The LA Galaxy are headed to MLS Cup off a 2-2 aggregate score (1-0 away goals) over the Seattle Sounders. After falling 1-0 in the first leg, Seattle came out and scored two quick goals in the first half to go ahead on aggregate 2-1. Brad Evans had a mop up goal off of a Clint Dempsey shot in the 26th minute. The Sounders would continue to create chances and run rampant on the Galaxy. Six minutes later, Dempsey would shoot from the top of the box. The ball found Jaime Penedo, who let the ball slip through his hands and into the net.
The Galaxy were reeling from shock, but gathered themselves at half time. They came out and reestablished balance in possession and offense. In the 54th minute, Landon Donovan delivered a corner kick that found Omar Gonzalez. The center back flicked it to just outside the box for a second try at service. Juninho timed his volley well. The ball bounced off the turf, rattled in the inside of the near post, and into the net.
The Galaxy defense held firm in the final 30 minutes of the match, and the Galaxy were through to the final.
Galaxy coach Bruce Arena was matter-of-fact about the half time adjustments: “We told our guys at halftime that we just have to get a goal to advance. Juninho finally hit the goal this year. It was a great goal and we had to hang on for our lives at the end there. It was just a matter of grinding it out and having the right mentality, and we accomplished that.” He was a bit surprised at Seattle going forward early in the second frame. Area thought Seattle was “just going to sit after halftime, drop their whole team back and make it difficult. But that game managed to open up and certainly, once Juninho scored, it really opened up. We had some chances as well to get the second goal.”
Seattle goalie Stefan Frei had a tremendous game with five saves, but was snake bitten by the goal. “I didn’t see it until the very end through one of our guys’ legs even. An inch further and I probably have it, an inch further out and it probably pings off the post and stays out. I thought we played a good game other than that.”
Sounders coach Sigi Schmidt stayed positive and was proud of his squad for their fight. “We got the two goals — we were close to getting a third, we had some good chances — even when they scored [to make it] 2-1, I felt we were still getting good opportunities. I am really proud of the team, I am proud of their effort and I am proud of their fight to the very end. I think these two teams are equal; I think the aggregate score reflects that. I thought we were a little bit unlucky today.”
Schmidt didn’t make a big deal out of the away goal tie breaker. “Last [series] we won on away goals — this series we got knocked out on the away goal.” He added that they wanted to keep pushing in the second half and not “try and sit and defend.”
When asked about the fans, Schmidt got very sentimental, stating “thank you and we’re sorry. We want to win it for them, we really do.”
The Sounders did have to make two significant tactical changes in the second half. Ozzie Alonso returned from injury to the starting lineup, but was subbed out in the 74th minute. Schmidt was bullish about Alonso starting, commenting that “the first 45 minutes were great. At halftime he started to tighten-up a little bit.” On the change, he said “we needed some energy as well. They got the goal. I could tell Ozzie wasn’t able to cover the ground.”
Later, Seattle brought on Supporters’ Shield Hero Marco Pappa and pushed Deandre Yedlin further up the pitch. “I asked Pappa to go underneath the two forwards. I think Pappa can influence and be helpful to our game. When he came in, I thought he tried to have some impact on the game—he hit some crosses for us—but I would have liked to see him more central and underneath. We needed [Yedlin] to go forward more, and in the end we pushed it to a 3-5-2 so we definitely wanted him to go higher up the field.”
Landon Donovan thought the Galaxy did a good job keeping perspective after conceding a goal. “The goal gave them some energy then the second goal came. We were under a little pressure there but it didn’t change anything from our perspective. We still needed the goal and we wanted to come out in the second half and apply pressure. We put a lot of pressure on them.”
The veteran was given a secondary assist on Juninho’s goal, tying Mauricio Cienfuegos all time for most MLS playoff assists (14). He added that experience was a factor in this series. “We have a lot of guys here who have won in their career and that’s a big advantage over a lot of other teams including Seattle. They don’t have a ton of guys that have won a lot of championships. We know how to win in any scenario. We’re not always perfect, we know that, but at the end of the game I look up and Robbie Keane is in our penalty area defending and clearing balls out of the box and not a lot of other teams have guys that do that and put in that kind of commitment to the cause and that’s why we are where we are.”
Donovan added a sentimental note on playing is final game of his career on Sunday, but kept perspective. “I’m sort of just in this moment right now. I just want to prepare myself for one last week and do everything I can to help this team win. I want to go out a champion. It seems perfect, but we are playing a team that I think is the best team in the league over the last 12 games.”
The LA Galaxy host the New England Revolution on Sunday, December 7th at 3 PM EST. No player from either side is suspended. The match can be viewed live on ESPN, UniMas, and UDN or on TSN1 and RDS2 in Canada.
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