Major League Soccer

MLS Playoff Player Ratings: Los Angeles Galaxy 1-0 Chivas USA

Landon Donovan put a penalty straight down the middle to squeak the Galaxy past Chivas USA and take them into the Western Conference finals.

Nov 8, 2009 10:58:24 PM

MLS: Landon Donovan, Los Angeles Galaxy, March 2009 (ISI)

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MLS: Landon Donovan, Los Angeles Galaxy, March 2009 (ISI)

Teams

Los Angeles Galaxy

Donovan Ricketts – 6
Was rarely tested, but when Braun put in a curling shot in the first half he proved he could cover every inch of the goal.

Sean Franklin – 7
Played with a lot of energy popping up on the wing in attack and covered the entire width of the defense. Got forward more and more as the game wore on.

Gregg Berhalter – 6.5
Did his job, but wasn’t tested by the Goats. Had a nice sliding block late in the game to stop a shot by Bornstein.

Omar Gonzales – 6.5
Did his best to manhandle every situation, but failed to get on the end of the Galaxy’s many set pieces. Broke up several good passing plays with timely interceptions.

Todd Dunivant – 6
Dealt with the Chivas’ wide men and got forward to put in some effective crosses.

Chris Klein – 6.5

Popped up behind the play on the right wing and put in some good shots on goal, including two that forced saves out of Thornton. Did well to cover Bornstein’s forward runs.

Dema Kovalenko – 6.5
Did his defensive midfielder duties well, helping to double up on the wings. Fought for every ball with Nagamura and broke up a lot of plays

David Beckham – 7
Blazed a great opportunity over the net in the first half. Looked a little overshadowed as everything revolved around Donovan until Becks was moved out to the right wing where the additional space gave him more time to see the field. Hit an incredible cross-field long ball to Donovan in the build up to the penalty.

Mike Magee – 6
Tucked in tight to the center of the field to help defensively with Beckham as a center midfielder. Earned the decisive penalty by cutting around Cuesta. Otherwise, didn’t get involved in the attack.

Landon Donovan – 7.5
Looked very lively from the first minute and was involved in every Galaxy attack. Put a glancing header from a Beckham cross on goal. Did a good job finding space between the Chivas midfield and defense.

Edson Buddle – 6.5
Combined well with Donovan up top and stayed active throughout the game.

Substitutes

Jovan Kirovski – NA

Alan Gordon – NA

Eddie Lewis - NA

Chivas USA

Zach Thornton – 7
Had two great saves on Klein’s shots, but couldn’t do anything to stop the penalty.

Carey Talley – 6
Had a pretty anonymous game as Magee didn’t attack.

Shavar Thomas – 6
Kept Buddle from connecting on any of the crosses into the box.

Yamith Cuesta – 5
Looked shaky in the early going, but eventually settled. Had a lot of trouble with the interchanges between Donovan and Buddle. He conceded a penalty by fouling Magee.

Jonathon Bornstein – 6.5
Lost Klein once or twice as he covered his central defenders. Managed to get forward but couldn’t finish off any of the opportunities he created.

Jesus Padilla – 5.5
Did not do enough to impose himself. Only involved in a couple of plays and was eventually replaced.

Paulo Nagamura – 6
Had some nice battles with Kovalenko. Sent a couple of strong shots over the bar. Overall, he didn’t get the ball off the Galaxy midfielders enough.

Michael Lahoud – 5.5
Never imposed himself on the match. Wasted a great counter attacking opportunity when he passed the ball to the defender instead of his teammate.

Sacha Kljestan – 6
Failed to get involved for most of the first half until he moved into the middle where he started creating chances. As the creative spark of the Goats, he just didn’t do enough.

Maicon Santos – 5.5
Was a little too selfish on his best play in the first half, firing his shot into the side-netting instead of looking for teammates. He struggled to find space to get involved with the Galaxy center backs marking him out of the game.

Justin Braun – 7
Made a general nuisance of himself throughout the first half when the Galaxy were in control. He drifted out wide to receive the ball and relieve the pressure on his defense. Fired in a great curving shot to test Ricketts, the only real save of the game for the Galaxy ‘keeper.

Substitutes

Maykel Galindo – 6
Replaced Padilla, but never got the service he needed to test the pace of the Galaxy backline.

Eduardo Lillingston – NA

Jorge Flores – NA

Terence Steed, Goal.com

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