BY ADAM SERRANO
The Los Angeles Galaxy face a huge climb tonight as they look to qualify for the group stages of the CONCACAF Champions League against the Puerto Rico Islanders. (5 pm PST, FSC)
Los Angeles needs to win by a four goal margin tonight after losing 4-1 at home to the Division 2 team last week. A win tonight for the Islanders would allow the the Caribbean club to qualify for the Champions League group stages for the third year in a row.
I will be providing commentary throughout the match so please feel free to follow along here. As always, feel free to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (Commentary is after the jump):
FINAL – That is all from me tonight as the Galaxy win the match 2-1, but go out 5-2 in aggregate. MLS will now have four teams in the group stages as Real Salt Lake, Toronto FC, Columbus Crew and the Seattle Sounders will represent the league in the CONCACAF Champions League. Enjoy the rest of your night, be sure to check back to SBI for all of your soccer news and thank you for following along.
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FINAL - A shocking result for sure, but over two legs, Puerto Rico was able to capitalize on their chances to put the Galaxy out of the competition and deserved to win. Los Angeles battled in this match, but a costly error by Edson Buddle that led to a penalty kick put the Galaxy in a hole that they could not dig themselves out of. The Islanders advance to the Group Stages of the CONCACAF Champions League for the third time in three years.
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FINAL – There's the final whistle! Puerto Rico Islanders advance!
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95th Minute – Can't be long now for the Galaxy as their CONCACAF Champions League hopes are about to end.
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94th Minute – Jadeosingh nearly ices the game right there, but he can't get the shot on frame. On the other end Guadette gets a nice save. Almost done now.
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93rd Minute – Ricketts goal kick finds Gonzalez, but the effort goes just over the bar.
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92nd Minute – The clock is ticking for the Galaxy who can't seem to string together a pass right now.
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90th Minute – FIVE minutes of stoppage time for the Galaxy to come up with two goals.
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89th Minute –The ball goes out for the corner. the Galaxy's 7th of the match.
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88th Minute – "So you say there's a chance" time for the Galaxy right now as they try to push up and find a goal.
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87th Minute – LA gets a corner that flies into the box several times, but the Islanders clear.
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85th Minute – Jadeosingh comes on for Foley. Los Angeles needs two more goals in the next five minutes of regulation and at least 4+ minutes of stoppage time to tie this game.
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84th Minute – GOAL! Franklin puts in the back of the net. The Galaxy's first goal (on their own) of the series. 2-1 and 5-3 aggregate.
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82nd Minute – Lewis replaces the wildly ineffective Cazumba for LA and Jagdeosingh set to come on for the Islanders.
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80th Minute – The Galaxy have allowed 80% of their goals in one month (July). Just shocking. Eddie Lewis getting set to come on.
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78th Minute – OFFSIDE - Buddle with a great header, but even if he had been onside (which he looked like he was) Guadette makes a great reaction save.
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77th Minute – When looking to the Galaxy's recent struggles, one aspect that has been alarming has been their play on set pieces. Particularly corners from Landon Donovan have been surprisingly poor in the few games since his return from the World Cup.
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75th Minute – Galaxy get a pair of chances on two corners, but Puerto Rico clears each of them. Goal kick from Guadette who takes a leisurely walk before taking it.
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74th Minute – SAVE! Gordon fires a soft shot on frame and Guadette makes the save. Corner.
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72nd Minute – Deflection on the set piece as the ball falls to Gordon who can't keep his shot on net. A lot of pushing and shoving forces a poor effort from Gordon.
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71st Minute – Free Kick from about 25 yards out for the Galaxy.
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70th Minute – Only 30 minutes left for LA to get the three goals to tie this one. Looking very unlikely tonight as Puerto Rico brings in Logan Emory for Noah Delgado.
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68th Minute – As the game lags on, LA's head looking heavier and heavier. Magee about to come on for Bowen. The teenager has been very disappointing tonight, with a lot of costly give aways
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66th Minute – Mike Magee about to come on as the Galaxy are deep in the Islanders end.
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64th Minute – YELLOW CARD. Gordon with a hard foul on Nurse right there. The midfielder goes down and Arena looks furious on the sidelines.
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60th Minute – Bowen with a great ball into Franklin, but the defender can't redirect the ball on net. Gaudette continues to waste time. Surely not long till he gets a yellow for time wasting.
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59th Minute – Galaxy dominating possession, but there seem to be no ideas from the offense right now. The clock is working against the Galaxy as they look to get a goal.
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58th Minute – Gordon gets a chance to get on the board right away but Guadette makes a big save. He nearly gets a second chance, but can't get a head to the cross. Moments of danger there for the Islanders.
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56th Minute – Galaxy sub: Alan Gordon comes in for Bryan Jordan. Jordan with good effort, but was never really effective.
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55th Minute – The Galaxy starting to look frustrated right now. Chances are there, but LA is not able to convert as Buddle is called for an offside on a run forward.
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54th Minute – Jordan with a poor cross to Buddle nearly leads to an Islanders break away. Galaxy struggling to drive forward now. No real attack right now.
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52nd Minute – SAVE by Guadette who punches it away on the Donovan try. A foul on Landon earns a goal kick to Puerto Rico.
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51st Minute – Puerto Rico clears it and they begin to press up the field, but Franklin pushes the ball away and the Galaxy look to start their attack once more.
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50th Minute – JUST WIDE! Donovan with a great shot and earns the corner as the ball takes a deflection.
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46th Minute – And we're back. LA needs four to win and three to tie.
