Late Donovan goal salvages 2-2 draw for Galaxy against Quakes

BY ADAM SERRANO

A Landon Donovan goal in stoppage time was decisive as the Los Angeles Galaxy were able to salvage a 2-2 draw against their California rivals, the San Jose Earthquakes at the Home Depot Center.

The Earthquakes were unable to hold a pair of leads in the first and second halves as the Galaxy battled back twice to get the draw, thanks to goals by Edson Buddle and Donovan. Los Angeles was the aggressor throughout the night and with more late heroics from Donovan, the Galaxy were able to maintain their undefeated record at home.

"For whatever reason, we came out and were sloppy for the first couple of minutes. We positioned ourselves to chase the game," said Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena. "I dont like coming away with just a point at home, but given the circumstances and how we had to scrap to get that point at home, I cant complain."

The Galaxy made a number of key changes to their starting line up with Dema Kovalenko and Leonardo replacing veterans Chris Birchall and Gregg Berhalter.Initially, it appeared that the Galaxy were missing their veterans as the Earthquakes struck in the second minute when Bobby Convey struck in the sixth minute off a poor clearance by Galaxy defender Leonardo.

As the match wore on the Galaxy looked the dominant side, even after Edson Buddle equalized in the 52nd, only for Earthquakes midfielder Brandon McDonald to pull the Quakes again. Los Angeles pressured the visitors all night, peppering San Jose's net with 22 shots on goal compared to seven and earning ten corners to San Jose's one.

"We were the better team and we created a lot more chances. Getting scored on early was difficult to come back from, but we did a good job and you had to think if anyone was going to win it had to be us," said Donovan. "Our resiliency was good, it was a good test for! us, som ething we haven't dealt with all season and we cant really be mad because we played well and just had a few mistakes.

For the Earthquakes, the club put in what may have been their best performance on the road against Los Angeles since their victory in 2001. After getting the early goal from Convey in the second minute of the match, the Earthquakes allowed Los Angeles to control the run of play, but were able to pressure the Galaxy into making several turnovers. With a stingy defense and a dangerous counter attack, Head Coach Frank Yallop was optimistic about the maturation of his club.

I have loosened my reigns a little bit on the team and let them express themselves a little more and I think it has worked," said Yallop. "I wanted to make sure this season that we are difficult to beat and we have proved that and I think now we have only lost four games out of fifteen."

The Quakes best asset on the night was the play of the mercurial Convey who terrorized the Galaxy all night down the left wing. The winger who has impressed recently -- even earning an All-Star nomination-- played with a great deal of confidence against the formidable Galaxy defense.

"Getting an early goal helped us and gave us a positive outlook especially seeing that it came on the road," said Convey. "We've been played very well on the road this year and have pressured a lot of teams, I feel that we showed today that we can play with any team in MLS."

San Jose is now 6-4-5 with 25 points on the season which places them in 5th place in the Western Conference. The record is nine points better than the club was at this point last season.

The Galaxy (12-2-4, 40pts) will now look ahead to their CONCACAF Champions League Play-In match against the Puerto Rico Islanders on Tuesday as the club prepares for a stretch of five games in 17 days. After the match basking in the glow of yet another late match goal. Donovan was candid about what memories that the goal ! stirred in him.

"Twenty minutes after I scored the goal, I thought Algeria."

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