After collecting their second straight win of the season on Saturday night against New England, the Galaxy now embark on a road trip that will see the club play their next four MLS games on the road. The road swing starts on Saturday night with the second installment of the Honda SuperClasico against Chivas USA at The Home Depot Center. The game kicks off at 8 p.m. and can be seen live on Fox Soccer Channel, starting with the Fox MLS Saturday Pregame show at 7:30 p.m.
The first meeting of the year between the two sides ended in a scoreless draw, meaning that a Galaxy win on Saturday night would put them just one point away from winning the SuperClasico trophy for the fourth time in the five years of the competition.
THE WEEK THAT WAS
Friday, July 3
LA Galaxy U-20's 1 - SUSA U-20's 2
The Home Depot Center
Saturday, July 4
LA Galaxy U-17's 1 - FC Dallas U-17's 2
Dick's Sporting Goods Park - SUM U-17 Cup
LA Galaxy 1 - New England Revolution 0
The Home Depot Center - Attendance: 20,908
Sunday, June 5
LA Galaxy U-17's 1 - D.C. United U-17's 1
(Galaxy Win 4-2 on Penalties)
Dick's Sporting Goods Park - SUM U-17 Cup
LA Galaxy U-20's 6 - Riverside MGFM U-20's 3
UC-Riverside
Tuesday, July 7
LA Galaxy U-17's 5 - Chicago Fire U-17's 4
Dick's Sporting Goods Park - SUM U-17 Cup
INJURY REPORT
OUT - Sean Franklin (Right Hamstring - Surgery - Disabled List), Julian Valentin (Right Foot - Fracture - Disabled List)
DOUBTFUL - None
QUESTIONABLE - Alan Gordon (Left Calf - Strain), Yohance Marshall (Back Spasm), Dema Kovalenko (Left Calf - Contusion)
PROBABLE - None
TEAM NOTES
SET FOR THE SUPERCLASICO: The second installment of the Honda SuperClasico will take place at The Home Depot Center on Saturday at The Home Depot Center, with the Galaxy taking on Chivas USA. The two teams played to a 0-0 draw on April 11 and will meet again on Saturday, with Chivas USA serving as the home team.
The Galaxy are 8-3-5 all-time against Chivas USA, including a 3-1-3 mark in games that Chivas USA is the home team. LA is unbeaten in their last four games against their in-stadium rivals, going 1-0-3 in those games while outscoring Chivas USA 8-5.
The two teams will hold a press conference at The Home Depot Center on Thursday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. to look ahead to Saturday's game. For more information about this event, please contact the Galaxy Communications Department.
GUNNING FOR THREE STRAIGHT: The LA Galaxy go in search of their third straight win on Saturday, when they take on Chivas USA at The Home Depot Center. The Galaxy enter the game on a two-game winning streak, having beaten both Houston and New England at home in each of the last two weeks.
The last time the Galaxy won three straight games was in the 2007 season when LA beat Columbus (9/30), Houston (10/7) and Toronto FC (10/13) as part of a five-game winning streak late in the 2007 campaign. The Galaxy won all three of those games by identical 2-1 scorelines with six different players scoring goals.
BACK-TO BACK: Not only did the Galaxy get their second straight win on Saturday night, but they also collected their second straight 1-0 win, their second straight home win and their second straight clean sheet. Prior to these last two games, the last time that the Galaxy had won two consecutive games was on June 7 and June 14, 2008 when they defeated Colorado at home 3-2 and then won away at San Jose 3-0.
The last time that they had won two straight games at home was on May 24 and June 7, 2008 when LA beat Kansas City 3-1 and then Colorado 3-2.
Before the wins over Houston and New England the last two weeks, LA had not kept a clean sheet in back-to-back games since July 8 and July 15, 2006 when they beat Real Salt Lake 2-0 and drew Chivas USA 0-0.
Finally, the Galaxy had not won consecutive league games 1-0 since September 14 and 21, 2002 when Carlos Ruiz scored in second half stoppage time of each to give LA 1-0 wins over San Jose, first at the Rose Bowl in their final-ever regular season game at the Pasadena venue, and then at Spartan Stadium in San Jose a week later.
SUPER START: Alecko Eskandarian made a dream start to his Galaxy debut on Saturday night, scoring in the 8th minute. Eskandarian, who was scheduled to begin the game on the bench, only for Alan Gordon to suffer a left calf injury in pregame warmups, forcing the 26-year-old into the starting lineup. Eskandarian went on to play 67 minutes in the game, taking a team-high three shots and a team-high two shots on goal before being replaced by Bryan Jordan.
With his goal, Eskandarian became the first Galaxy player to score on his debut for the club since Edson Buddle did so on June 17, 2007, scoring in the 25th minute of a 3-2 home win over Real Salt Lake. Buddle and Eskandarian are the only two Galaxy players in the last five years to score in their debut for the club.