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HALFTIME – The whistle blows and its 1-1 at the half. Great defensive play so far by the Islanders, but a costly decision by Buddle forces LA to have to score 4 more goals now to go through. The Galaxy have pushed forward and have been unlucky not to have put more goals in the back of the net, but the team faces a steep climb right now. For Arena's club to do it, I would expect them to drop one of their four in the back, most likely Leonardo to bring on another attacker.
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45th Minute – The Islanders are content to hold on to possession right now. Looking just to kill off the clock and go into the half tied at one.
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45th Minute – Two minutes of stoppage.
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43rd Minute – WOW Donovan's initial shot saved by the Keeper, the Galaxy captain gets another chance, but the ball goes across the line and out for a goal kick. Unlucky not to get a goal there, but there are chances for LA to convert.
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42nd Minute – Franklin has been very active today, but his crosses do not seem to be connecting as a looping cross goes over Cazumba's head. Goal kick for the Islanders.
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41st Minute – Foley pulled offside as LA tries to push up. A second goal here would be huge going forward.
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39th Minute – Poor surface causes Donovan to fall and waste the free kick effort. It looks like there are holes and dirt all over that field. It does not look pretty.
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38th Minute – Now 5-2 aggregate. Los Angeles has still been unable to score so far in this two legged series. I would have to think that they need a goal from the run of play to get their confidence up.
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37th Minute – GOAL!!! GALAXY! The ball bounces around and ends up in the back of the net. Looks like an own goal on Velez.
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36th Minute – The Galaxy will now need to score FIVE goals to go through now. This would be a major miracle if LA were to go through now.
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34th Minute – Foley coolly tucks it in on the right side of Ricketts. Going back to the foul, you have to wonder if that was a penalty kick, but Edson Buddle was not too smart to get himself into that type of entanglement with Velez there. He gave Velez the opportunity to sell it and he did.
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33rd Minute – GOAL!!! ISLANDERS! FOLEY CONVERTS!
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32nd Minute – PENALTY!!! BUDDLE BRINGS DOWN VELEZ AND A PENALTY FOR THE ISLANDERS!!
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31st Minute – Foul by Dunivant sets up a dangerous free kick for the Islanders.
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30th Minute – Los Angeles dominating possession, but failing to find that last pass in the final third. So far its been a similar story to the first match at the HDC. The Galaxy putting pressure, but not threatening.
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27th Minute – Great keep up by Bowen to Donovan, but the Galaxy captain can not keep the ball in. LA searching for answers right now.
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26th Minute – Donovan tries to feed Buddle, but Buddle is swarmed by a number of orange jerseys. The flank players will need to make themselves more threatening to allow Buddle and Donovan some space to move.
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24th Minute – Nice effort from Jordan who g ets the ball in a great position, but can not keep his feet and LA loses it for a goal kick.
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23rd Minute – LA Clears and moves up field. No whistle after after Donovan is brought back up and the ball gets sent back to Ricketts as the Galaxy will look to restart the attack.
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22nd Minute – Nurse with the shot and BIG SAVE by Ricketts. Another corner for Puerto Rico. The big Jamaican came up big right there to push it over the bar.
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21st Minute – ISLANDERS SHOT! Islanders get a dangerous corner after Dunivant clears.
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20th Minute – Handball on the Galaxy as they push forward. Costly right there for LA as they lose a drive forward. Goal kick.
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18th Minute – Jordan with a smart run, but is just offsides. Poor handling of the ball though because if he was onside he would have lost the ball pretty easily.
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16th Minute – A poor corner there by Donovan. The ball falls to Kovalenko who fires it into the box, but the Islanders clear.
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15th Minute – LA earns its second corner.
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14th Minute – SHOT! Just wide from Bowen who gets a ball played from Cazumba is unable to put it on frame. Good idea there from Bowen.
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12th Minute – Credt to the Islanders who are doing a wonderful job of putting pressure on the Galaxy to break up attacks. Very physical right now as Edson Buddle picks up a yellow card for a tackle on Nurse. The Islanders are doing well to get under the Galaxy's skin so far.
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9th Minute – Violent shove right there by Gonzalez on Adderly. Omar was a bit lucky not to pick up a yellow right there.
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7th Minute – The Galaxy will need to watch the counters because the speed of the Islanders can be costly. The Galaxy earn a throw in deep in the box.
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5th Minute – Nasty challenge right there by Telesford on Donovan. He picks up a yellow. It looks like this will be an ugly one tonight.
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4th Minute – YELLOW CARD! Looks like Cazumba picks up a yellow right there after shoving Adderly. Poor decision right there for Alex and the Islanders get a free kick.
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2nd Minute – Dangerous free kick to Donoan. Goes into the box and out for a corner kick.
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1st Minute – We're underway.
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PREGAME: The Galaxy will need to win by a four goal margin so 4-0 and any result where they win by more than four goals would be needed.
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PREGAME: Nice looking crowd in Puerto Rico. You have to expect that the Galaxy are going to come out and look for a goal early. Should Bruce Arena's men get that goal, the miracle may be possible.
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PREGAME: The Estadio Juan Roman Loubriel which the Islanders call home is a converted baseball stadium that doubles as the practice facility so expect a poor field. . The weather won't be doing the Galaxy any favors either as it is currently 84 degrees with 79% humidity and there is a 40% chance of Thunderstorms. Yikes!
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PREGAME: Here are the Line Ups:
LOS ANGELES GALAXY
————Bowen———Buddle—————
Cazumba———-Donovan————Jordan
———————Kovalenko———————
Dunivant—-Leonardo——-Gonzalez——Franklin
———————-Ricketts————————–
PUERTO RICO ISLANDERS
————Addlery———Foley————–
Telesford—–Nurse——Hansen—-Delgado
Martinez—-Horst——Velez——-Jones
———————-Guadette————————–