Major League Soccer

Los Angeles Galaxy And FC Dallas Share The Spoils

The Galaxy scored early, then had a man advantage, but that wasn't enough to facilitate a win as Dallas grimly hung on to split the points with LA.

May 24, 2009 1:17:51 AM

Landon Donovan, Los Angeles Galaxy v. Tigres, friendly, July 17, 2007 (ISI)

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Landon Donovan, Los Angeles Galaxy v. Tigres, friendly, July 17, 2007 (ISI)

Teams

FC Dallas fought back from a one-goal and one-man disadvantage to split points with the Los Angeles Galaxy, 1-1.

The two teams are in the bottom half of the Western Conference, though LA now bests the point total of Dallas by five. However, in a match that seemed to favor a Galaxy win, the Hoops hung tough.

First Half

For the first time all season, the Los Angeles Galaxy scored very early on in the game.

In the third minute, a quick exchange from Todd Dunivant to Mike Magee ended up with Magee lofting a looping pass that blooped away from defender Pablo Richetti, bouncing through to Eddie Lewis. Lewis struck a quick cross to the front of the net and Landon Donovan, despite becoming emmeshed with defender Daniel Torres on the play, was able to deflect the shot into the goal.

The Galaxy had a chance to double their lead in the 24th minute, but Lewis shot wide.

Formger Galaxy player Marcelo Saragosa was given a red card for shoving Eddie Lewis in the back of the head during a play in the 25th minute. Referee Paul Ward duly pulled out a red card for the defensive midfielder.

Despite the Galaxy's attempts to seize advantage of their new superiority in numbers, the next goal that arrived was to the home team.

Dallas took advantage of a situation that has proven to be an Achilles' heel for the Galaxy - a corner kick. Dave van den Bergh served in an excellent ball, and Drew Moor outjumped all the nearby Galaxy players to put a strong header on goal to even the match.

Second Half

Though the Galaxy tried to pry their way through the Dallas defense in the second half, it was not to be. The host team doggedly turned away every opportunity, clinging to the draw despite spending most of the match a man down.

Late substitutes Edson Buddle, Chris Klein and Bryan Jordan were unable to push the Galaxy into the win column. Dallas goalkeeper Ray Burse made seven saves in the match to preserve the result.

At the final whistle, the Galaxy were left with their fourth draw in a row, while FC Dallas had a narrow escape in the sharing of the points.

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