddle all night. Finally in the 73rd minute, David Ferreira play a short, incising pass into the box to find Marvin Chavez, who coolly tucked the ball in the net for the third and final goal. Late in the game, Beckham did dazzle fans with a signature free kick that almost found the net. However on par with the entire season, Hartman made a great save to parry away the attempt.
Overall, the game was incredibly entertaining and much better than last year's power-outage-infused Western semi. I thought FC Dallas did an incredible job dictacting the play. The players fulfilled everything Hyndman asked of them. The play was created through Ferreira's feet, Harris made demanding runs up top, Hartman was inpenetrable, Shea and McCarty were the utility men in the midfield, and Chavez provided a quick counter outlet, and the backline handled the Galaxy flawlessly.
As for the Galaxy, Donovan I thought had one his best games of the playoffs. He was really the only threat for Dallas along with Juninho's intermittent brilliance. However, Magee and Buddle were non-existent, Beckham didn't play bad but was forced to play ball after ball into the box but to no avail. AJ De La Garza had a great tackle on Brek Shea, but the backline in general looked unable to cope with Dallas's counter....and Cunningham wasn't even in! Kovalenko, I thought, had an awful game and should have been sent off inside the first half.
-video highlights can be found on mlssoccer.com
Attendance: 27,000
Man of the Match: David Ferreira, FC Dallas
Honorable Mention: Kevin Hartman, Dax McCarty, George John (all Dallas), Landon Donovan (Galaxy)
Share your thoughts on the game below and stay tuned for the MLS Cup final preview on Rip City Soccer
I think Hartman saved that shot by Donovan in the first half. Keeping the Galaxy off the board early was I believe the key to the Dallas victory. Hartman put in a super performance and the team fed off his incredible saves. A 3-0 victory suggests a boring game in goal but Hartman was busy all night keeping the Galaxy out. Offense sells tickets but defense wins championships. Hartman Man of the Match.
ReplyDelete