Little about the Los Angeles Galaxy's return to prominence has been simple, from having to rebuild their squad over and over again until finally finding the right combination to deal with the extended absence of superstar David Beckham.
Thus, it was fitting that the Galaxy's final hurdle toward their return to MLS Cup was also bizarre and challenging.
The Galaxy powered through some electric issues at The Home Depot Center, a gritty and tough-minded Houston side and more than 90 minutes of scoreless soccer to capture the Western Conference Championship by a 2-0 score over Houston.
"It was a game that could have gone either way -- they had their chances and we had ours," Galaxy coach Bruce Arena said. "In these games, a play or two makes a difference and we were fortunate enough to capitalize on our opportunities when they came."
The Galaxy got extra-time goals from Gregg Berhalter and Landon Donovan (via the penalty spot) to claim the win. Berhalter's tally in the 103rd minute was the match-winner and cemented the Galaxy's rise to the top of the Western Conference.
It too was a bit of a strange play. On a Galaxy free kick, Beckham swung the ball to the middle of the penalty area. Omar Gonzalez got a head to the ball and banged it off Houston's Eddie Robinson. The ball settled in front of Berhalter, who ripped it into the back of the net.
Berhalter said he did well to stay focused and react.
"It happened quickly. You just want to react in the right way," Berhalter said. "Part of your training is when you do react, you have the ability to finish it off. It just happened quickly and you just react."
The Galaxy put the game away after Alan Gordon was fouled inside the penalty area. Donovan stepped to the spot in the 109th minute and buried his attempt past Pat Onstad as the Galaxy dug a stake in Houston's heart.
Despite the club's celebration, which featured a trophy presentation from MLS Commissioner Don Garber, Galaxy players said their ultimate goal has not yet been achieved.
"We still haven't won anything," Beckham said. "We want to win next week but reaching it was the biggest thing. We've done that, done the hard work and this team deserves it."
For now, though, the club is celebrating. Even if it is for less than one day, Arena said his team deserved to do so.
"We have to be able to celebrate the next 12 hours or so, 24 hours before we get back to the business of trying to win MLS Cup," Arena said, "but I'm really happy for the players. They've really come together this year to be a good team."
The game featured two power outages in the first half that extended the time of game. Already a late start -- the game did not kick off until 8:25 p.m. local time -- the lights went out in the 18th minute, an outage that lasted more than 18 minutes. Six minutes into the second half, the lights went out again, again for more than 18 minutes.
Club officials said the outages were caused by power dips by a local energy company. Galaxy players said they tried to keep their minds on the game amidst the darkness.
"Things happen and you have to stay focused. It happened to both teams, not just ours," Berhalter said. "You have to stay focused and get back into the game. It was not the easiest, especially five minutes after halftime when we'd been sitting for 15 minutes."
For his part, Beckham tried to keep the mood light, even if none shined down on the field.
"I was joking on the sidelines, just saying 'You Americans have been dying to get it to four quarters and you got it,'" Beckham said.
Arena said both Beckham was a large part of Friday's victory as well as the latter stage of the season, a surge that helped the Galaxy reach MLS Cup for the sixth time in club history.
"It was going to take a little time and patience but with the leadership of Landon and David, our second half of the season has been terrific," Arena said. "These games aren't easy and you look back, a couple of plays here and there made the difference. Getting home-field advantage for the Western Conference Championship was huge. Give our guys a lot of credit. They've played very well over the last two months."
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
