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With fresh wind at their sails and a renewed confidence to delivery crucial wins on the road, Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy will look to add to their overall league lead as they face the San Jose Earthquakes in the second leg of the California Clasico.
In the previous meeting, held on July 22 at the Home Depot Center, both the Galaxy and Quakes played to a 2-2 draw. Landon Donovan salvaged a point late in stoppage time to force the decider at Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara.
Coming off a 1-0 victory against the New York Red Bulls, the Los Angeles Galaxy are 13-3-4 (43 points) and have a game in hand over Real Salt Lake, who are four points back from the top spot in the Supporters' Shield standings.
Frank Yallop's Earthquakes also came off a 1-0 win against the Kansas City Wizards last Saturday and are in a race with Toronto FC for the final MLS Cup Playoffs spot with a 7-6-5 record (26 points).
Edson Buddle regained his scoring touch at the Red Bull Arena with his league-leading 13th goal of the season. The Galaxy will need to not rely too much on their scoring ace, as they have other competent midfielders that cam step up.
Landon Donovan leads Major League Soccer in assists with 11. Together, the Buddlevan Connection will look to pierce through a Earthquakes defense that has its reliable playmakers in Jason Hernandez and Brandon McDonald.
McDonald's second goal in the match for San Jose nearly proved to be the game-winner until Donovan's last-second heroics.
Bobby Convey is another player that will look to add to his success against the Galaxy. His first goal of the year came against LA, and don't be surprised if he enters the score sheet again.
Another question to ponder is whether or not Chris Wondolowski will play a deciding role in this second leg.
Wondo was responsible for the game-winning goal against the Wizards. He leads the team with seven goals this season but was a non-factor in the first leg in Carson.
Defensively, Joe Cannon will need to earn his stripes on Saturday at Buck Shaw. He currently has a 1.17 goals against average with 38 saves and a 6-4-2 record.
His counterpart, the Galaxy's Donovan Ricketts, has a 13-3-3 record to go with a 0.68 GAA and 51 saves mades on the season.
The Galaxy's backline of A.J. De La Garza, Gregg Berhalter, Sean Franklin, and stopper Omar Gonzalez stepped it up again the Red Bulls and will need to reprise their heroics at Santa Clara University.
In the midfield, Juninho wreakes havoc on the Red Bulls and will be a key player to watch. When he has space, he will utilize his options and pace to create chances for LA.
Prediction:
I expect the Galaxy to use the lessons learned and come away from Buck Shaw Stadium with a win. No flash in the pan, please, that was so last month.
Los Angeles Galaxy 2, San Jose Earthquakes 0
Kickoff is scheduled for Saturday, August 21 at 1:00 p.m. and will be televised by Fox Sports West and Telefutura.
Ins and Outs
Youth Academy Update
The Los Angeles Galaxy Under-16 and Under-18 teams are back in action on October 9 when they travel to Cupertino, California to take on the De Anza Force.
The View from Victoria and the Bedlam on Baltic Avenue will give you updates throughout the offseason on the LA Galaxy Youth Academy's 2010-11 U.S. Soccer Development Academy campaigns.
On the importance of Designated Players
David Beckham, during training last week at the Home Depot Center, spoke about the importance of designated players to MLS.
“I heard someone say the other day that it’s a bad thing for European players are coming over, give the young lads a chance,” Beckham said regarding the DP rule.
“When I was a young kid at Manchester United, I was playing with players like Eric Cantona who had come over to England to play. You learn from these players, and it’s going to make the league grow, it’s going to make the sport grow in this country and it can only be a good thing.
“That’s what we hoped for when the league started up, that you continue to have that progress and that’s gone on each year. It’s continued to get bigger, it’s continued to grow. More franchises are coming into the league and the league is in a healthy state at the moment.”
Here's hoping that Beckham as player will soon be in a similarly healthy state come match day... Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com Source: Click Here
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