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Real Salt Lake at Los Angeles Galaxy: Matchday Commentary

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BY ADAM SERRANO

It's an MLS Cup Final rematch tonight at the Home Depot Center as Real Salt Lake travels to the Home Depot Center to take on the Los Angeles Galaxy (7:30 pm PST, FSC)

The LA Galaxy are currently undefeated 3-0 coming off a 2-0 victory on the road against the Houston Dynamo. The Galaxy have not given up a single goal to start the season as they have three consecutive shut outs. While Real Salt Lake heads to the City of Angels after a 2-2 draw with the Seattle Sounders at Rio Tinto. 

This is Adam Serrano providing you commentary from the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. As always, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action. (Commentary below the jump.)

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FULL TIME- The whistle blows and the confetti cannons go off as the Galaxy earn their fourth straight victory. Thanks to another phenomenal game by Edson Buddle, the Galaxy maintain their undefeated streak. Buddle was once again the star for Los Angeles as he brings his total to seven goals on the year, a tea and league record.  

For Real Salt Lake, the club was clearly missing their midfield maestro Javier Morales in the center of the park. Jason Kreis came into the Home Depot Center with the idea of pushing the Galaxy around and getting physical with Los Angeles, but the strategy was ineffective. Los Angeles will now go to 4-0-0 on the year while RSL falls to 1-2-1.

Look for more on the match later on SBI and thank you for following along.

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90th Minute- 3 minutes of stoppage.

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88th Minute- Robbie Russell with a weak shot from distance that Ricketts easily handles.

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86th Minute- DIVING SAVE! Will Johnson with a shot from distance that Ricketts handles. The ball falls for a corner kick, but the Galaxy clear the ball out of danger.

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84th Minute- Very disappointing play for the Costa Rican Saborio. I believed that he had the best chance of causing the Galaxy trouble tonight, but aside from one header that grazed the crossbar, the forward was ineffective.

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81st Minute- NEAR MISS! Johnson with a world of space, but heads the ball right over the net. Juninho will be coming off for Alan Gordon. While RSL makes a change as Saborio comes off for Pablo Campos.

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79th Minute- I know what you're all thinking. Bob Bradley meet Edson Buddle. Edson Buddle meet Bob Bradley. Incredible run of form for Buddle right now.

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77th Minute- An off balanced Juninho hits Edson Buddle and the forward puts it into the back Rimando's net. Edson Buddle now has a team and league record for most consecutive goals to start the season.

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76th Minute- GALAXY GOAL!!!! EDSON BUDDLE!

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74th Minute- Borchers with another big foul on Buddle, but the free kick goes to RSL

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73rd Minute- Free Kick gets the head of Omar Gonzalez but the shot goes just wide. LA is knocking on the door.

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72nd Minute- The Borchers and Buddle battle looks like its going off like an Icelandic Volcano. Buddle gets into the RSL defender's face after a clear foul by Borchers.

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70th Minute- Tense moments here at the HDC as you have to believe that another goal will be coming from either one of these teams. Very even right now.

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69th Minute- HARD Foul by Birchall on Beckerman sets up a free kick near the center of the field for RSL. The Galaxy take this time to make a change as Mike Magee leaves the field for Brazilian Alex Cazumba.

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66th Minute- Galaxy fire right back with some pressure as Edson Buddle fires a shot into the side netting.

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65th Minute- OFF THE POST TWICE! Robbie Findley hits one off the right post and a Saborio header goes off the cross bar. Well played by Salt Lake

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64th Minute- Yellow card caution to  Bryan Jordan for a hard foul on Will Johnson. Nelson Gonzalez comes off for Warner.

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62nd Minute- The key battle tonight is between Nat Borchers and Edson Buddle. Borchers is clearly trying to get under the skin of Buddle and has been pushing him around all night. Midfielder Collen Warner is about to come on for the Champions.

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60th Minute- Birchall earns a corner, but amidst the confusion Nick Rimando picks it up. Goal Kick for RSL

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59th Minute- Ex. LA Galaxy forward Robbie Findley comes on for the mostly ineffective Espindola.

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58th Minute – AUDACIOUS SAVES BY NICK RIMANDO! Rimando comes up big off two shots from Juninho and Mike Magee. Edson Buddle gets a third chance and fires it into the side netting.

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57th Minute- Corner is cleared and RSL is attempting to keep the Galaxy out of their zone.

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56th Minute- Free Kick is cleared, but Galaxy push back up the field and earn a corner.

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55th Minute- Andy Williams picks up a yellow card caution for a foul on Todd Dunivant sets up an indirect free kick for the Galaxy to the left of Rimando.

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53rd Minute- Olave reenters the match and promptly brings down Edson Buddle for a foul by the RSL bench.

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51st Minute – Beckerman and Mike Magee get into a little bit of a shoving match as Jamison Olave lies on the ground in the box. Olave was the victim of an Edson Buddle shove of Andy Williams. The Jamaican fell right on the leg of Olave and brought him down.

