Speed was the name of the game for the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday night at The Home Depot Center. The Galaxy defense was faced with the tough task of trying to slow down a very potent FC Dallas attack, while on the other side of the ball, the Galaxy front runners tried to use their collective pace to exploit what they felt was an untested Dallas defense.
Both departments did a superb job, guiding the Green-and-Gold to a 2-0 victory, paced by goals from Landon Donovan and Pete Vagenas.
Both goals came in the first half and as early as the first minute, it became obvious what the Galaxy strategy would be, as Landon Donovan came away with two early opportunities on goal after just two minutes of play. Keeping the pressure on Dallas was the main focus for the Galaxy.
"In their first three or four games [FC Dallas] have just dominated," said Donovan. "Teams haven't gotten up and put pressure on them. They've kind of had it easy, and we wanted to make it more difficult on them."
The Galaxy gave the FCD defense nightmares by playing direct. Long balls over the top and in behind the Dallas back four seemed to be the prescription for Los Angeles right out of the gate and it paid dividends immediately.
Donovan hit home in the ninth minute, as for the third time in succession -- all since he's joined the club -- the Galaxy opened the scoring in the first 15 minutes.
"It's good to score early," Donovan said. "It just makes the game so much easier."
Donovan has played a key role in all three of the Galaxy wins this season. His contributions come in more forms than just on the score sheet though.
"A lot of people talk about Landon's quickness and his goal scoring ability," said Pete Vagenas. "In my opinion, his greatest attribute is he makes people around him better."
That would certainly seem to be the case. Cobi Jones has already struck for two goals this season, after not scoring all of last season. Vagenas himself has been the beneficiary, as his goal Saturday was his second on the season -- his last regular season goal before this season coming in 2001. Donovan has assisted goals for both players this year.
The first week debacle against Columbus, in which Donovan didn't play, is starting to become a distant memory for the Galaxy. Still Los Angeles feels as though they aren't getting their due respect around the league. Since the start of the season, Dallas has been getting a lot of the attention, and that's something that hasn't sat well with Vagenas.
"This whole week we've been hearing how good this team is, and how they're the team in the west," said the Galaxy captain. "We wanted to come out in the first half and make a statement."
Make a statement they did, as the home side was rarely threatened throughout the first 45 minutes of play. While the likes of Landon Donovan, Pando Ramirez, and Cobi Jones were running wild behind the Dallas defense, their back four were trying to prevent the Dallas frontrunners from doing the same to them. "I just thought that everyone played a really tight game," said goalkeeper Kevin Hartman. "Our ball speed was unbelievable. We didn't allow them to use their speed and get in behind us."
The Galaxy did possess the ball very well, keeping their potent strike force featuring young U.S. superstar Eddie Johnson and former Galaxy teammate Carlos Ruiz relatively quiet all night.
"Playing against Carlos last season, and internationally, its good to know what he's going to do, and what he's thinking," said Marshall. "It helped me tonight. He's the kind of player who likes to bang, but tonight I got the better of him." The Galaxy will close a four-game homestand next weekend against Colorado. The success they've enjoyed at home since the Home Depot Center opened seems to have translated to this season as well, at least so far. It's how they play on the road this year that will need to change, and Donovan and the rest of the Galaxy knows this.
"If we can go away and win like this it will be better," Donovan said.
Greg Daurio is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
