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Not much action at the HDC. A penalty just before halftime taken by Landon Donovan gave the Galaxy a 1-0 win.
The Los Angeles Galaxy offensive attack has been two pronged as of late. The team will be missing one of those prongs on Wednesday, as David Beckham traveled to England to play in Gary Neville's Testimonial Match. Bruce Arena said on Saturday that any darts should be thrown at him, but there is no harm in letting Beck's pay tribute to a friend. It does mean, however, that the Galaxy will be without the man who's given them a league leading five assists off set pieces, including the winning goal in the Superclasico last Saturday. Beckham is currently tied for the league's assist lead with six; Brad Davis of Houston also has six, meaning Galaxy fans will miss seeing two of the game's best crossers going at it.
Luckily the second prong hasn't taken off for national team duty yet. Though Landon Donovan's consecutive games with a goal streak ended on Saturday, he still leads the league's Golden Boot race. It's a site Galaxy fans are getting used to seeing, a Galaxy man leading both the goals and assists categories. Last year it was Edson Buddle and Landon Donovan, this year Donovan and Beckham. Also like last year, the Galaxy find themselves five points clear of the Western Conference top, though Real Salt Lake have only played eight games.
Koke, who joined Houston on April 26th, finally got his first goal, in a 2-2 draw against New York Red Bulls. The corner kick rebound goal looked to be the game winner, until New York scored in stoppage time. The LA Galaxy won both meetings in the season series last year, which extended their unbeaten streak against Houston to four games in MLS play and five in all competitions. The last time Houston beat Los Angeles was Oct 2008, a 3-0 result.
The two biggest stars in the Los Angeles Galaxy will be missing time over the next few weeks for two different reasons; both of them great honors. Today, May 24th, in Manchester, David Beckham will once again don the red shirt of Manchester United. Gary Neville’s Testimonial match is a friendly affair against Juventus, and Beckham was asked to play as a United great and a friend of Neville. As a result, Beckham will miss the Galaxy’s match on Wednesday against Houston Dynamo.
Landon Donovan will also be missing some upcoming Galaxy matches, having been named to the USMNT roster for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Donovan will also be called into duty for the US friendly against Spain on June 4th. Donovan has 130 caps and 45 goals for the national team, and has been on three Gold Cup winning squads. Landon Donovan could, if the national team makes it through group stages, miss the entire month of June.
Landon Donovan Penalty Carries Galaxy Over Houston 1-0
It was a slow night in Carson, but Landon Donovan's 45+ minute penalty was enough to send 14, 458 fans home haps, as the Los Angeles Galaxy (7-2-5, 26pts.) held on to defeat the Houston Dynamo (3-4-5, 14pts.) 1-0. The team came out in their blue kits, so those in attendance got to see a rare color on color match at Home Depot Center. The match may have been aesthetically pleasing, but the play was lackluster.
There weren't that many highlights, but in the end it's only the three points that matters. Certainly the Galaxy missed David Beckham's presence in the middle, yet Donovan created some nice chances. The biggest problem for the Galaxy tonight was finishing, taking 17 shots but only 3 shots on goal; and one of those was Donovan's penalty.
In fact, neither goalkeeper had a save in the first half. Houston didn't try Donovan Ricketts once, and the Galaxy were no better off outside of the penalty kick. The penalty came after a Chad Birchall shot from the right side of the box was redirected by the forearm of Lovel Palmer. There was little doubt about the penalty, and when Donovan went just right as Tally Hall dove to Donovan's left there was little left to do but blow confetti.
The only other highlights were two low crosses that got knocked clear by Houston defenders. In the 40', Birchall sent a low cross destined for Landon Donovan that was knocked clear by Koke right in front of goal. In the 83' an almost identical situation arose as Miguel Lopez rolled one toward Mike Magee, but that too was cleared harmlessly away. Much credit has to be given to the Houston back four.
When US Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions league matches to squeeze in, MLS has to schedule these midweek games. Unfortunately for the Galaxy, that means getting on a plane tomorrow headed for New England for a match on artificial turf. David Beckham will be joining the team in Foxboro.
May 25 11:04p by Josie Becker