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49th Minute- We're looking at a very chippy game right now. Jason Kreis' team is putting all kinds of pressure and fouls on the Galaxy at the moment.

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45th minute- And here we go.

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HALFTIME – As the teams return to the field, we learn that Sean Franklin suffered a left heel sprain.

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HALFTIME- As the sweet sounds of Lilly Allen play on the speakers, it's halftime here at the Home Depot Center. The Galaxy are tested for the first time all season, so it will be interesting to see how the club rebounds from a bit of adversity. It is amazing to watch the current run of form of Edson Buddle, but Galaxy fans will be holding their breath to hear word of Sean Franklin's injury.

For RSL, the club is very lucky to be tied right now as the Galaxy have handled them very well defensively. The club has been very physical today and will look to continue to bang out a result here in Los Angeles.

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45th Minute- The forward Bryan Jordan is taking over at left back for Franklin. Very interesting move by Bruce Arena.

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45th Minute- Two minutes of stoppage time.

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44th Minute- Bryan Jordan wastes no time getting into the action with a sliding tackle that takes out Gonzalez. Young guy is looking to make a statement.

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43rd Minute- Galaxy Sub: Bryan Jordan going in for the injured Sean Franklin

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42nd Minute- Michael Stephens thought that he headed it out of danger, but the ball falls to Beckerman who fires from about 27 yards. The ball takes a bounce in front of Ricketts and goes over the Jamaican for the goal.

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40th Minute- RSL GOAL!!! KYLE BECKERMAN FROM DISTANCE WITH THE GOAL! The Galaxy shut out streak is over.

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40th Minute- Franklin tries to stay up, but goes right back down. He'll limp off the field. Very disappointing for Los Angeles. Gregg Behalter and Alex Cazumba are up on the Galaxy bench as RSL earns the corner

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37th Minute- The Galaxy are coming up the side of Tony Beltran as he appears the weak link in the RSL defense today. Sean Franklin gose down  for a minute, but picks himself back up. He'll play on.

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36th Minute- Buddle's header goes off for another Corner, which RSL nearly clear. Galaxy holding possession in the RSL end.

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35th Minute- Galaxy Corner

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34th Minute- Beautiful run of play by the Galaxy as Juninho finds Franklin in a world of space. The defender finds a

leaping Landon Donovan who fires a hard header into the boards. Goal kick for RSL

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31st Minute- RSL is looking very disappointing as we start to approach half time. The champions are not really generating anything right now as the Galaxy are swallowing up each attack.

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28th Minute- Beckerman with a foul on Juninho sets up a free kick which is cleared out by RSL. Galaxy get the throw in but that is also cleared out.

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27th Minute- Ball played out to Buddle who dances around Borchers, but Rimando kicks the ball out.

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24th Minute- GREAT DEFENSIVE PLAY BY SEAN FRANKLIN – Johnson and Espindola attempt to bang their way through past Ricketts, but Sean Franklin clears the ball right before it threatens the net. The defender has been a real treasure for the Galaxy this year.

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23rd Minute- RSL is simply not winning the physical battles against Galaxy right now. The physicality of the Galaxy is simply besting them right now in their end.

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21st Minute- Corner goes off a Galaxy head as RSL gets the throw in, but the ball is taken and cleared to the RSL end.

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19th Minute- Williams fires a shot off a Galaxy defender for a RSL corner.

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18th Minute- Interesting bit of trivia for you folks. Edson Buddle is the second Galaxy player to score six goals to open the season as Carlos Ruiz scored six in 2002.

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17th Minute- Rimando hits out and Birchall fires from just out of the box. The shot goes wide and Salt Lake is out of danger.

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16th Minute- The Galaxy seem to be buzzing after that Buddle goal. Free Kick just outside the box. Russell gets a head on it and the Galaxy will have another corner.

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15th Minute- It's Buddle again who gets a foot on it, but Borchers is able push him just enough to redirect the shot.

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14th Minute- Galaxy Corner

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12TH MINUTE- Landon Donovan with a picture perfect cross to Buddle who shakes Nat Borchers for the goal. Edson was cool on that one as he heads it past the diving Rimando.

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12th MINUTE- GALAXY GOAL! Who else, but Edson Buddle.

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11th Minute- Galaxy corner

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9th Minute- One of the big stories before the match was the attempted boycott of one of the LA Galaxy supporters groups, the Angel City Brigade after a disagreement with Home Depot Center security. Luckily, the dispute was resolved and the North stand is as loud as ever. Great atmosphere here tonight.

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8th Minute- It's only the eight minute, but its the longest Edson Buddle has not scored at Home Depot Center this season. Makes you start to wonder if this Edson character is for real.

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7th Minute- The Galaxy are trying to get something going, but RSL is putting up some tremendous amount of pressure right now and forcing a number of turnovers.

