For the first time in
club history, Salt Lake lost a home match when they had a two goal lead.
Los Angeles Setup
With Edson Buddle out injured and Robbie
Keane returning from the European Championship, Bruce Arena elected to start
Landon Donovan as a lone striker. The Galaxy played a 4-5-1 and looked to attack
on the counter. The move would typically start with David Beckham or Juninho
hitting a long ball to Donovan or Mike Magee, who played on the left wing.
The visitors from California had an unusual
shape to their 4-5-1. Juninho played as the lone holding midfielder and Beckham
played slightly in front of him and to the right. Sarvas played in the middle
and struggled to get on the ball or close enough to Donovan to provide
attacking support. On the wings, Bryan Jordan played more defensively on the
right and Mike Magee was used as the secondary threat towards goal down the
left side. Interestingly, the fullbacks Sean Franklin and Todd Dunivant only combined
for one cross. Usually, the fullbacks are relied upon to get forward when a
team operates with one striker and two deep lying midfielders.
Salt Lake Setup
Jason Kreis is known for setting his side
out in a 4-4-2 with a diamond midfield. Kyle Beckerman protected the back four.
Will Johnson played on the left and Ned Grabavoy and Johnny Steele interchanged
between a narrow right position and a central attacking position. Without a
right sided player giving the side width, Fabian Espindola drifted out to the
right flank which provided a one v one matchup with Todd Dunivant that produced
the opening two goals.
Real Start Fast
The matched started with
the Galaxy willing to sit back and concede possession and Real looking to
control the tempo and get the fullbacks forward. Nine minutes in, Chris Wingert
switched the ball from the left to the right side to Espindola. Espindola was
given space by Dunivant to reach the endline and play a low ball across the six
yard box to Kyle Beckerman who made a clever near post run and slotted home the
opening goal.
Opting to play in a defensive and counter
attacking style, going behind in the first ten minutes was not the end of the
match for Los Angeles. Salt Lake continued to pour forward and push for a
second which opened up space to counter.
The Galaxy responded when Donovan got in
behind the defense but Nick Rimando collected quickly off his line. Then the
Galaxy threatened from the set piece on two occasions but failed to test the
keeper. Although the Galaxy retorted well, they would find themselves two goals
behind in the 29th minute. Johnny Steele laid the ball off to
Espindola who had room to cross from the right side. His ball was directed
toward Alvaro Saborio whose (intentional/fortuitous) touch directed the ball
into the far corner.
How Each Side Attacked
Salt Lake were at their best when they
pressed the Galaxy back four and forced long kicks up field. Applying pressure
for 90 minutes is too taxing, so the home side pressured in spurts. Also, the understanding
between the Saborio and Espindola troubled the Galaxy defense. Espindola’s runs
out wide started to draw the attention of one of the center backs which allowed
Saborio a one on one matchup the produced chances but not goals.
The Galaxy were dangerous when Donovan had
the ball running at the back four with an option to pass or shoot. He was able
to setup Magee and Sarvas at the end of the half but the finishing was poor.
Hopefully when Keane returns, Arena will use this formation and play Donovan in
Sarvas’ central role where he would have the ball at his feet more and be the
creator for Los Angeles.
A Two Goal Lead is the Most Dangerous in Soccer
Trailing by two goals, the Galaxy looked
bereft of comeback ideas. However, the home side gifted a lifeline to Los
Angeles five minutes after taking a two goal lead. Tony Beltran played a lackadaisical
back pass towards Rimando which was picked off by Landon Donovan who rounded
Rimando and put his team on the board.
Just after halftime, Olave was carelessly
caught in possession by Mike Magee who had space on the left side and finished
with his left foot into the far post. The Galaxy were now level after two Salt
Lake gaffes. With Real pushing to try and retake the lead, the Galaxy almost
scored on the counter. Beckham hit a beautiful ball to the left to Donovan
whose first time volley went wide.
Jason Kreis made two changes around the hour
mark to try and win the match. Javier Morales came on for Johnny Steele in a like
for like swap and Luis Gil replaced Jamison Olave. Will Johnson moved to left
back and Chris Wingert to central defense. Bringing on two attacking and
creative midfielders made sense but Salt Lake struggled to craft any chances in
the last half hour. Since Gil played in the Morales role last season, the two
players occupied similar areas on the pitch which made the side easier to
defend.
Bruce Arena made a key change bringing off
Sarvas for Michael Stephens and moving Mike Magee into the middle. This switch
setup the winning goal five minutes later. The Galaxy setup the counter attack
after with Magee making a run to the left touchline opening up space down the
middle for Donovan to run past Nat Borchers, who was caught to high upfield.
Donovan received the pass from Magee and Rimando was unable to tackle the ball
away allowing Donovan to score his brace with a simple pass into the net. After
the goal, Real struggled to create for an equalizer and LA hung on to steal the
three points.
Conclusions
Suddenly, the Galaxy are
showing life after taking six points from the last two matches. Although the
result was great, LA were the poorer side during the 90 minutes and were
economical in taking advantage of two horrible Salt Lake defensive errors. Real
will be furious at throwing away a two goal lead at home in front of a sold out
crowd but Jason Kreis will use the poor result as motivation in future matches.
Thoughts on last night’s
MLS action or on the Euro’s?
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I didn't expect that they use that kind of formation. I think that it isn't a good as 4-4-2 with 2 offensive players that it would make the game more interesting.
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