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90′ +5
Houston with a double corner to make sure LA sweats for it, but this match is over with the points shared.
The 0-0 draw means the only winner here is Chivas USA. All three (LA, Houston, and Chivas) are tied at the top of the West with 45 points, but the Goats have an extra game in hand.
90′ +2
Nearly a dramatic finish there. Houston won a corner which Holden, sporting the captain's armband after Ching's dismissal, took. Cameron put his head to it, but when the net moved it was because the ball hit it on the top of the goal instead of going inside the posts.
90′
Substitution 
L. Landin 
Dominic Oduro
L. Landin Dominic Oduro 
90′
Yellow Card Alan Gordon
90′
Yellow Card Dominic Oduro
86′
Oduro intercepted a backpass and raced at the LA defense. When Berhalter shouldered up for a tackle, he dove, earning a yellow card.
84′
Substitution Eddie Lewis 
Jovan Kirovski
Eddie Lewis Jovan Kirovski
84′
We still have yet to restart play after the handbags. Oduro came on for the Dynamo (he should have been on earlier to use his pace) and Kirovski entered for Lewis. That means that with a man advantage, Arena is finally going for it. Donovan will shift back to the midfield with Kirovski and Gordon up top.
83′
Red Card Brian Ching
83′
Yellow Card David Beckham
82′
Oh my, what's this? Brian Ching has been sent off, but it's unclear why. Must have said something to the ref in the aftermath of the Clark - Becks spat. That will kill this game; I'm not a fan of that red.
81′
Ah, there's the handbags. Clark and Beckham went in for the same ball, with neither looking at fault. The U.S. international jumped up and shoved Beckham in the face. Golden balls shoved back and others got involved by breaking them up.
77′
Mullan padded a soft header back into the area where Landin stepped over it. That let the ball fall to a wide open Holden on the six yard line. Again, Ricketts rushed out to smother the chance. The Jamaican 'keeper is my man of the match thus far; he's kept LA in this one.
76′
Nearly something there. Clark put his foot on a high ball, pushing it over the LA backline where Landin and Ching were waiting. Ching was bowled over in the box, but the assistant indicated offsides before that.
67′
Substitution 
Edson Buddle Alan Gordon
Edson Buddle Alan Gordon
66′
We'll put that one down to lack of sharpness. Donovan slid past Boswell with the ball and opened his body in the box to curl it around Onstad. Instead, he launched his shot well wide without testing the 'keeper.
65′
With his tats and beard, if Beckham put on a little weight and shopped at Goodwill, he could make a great hipster.
59′
Mullan jumped for a ball and kicked it over Todd Dunivent. Problem was his foot caught the LA leftback in the face. Dunivent looks OK now, but that could have been painful.
53′
Substitution Mike Magee Landon Donovan
Mike Magee Landon Donovan
52′
Oh wow.
Just wow.
Lewis hit a low cross from the left and Edson Buddle shrugged off Geoff Cameron to meet it. He clipped a shot over Onstad which looked set to bounce into the goal, but Cameron made quite the recovery to bicycle the ball out from under the crossbeam. That's as close as anyone has been to opening the scoring. Excellent play by both Buddle and Cameron.
50′
Bruce Arena must have heard me. Donovan just put on his jersey and looks set to enter the match. Can he be the one who makes the difference in this affair, and in the Western Conference overall?
45′
And we're back. Still no Donovan, which is odd. Holden played nearly as much as him during the international break, but he's out there from the start.
43′
Donovan comes in for Magee. Interesting choice by Arena. He'll keep his same compact defense and push Donovan up top with Buddle. I assumed Donovan would replace one of the holding midfielders and play on the right flank, but Arena has different ideas.
45′ +2
That's half. It ends 0-0 with neither team showing the sharpness up front needed to break through. The way to break through LA's resilient backline is to expose its lack of pace; Houston hasn't shown that it has the speed up top to do that. For the Galaxy, its counterattacks haven't been pacy enough. Expect to see Landon Donovan inserted in the game at half to remedy this.
42′
Well now he's just showing off. Ricardo Clark made good contact from a corner, but Ricketts again made the save. This time he held it and played the ball up field.
34′
Brad Davis would have been alone on goal if he hadn't been called offsides. It looked off in real time, but the replay showed the assistant was perhaps a little too hasty in his decision.
28′
This is exactly why I voted for Ricketts as Galaxy's defensive player of the year. A ball over the top set Mullan free on goal. He left it for Holden, steaming in behind him, who drove a low shot on frame. Again Ricketts showed his agility by saving.
25′
Quickly back on the other end, Landin uncorked quite a blast. Some quick footwork helped him turn his defender, and he spun and unloaded with his left foot. A nice diving save by Ricketts pushed it out for a corner.
24′
From the counter, Pat Onstad had to rush out quickly to push Mike Magee wide. The chance fizzled out from there.
23′
From a set piece, Bobby Boswell rose highest to head Davis' delivery, but put too much mustard on it and missed the goal completely.
22′
It's this sort of well disciplined display that will win Bruce Arena the coach of the year come season's end.
22′
Galaxy's playing a really good pressure game in the midfield. Houston don't have any time on the ball and is struggling to play it out of the back into attack.
16′
From a Houston corner, Donovan Ricketts ran into someone and went down. The goal was open for a spell there, but the Dynamo couldn't capitalize.
7′
Davis tried a spiffy backheel and Stuart Holden blasted well high. Opportunity wasted.
6′
Omar Gonzalez kicked the legs out from under Brian Ching. Brad Davis is standing over a free kick a foot from the 18 yard box.
4′
Houston have sustained a good series of pressure on the Galaxy backline, but the defense is too tough and hasn't given up a goal-scoring opportunity.
1′
Hello and welcome to Goal.com's MLS game of the week. We should have an enticing match between two teams eager to win the Western Division tonight as the Galaxy travel to Houston to play the Dynamo.
Results
Times In EST
Top Scorers
| Player | Goals | Penalties | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Kenny Cooper
Striker NY Red Bulls |
11 | 2 |
|
Chris Wondolowski
Striker San Jose Earthquakes |
11 | 1 |
|
Thierry Henry
Striker NY Red Bulls |
9 | 0 |
|
Saer Sene
Striker New England |
7 | 1 |
|
Maicon Santos
Striker D.C. United |
7 | 0 |