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6th Minute- Not much from either team in the early minutes of the match. It appears that both sides are just feeling each other out. A number of long balls early.

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2nd Minute – JUST WIDE! Edson Buddle shoots going just wide of Rimando's net. The goal machine fired it from just outside the box but could not get it on target.

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2nd Minute – Local boy (Montclair, CA) Nick Rimando gets the ball out of danger and RSL will have a throw in at the center of the park.

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1st minute- Galaxy with an early corner

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1st Minute- And here we go. The Rematch is on.

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PREGAME- The clubs are gathering together as the Galaxy the south side of the field while Real Salt Lake will attack the north. Both teams are huddled up in their receptive ends ready to get this one going. You don't need to tell the Galaxy how important this game will be. The club was very motivated on the training ground this week.

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PREGAME- The big story at the start of the game is the absence of LA Galaxy defender Leonardo due to quad strain. The Galaxy will start second year A.J. DeLaGarza in his stead  and will have the option of Gregg Berhalter off the bench. The club will also give rookie Michael Stephens his very first start on the wing.

For the defending champions, Alvaro Saborio will start up top. He will look to use his physicality to give the Galaxy fits in the backline. Look for Jason Kreis to use him early and often to bang around as he may target  the smaller DeLaGarza.The club will also start Nelson Gonzalez for the injured Javier Morales.

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PRE-GAME– Here are the starting lineups:

REAL SALT LAKE

—————-Saborio——Espindola—————-

Johnson———-Beckerman—Williams———Gonzalez

Beltran—-Borchers—–Olave——–Russell

———————–Rimando———————

LOS ANGELES GALAXY

————Buddle———Donovan—————

Stephens—–Birchall——Juninho—-Magee

Franklin———-DeLaGarza———-Gonzalez———-Dunivant

———————-Ricketts————————–

Comments

  1. lol I dunno that was weird. I’m not used to seeing Jordan back that far. I’m guessing it was speed because Bruce could have moved AJ to right back and brought in Berhalter

    Reply
  2. Atmosphere was pretty good at the game. Tons of fun. Seriously, why aren’t these games sold out.

    Omar is a monster and will play for the U.S. regularly in a few years.

    Buddle, what can you say? 7 goals, are you kidding me? And they’re not just luck either. I wasn’t believing he should get a tryout for S.A. How can you deny him now?

    Can someone explain to me the Franklin for jordan sub? I was thinking he would go up front, and someone else would end up in the back. Can someone explain the thinking on this sub? simply speed?

    Reply
  3. Yeah I actually keep coming back to EJ when I think of Buddle & the whole debate on which strikers should be called in. Just seems like these 2 can do some of what ching/casey offer (holdup/link) yet you couldn’t say the reverse. From what I saw tonight & the little I’ve caught od EJ at aris, their holdup play isn’t too bad. And they’re not little, they can hold their own physically. Plus the speed….& the fact that they could conceivably score here & there.

    Reply
  4. Yeah he’s intriguing for sure. I know he’s played a lot of cb but his play up & down the right side was strong. Seems like he’s got all the tools. Pace, some skill, made some nice crosses, & from what I know can even defend a bit. For some reason thought he was a little younger, not that 25 is old. Hope the injury isn’t serious.

    Reply
  5. People are treating Buddle’s streak like it’s coming out of nowhere, but he had a great 2008 with 15 goals or so and a couple of hat tricks if memory serves, and then struggled with injuries all last year.

    Buddle is also a great reason not to completely write off Eddie Johnson, I can easily see him getting his head straight in his late 20’s and having a couple of good years.

    Reply
  6. Our depth at CB is looking like its going to be flooded in a few years, just like our depth at Mid is right now, Omar Gonzales, Tim Ream, Ike Opara, all young players that are beasting MLS right now. I think Omar should go to SA, just for the experience, i’m not saying he should start but he can be used for emergency, i have more confidence in him than Johnny B. at CB.

    Reply
  7. I am looking foward to seeing buddle in the upcoming friendlies. If he can get a few shots on frame in those games I hope he comes to SA.

    Reply
  8. Franklin is a definite candidate for 2014. I wish he gotten a look this past January and the year before (I think he has to leave the 2009 January camp due to an injury). He’s versatile. He can play anywhere along the back-line and right midfield.

    Reply
  9. You can tell Buddle has improved other aspects of his game. Seems like he could offer a good balance of skills. Maybe not great I’m one area but functional in many. Franklin was impressive before coming off imo.

    Reply
  10. There are moments, but some of these “Oh, the ball! I’m gonna kick it down to the other end of the field!” moments aren’t terribly exciting. I don’t get kicks watching throw-ins. But yeah, it definitely looks better. Even if you are on crack – haha!

    Reply
  11. I know these are two of the better teams, and it’s still early in the season, but, the MLS looks like better, prettier soccer this year in most of the games of watched.

    Even the expansion Union look like they can work the ball up the field.

    Am I on Crack??

    Reply

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