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Galaxy And Wizards Both Regret Draw
Another tie for the Galaxy - which denied the Wizards a chance to move into sole possession of second place in the Eastern Conference.
May 31, 2009 3:47:52 AM
CARSON, Calif. -- It's not too often that both teams feel equally hard done by the final
result, but it was thus when the Los Angeles Galaxy and Kansas city
Wizards played to a 1-1 tie. Both goals were scored in the final ten
minutes of the game, but there was plenty of action before that.
The Galaxy's case for feeling as if they should have won the match was simple. They played quite well throughout the game, creating a umber of chances and were denied twice by the crossbar and once by an incredible save by Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman.
"We were a little unlucky," said Galaxy forward Landon Donovan, who had the assist on the game-tying strike. "We could've been better in front of goal."
The Wizards' case for a win was also strong, because the squad had withstood everything the Galaxy threw at them, then had a man advantage when a tug by Gregg Berhalter on Claudio Lopez.
Kansas City coach Curt Onalfo explained that the scene was subdued in the team locker room following the match, describing his players as "quiet".
"It's disappointing when you're winning 1-0 with a man advantage and you don't close out the game," said Onalfo.
Hartman, who spent the majority of his career in a Galaxy uniform before joining the Wizards, also rued the result.
"We did a good job of keeping ourselves in the game for a long portion of the game and possessing the ball pretty well, and put ourselves in a dangerous spot where all of the sudden we're a man up," said Hartman. "I don't feel like we necessarily did a great job getting the ball wide and trying to get around the guys sitting in, but sooner or later we were able to get one in and then it's just a matter of managing the game and killing it off. We put ourselves in a precarious position by sometimes starting to possess the ball where it's easy and not necessarily where we want to possess it, which is down at the other corner with your hand on the corner flag."
With the full three points snatched away, Hartman wasn't really celebrating his notable save.
"Yeah, I got a hand to it," Hartman recalled. "I pushed it in off the post. It makes you wonder what could have been."
It did impress Chris Klein, who took the hard shot. “I had a pretty good view at it and I thought it was going in, but give him credit - he made a good save and that is one of the reasons that is why he has been around for so long."
The Wizards weren't at full strength for the game, because key contributors Josh Wolff and Santiago Hirsig were suspended for this match.
"Obviously they're great players, but hopefully we have guys who can fill in," said Hartman. "But you don't want to be a team that's one players or two players, you want to be a team that's deeper."
The Galaxy, though, will be missing Donovan for their next few games and will have to cope with the loss of their leading scorer.
"You don't really replace a player like Landon," said Buddle. "We need to come together as a team and all step up to help."
Arena was looking to Buddle to make an impact.
"Our players can deal with the loss of Landon in a right way. Edson Buddle could be a likely choice to replace Landon."
One thing that has stood out in the Galaxy's season is the remarkable number of draws the team has pulled out.
"It beats losing," said Arena.
"I've never experienced anything like it," said assistant coach Dave Sarachan.
Buddle, though, recalled a number of draws he helped Columbus earn in 2004 as a member of the Crew. "We did good that year," said Buddle. "We had the best record in the regular season."
Donovan marveled at the Galaxy's nine draws, which are only one away from the team record. "It's more coincidence than anything, but it's still pretty amazing."
Andrea Canales, Goal.com
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com’s MLS page.
The Galaxy's case for feeling as if they should have won the match was simple. They played quite well throughout the game, creating a umber of chances and were denied twice by the crossbar and once by an incredible save by Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman.
"We were a little unlucky," said Galaxy forward Landon Donovan, who had the assist on the game-tying strike. "We could've been better in front of goal."
The Wizards' case for a win was also strong, because the squad had withstood everything the Galaxy threw at them, then had a man advantage when a tug by Gregg Berhalter on Claudio Lopez.
Kansas City coach Curt Onalfo explained that the scene was subdued in the team locker room following the match, describing his players as "quiet".
"It's disappointing when you're winning 1-0 with a man advantage and you don't close out the game," said Onalfo.
Hartman, who spent the majority of his career in a Galaxy uniform before joining the Wizards, also rued the result.
"We did a good job of keeping ourselves in the game for a long portion of the game and possessing the ball pretty well, and put ourselves in a dangerous spot where all of the sudden we're a man up," said Hartman. "I don't feel like we necessarily did a great job getting the ball wide and trying to get around the guys sitting in, but sooner or later we were able to get one in and then it's just a matter of managing the game and killing it off. We put ourselves in a precarious position by sometimes starting to possess the ball where it's easy and not necessarily where we want to possess it, which is down at the other corner with your hand on the corner flag."
With the full three points snatched away, Hartman wasn't really celebrating his notable save.
"Yeah, I got a hand to it," Hartman recalled. "I pushed it in off the post. It makes you wonder what could have been."
It did impress Chris Klein, who took the hard shot. “I had a pretty good view at it and I thought it was going in, but give him credit - he made a good save and that is one of the reasons that is why he has been around for so long."
The Wizards weren't at full strength for the game, because key contributors Josh Wolff and Santiago Hirsig were suspended for this match.
"Obviously they're great players, but hopefully we have guys who can fill in," said Hartman. "But you don't want to be a team that's one players or two players, you want to be a team that's deeper."
The Galaxy, though, will be missing Donovan for their next few games and will have to cope with the loss of their leading scorer.
"You don't really replace a player like Landon," said Buddle. "We need to come together as a team and all step up to help."
Arena was looking to Buddle to make an impact.
"Our players can deal with the loss of Landon in a right way. Edson Buddle could be a likely choice to replace Landon."
One thing that has stood out in the Galaxy's season is the remarkable number of draws the team has pulled out.
"It beats losing," said Arena.
"I've never experienced anything like it," said assistant coach Dave Sarachan.
Buddle, though, recalled a number of draws he helped Columbus earn in 2004 as a member of the Crew. "We did good that year," said Buddle. "We had the best record in the regular season."
Donovan marveled at the Galaxy's nine draws, which are only one away from the team record. "It's more coincidence than anything, but it's still pretty amazing."
Andrea Canales, Goal.com
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com’s MLS page.
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