Story courtesy LA Galaxy Communications
Carson, CA (Friday, December 3, 2004) – Tonight’s friendly between the Los Angeles Galaxy and CID Necaxa was played on a chilly December night at The Home Depot Center. Los Angeles was using this off-season contest as a chance to give some of their younger players some game action.
Games between Mexican, and U.S. sides are rarely friendly however, and the game would see 4 yellow cards, and two red cards shown in the second half. Despite the rough play, the Galaxy was led by a two-goal performance from Peter Vagenas, en route to a 3-1 victory.
Defenders Scot Thompson and Chris Aloisi, midfielder Josh Gardner and forward Alan Gordon all made starts tonight, in favor of the usual suspects that adorn the playing field for the Galaxy on a regular basis.
The run of play definitely went the way of the Galaxy early in the first half. Chris Albright, who was playing in the midfield tonight instead of his usual right back position, was running at will up and down the right flank. In the 8th minute of play, Albright ran past his defender and sent a cross towards the near post. The cross was deflected over the end line for a corner kick.
On the ensuing kick, Gardner sent a driven ball to the near post that found an unmarked Tyrone Marshall. Marshall coolly flicked the ball to the back post to open up the scoring for the night.
As the half wore on, the inexperience of the Galaxy players on the field began to be exposed, as Necaxa started to get the better of play. A flurry of offense culminated in the 22nd minute, as Rodolfo Espinoza got the ball unmarked in the Galaxy penalty area. His point-blank shot forced a tremendous save from Kevin Hartman who managed to keep a clean sheet through the first half.
Necaxa continued to dominate play, and 12 minutes later nearly leveled the score. Again, Espinoza found himself in acres of space on the left side. As he cut inside the Galaxy defense he fired a right-footed blast that beat Hartman, but banged off the inside of the post.
Los Angeles didn’t just pack it in, and against the run of play, Albright again exploited a much slower Necaxa defense to send a cross in from the right side. Moreno ran onto the cross, and hit a powerful header that was saved off of the line by ‘keeper Ivan Vasquez.
The Galaxy would extend their lead in the opening moment of the second half. Alan Gordon was sent in alone on the ‘keeper. After rounding the goalie, Gordon would find a wide-open Peter Vagenas, who had time to trap the ball before pounding it into the empty net.
In the 56th minute, Gardner sent a cross along the ground that was intercepted at the back post by a Necaxa defender. Ned Grabavoy stripped the ball off his defender before laying the ball back to Vagenas whom again found net, as the Galaxy increased the margin to 3-0.
Necaxa would pull one closer in the 62nd minute. Jorge Orozco’s struck a wide-open header at the back post. Hartman brilliantly saved the shot, but Jose Maria Higareda was lurking to put away the rebound, and make the score-line 3-1.
The game would quickly become not so friendly as a series of yellow cards, one for the Galaxy and one for Necaxa, would eventually result in a red card ejection for Marco Capetillo of Necaxa.
Necaxa would lose its ‘keeper in the 74th minute on another red card ejection. Alejandro was put in behind the Necaxa defense. As he attempted to dribble around the onrushing goalie, Vasquez handled the ball well outside of his area. Referee Kevin Stott showed no hesitation in holding the red card aloft and Necaxa was reduced to 9 men.
The Galaxy would play possession for the rest of the game. Few real scoring chances were created over the last 12 minutes of the game, as Los Angeles seemed content with the 3-1 result.
While the Galaxy youth showed a few nervous moments during the course of the game, overall they showed well in out-classing the Mexican side. Steve Sampson will have many positives to take away from the match, as the Galaxy improved an already impressive record in international friendlies.
Scoring summary:
LA – Tyrone Marshall (Josh Gardner) 9
LA – Peter Vagenas (Alan Gordon) 52
LA – Peter Vagenas (Ned Grabavoy) 56
NEC – Jorge Orozco (ua) 62
Los Angeles Galaxy (4-4-2) – Kevin Hartman, Chris Aloisi, Paul Broome, Danny Califf, Scot Thompson (46: Ned Grabavoy), Chris Albright (70: Michael Erush), Josh Gardner (61: Guillermo Gonzalez), Tyrone Marshall, Peter Vagenas, Alan Gordon.
CID Necaxa (4-4-2) – Ivan Vazquez, Miguel Acosta, Carlos Gonzalez, Daniel Hernandez, Johan Rodriguez (61: Jose Maria Higareda), Fabiano Da Costa (76: Aldo Diaz), Rodolfo Espinoza (88: Marcelinho De Souza), Diego Martinez (89: Rafeal Mejia), Fabian Peńa, Alexandre Alves (46: Jorge Orozco), Sandro Sotilli (46: Marco Capetillo).
Referee: Kevin Stott
Assistants: Fabio Tovar, Emiliano Monje
4th official: Ramon Hernandez
A: 8,049
Los Angeles Galaxy Quotes
Galaxy Coach Martin Vasquez
On the team’s effort …
“We were the more energetic team tonight and it paid off. I thought we were the better team. We created a lot of chances and were efficient with our chances. We earned the win, we deserved the win. After a game like this, we look forward to coming back next season – and we know we will have a good team next year.””
Galaxy midfielder Peter Vagenas
On the match …
“Our first priority was to entertain the fans. We were glad that we got some goals. The emphasis was to win, but also to entertain the die hard fans who came out here tonight to watch us play.”
On whether or not it will carry over into 2005 …
”Tonight, we beat a team that was supposedly better than us that play in a league that everyone says is better than ours, anytime you can do that, it shows that we have come a long way and it gives you confidence.”
Galaxy defender Tyrone Marshall
On the team’s play …
“We came out in the second half after playing a pretty good first and put away our chances and got on top of them; it frustrated them and let us play our game … we had fun out there; that’s what we need to do. When we have fun, we play well and score goals; it showed tonight.”
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