Saturday, May 10, 2008

NY-LA running blog

3 - LD with a shot, but Conway with a diving save
4 - Alan Gordon! It looked like a goal, but it's called back for offsides. Too late for the confetti guys, though, who already cut loose.
6 - Sean Franklin with a sliding tackle stops an NY attack.
9 - NY is actually having the better of possession, though LA has had better chances.
12 - Beckham crosses into the box after a good run of play from LA, but NY clears.
14 - Mike Randolph has a good double play, saves the ball from going out of bounds, then tackles ball away from Dane Richards. Richards is down for a while, though.
16 - The play is bypassing Beckham and the Galaxy are the worse for it.
17 - Bad play by Franklin - heads ball to Richards, who chips into the box for Altidore, but somehow the Galaxy escape when Jozy doesn't shoot first-time and the defense closes in.
18 - Beckham crosses in, but the service bypasses Gordon, the intended target.
20 - Jozy with the ball in the box, goes down, doesn't get the call. Counter finds Donovan running for the ball in the box, but it bounces over his head into Conway's arms.
GOAL! Hunter Freeman with a long throw in gets the ball in the box to Jozy, who this time holds his defender off well, turns and shoots, Cronin parries it, but the ball falls to Danlieigh Borman, who slots it in while Cronin is still scrambling up. 1-0, NY.
23 - NY free kick in a good spot out above the arc. Into the wall.
26 - Beckham on the counter - oh, Franchino isn't fast enough to keep that. Galaxy corner cleared.
28 - Randolph with a nice play gets the ball to LD, who is a step slow collecting it and loses it. Beckham is really wandering around the field now, trying to get into the play somewhere the Red Bulls don't expect it.
32 - Galaxy looking a bit better, LD in the box, loses it, fouls.
33 - Randolph with the ball in the box, can't cross, goes out for FT.
34 - Becks to Klein, to Randolph, but his sliding shot is wide.
36 - LD on the the run - out for FT.
37 - McDonald booked for a late tackle on Borman.
39 - Beckham, who has been running up top like a third striker just now, draws a yellow. He sends in a pinpoint ball to the box and three Galaxy players just clean miss it.
41 - Maybe it's just me, but Red Bull look better without Reyna in the middle.
42 - Cronin punches out a cross.
43 - Galaxy corner, Becks sets up. Gordon heads it high - over the crossbar. Got to get those down, Gordo.
45 - Juan Carlos Osorio probably has a lot of nervous energy - he's running off the side of the field even before the final whistle.
Halftime. The Galaxy had some decent half-chances, but they've yielded far too much ball control to the Red Bulls, who are executing good one-touch passes and working well to pressure the Galaxy. They just look more coordinated than the Galaxy, frankly.
47 - Galaxy looking a little more energetic. NY has a little cheering section here, actually. Red Bull have a West Coast division here in Santa Monica, and they bought out a section of tickets.
49 - Speaking of the energy drink - NY don't bring any freebies to the press box any more. Galaxy corner gets cleared out.
50 - Vanney gets pulled down going into the box - he and G fans can't believe he didn't get the call.
51 - Beckham is staying put on the right - and getting no love. Galaxy do get a corner from an attack up the left, though. LD puts it it - Gordon heads it over the bar. Down, Gordo, down.
55 - FK - Beckham sends it in - Red Bulls clear for corner - kinda close to an own goal. Becks takes corner - cleared. Leads to another corner, misses everyone.
57 - LD lays off for McDonald - whose shot is blocked. Galaxy still on the attack, but the bounce goes right for Red Bull.
58 - Dane Richards is so fast. NY counter - stopped for corner, Cronin punches it out over bar, another corner, out for goal kick.
60 - Galaxy FK, Becks sends it in after fussing over NY standing too close - Conway punches out to Franchino, whose shot is wide by quite a bit.
62 - Long pass reaches Angel, whose low shot gets caught, after a slight bobble, by Cronin.
64 - Gordon with a great through pass to Becks, whose cross is way off. That's like Tiger shanking a drive, but it happens.
67 - LD pass to Becks cut off by VDB.
68 - Prus gives Beckham a yellow for a late tackle on VDB.
70 - Osorio must be hotblooded, because it's a chilly sort of LA night, and he's only got a dress shirt on. Gullit is wearing his dark suit.
71 - Galaxy on the attack, look like they should have a multitude of chances, but in the end, get only a corner our of it. Becks' service doesn't clear the first defender.
73 - Gordon turns his defender, shoots on goal from top of arc - way high.
74 - Angel latches onto a long pass - Cronin parries the low shot.
75 - Goldthwaite gets a yellow for a tackle from behind on LD. Becks' service gets cleared.
77 - GOAL! The left side gets it done! Vanney to Randolph to Gordon! Gordon turns and slots it in far post. 1-1
78 - GOAL! NY comes right back. Richards beats half the Galaxy line for speed, sends in nice pass to Angel, Cronin is off his line too late - Angel touches it past him and into the net. 2-1 NY.
81 - Randolph nice header attempt on goal, but Conway catches.
83 - Woly is in for Dane.
83 - BJ is making his MLS debut for Franchino, who is probably gassed at this point. Galaxy on the attack again - but the final shot by McDonald is high by quite a bit.
85 - Galaxy attack - again thwarted by good clearances of their final crosses.
88 - Prus, who has let an awful lot go this match, calls the play by Becks in the corner tight, giving NY the ball. Crowd, now officially announced as 27,000, is livid.
89 - Might be a make-up, but Becks gets the call on a FK about 30 yards out. It's an indirect, though. Magee is out for Chris Leitch. Becks is fussing over the ball placement. Not much time left. Shoving in the box forces Prus into the middle of the scrum. It's a good ball by Becks, but NY is able to clear.
90+ Becks on FK again. Cleared. Galaxy frantic on the attack, but Conway cuts off LD's final, desperate cross in the box. Long balls also go awry.
Final whistle - The East runs rampant again.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like a sellout on mlslive.tv. What do you think Andrea?

A.C. said...

Looks pretty sold-out to me.

Jon Geissler said...

hey andrea, your interview with becks was on MSG here in NY at halftime

A.C. said...

My interview? There was a whole scrum of us around Beckham after practice on Friday. MSG asked more questions than I did. I'm surprised they ran mine. Dang - I was going to use those quotes in my story, too. Oh, well, it happens.

Mister Zero said...

Very entertaining. Becks may have missed a few, but most of his balls were right in there. If the Galaxy only had a greedy player who lived for balls right at his head...

Jon Geissler said...

well it sounded like your voice... i'm not 101% sure, but I'm pretty sure it was u

nothingtoseehere said...

Just got back from the game right now. I'd say Beckham's service was atrocious. While the balls he sent were in the general area of the target player, they were either too high or off pace, disallowing any meaningful touch or shot off the ball. From any other MLS player it would have been a solid, maybe even exceptional but for the quality of player he is...

It really was a horrible performance from him. It's hard to say whether Beckham was shut down or he just had a bad game, but an obvious result of his struggles was a very anonymous game from Landon.

Anonymous said...

McDonald should have taken a professional foul on the approach to the second goal but I believe he was on a yellow and couldn't risk getting a second.

Substandard performances from Becks and LD.

CACuzcatlan said...

I was also surprised to see a sub-par performance by Beckham. Not just bad, but MLS bad. Did Alan Gordon hurt his shoulder after Landon "pushed" him to celebrate the goal? It looked like he was holding it for a few minutes after words.

CACuzcatlan said...

*afterwards