ESKANDARIAN UP FOR GOAL OF THE WEEK: Eskandarian's debut goal has been nominated for the MLS Goal of the Week award. His finish is one of six finalists for the award, which will be officially presented on Wednesday. Click here to vote for Eskandarian's first time strike for the MLS Goal of the Week award.
SAUNDERS KEEPS IT CLEAN: Starting in place of Donovan Ricketts, who missed the game while on international duty with the Jamaican National Team, Galaxy goalkeeper Josh Saunders kept the first clean sheet of his MLS career on Saturday, making four saves in a 1-0 win over New England. Saunders had not played in an MLS game in three months, dating back to a 3-2 loss to Colorado on April 4 and had missed two weeks of training late last month as a result of a left ankle sprain. Despite that, he was able to earn his first win of the year and give the Galaxy their second consecutive shutout.
Saunders is now 2-3-1 with a 1.83 goals against average during his MLS career, including a 1-1-1 mark with a 1.67 GAA this season.
With Ricketts and Jamaica in action on Friday in their final CONCACAF Gold Cup Group A game against El Salvador in Miami, Saunders could make his second straight start, his fourth of the season, on Saturday against Chivas USA.
SAUNDERS NOMINATED FOR SAVE OF THE WEEK: Saunders' 73rd minute save off a Michael Videira header helped him keep the clean sheet and has been nominated for the MLS Save of the Week award. This is the first time that Saunders has been nominated for the award, which debuted in Week 10 of the 2009 MLS season. Saunders low, diving save is one of six nominees for the award this week. Click here to vote for Saunders as he looks to become the second Galaxy goalkeeper, joining Donovan Ricketts in Week 14, to win the award this season.
YOUTH ACADEMY
GALAXY WIN TWO AT SUM U-17 CUP: The SUM U-17 Cup began in Colorado on Saturday, with the Galaxy rounding out the round robin portion of their schedule on Tuesday morning. The Galaxy opened the tournament with a 2-1 loss to FC Dallas on Saturday, with the Galaxy's lone goal coming off the foot of goalkeeper Vince Paldino. One day later, LA picked up their first points of the tournament, tying Houston 1-1 behind a goal from Riley Wolfe, before winning on penalties 4-2.
After a day off on Monday, the Galaxy played their final first round game on Tuesday morning, scoring five times in the first half of a 5-4 win over Chicago, with Christian Alvarado and Cristhian Hernandez each scoring twice.
The Galaxy will play one more game, on Wednesday, to determine their final position in the 10-team tournament. The Galaxy finished the first round with five points, meaning that they could potentially finish as high as third place in the tournament, dependant upon results on Tuesday night.
LA GALAXY U-20's SPLIT GAMES, COMPLETE SEASON SATURDAY: The LA Galaxy Youth Academy U-20 team went 1-1-0 over the weekend, defeating Riverside MGFM but falling to SUSA. The Galaxy's record now stands at 7-2-0 with one game left in the season. That game will be played on Friday night at 7 p.m. in Bell Gardens.
The Galaxy opened the week on Friday night with a 2-1 loss to SUSA in their final home game of the season. With the loss, LA finished the year with a 4-1-0 record at home. Two days later, LA rebounded from that defeat to beat Riverside MGFM 4-0 for their fourth shutout of the season.
The Galaxy are now in second place in Group A of the Pacific Southern California Division, three points behind Chivas USA, meaning that a Galaxy win on Friday would see they reach the win their group and qualify for the North American Finals in Illinois later this month.
NEED TO KNOW
GALAXY DEPORTIVO IS BACK: Galaxy Deportivo, the Galaxy's official half hour show in Spanish, is back for sixth season with hosts Alejandro Navarro and Elmer Polanco on KWHY-22. Catch the show this week and every other Saturday, at 6 p.m.
On top of behind-the-scenes footages, exclusive interviews and features and in-depth profiles, Galaxy Deportivo also recaps the club's latest activity within the community. Similar to how the fan's passion for the Galaxy is not limited to game day, neither is Galaxy Deportivo's coverage.
Past shows can be viewed on archive at www.LAGalaxyFutbol.com.
PURO GALAXY HITS ESPN DEPORTES RADIO: ESPN Deportes Radio KWKW 1330 AM, the Galaxy's official Spanish language radio partner, is the place for all of your Galaxy news and information en español. The best place to get that information is on Puro Galaxy, the network's weekly, hour-long show that airs every Saturday from noon-1 p.m.
Galaxy color analyst Armando Aguayo and Galaxy sideline reporter Mario Amaya are joined on a weekly basis by the players, coaches and a series of special guests that allow the fan to get excited for match day. So tune in each and every week and stay up to date with everything that is going on in the Galaxy.
Fans can also listen to free podcasts of previous episodes at www.LAGalaxyFutbol.com.
LOOKING FOR MORE UPDATES?: If you are looking for continuous updates from the Galaxy all week long, be sure to visit the club's official websites www.lagalaxy.com and www.lagalaxyfutbol.com, or the club's official blog at www.thelagalaxy.blogspot.com for all the latest news from the club.
