Morning Read: Galaxy Go Through, Dempsey in Action
Landon Donovan and the LA Galaxy dominate the San Jose Earthquakes to advance in the playoffs; the Red Bulls-United series suffers another setback; Europa League matches abound.
BY
Noah Davis
Posted
November 08, 2012
3:03 AM
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The Los Angeles Galaxy, led by a brilliant Landon Donovan, defeated the San Jose Earthquakes, led by a less brilliant Chris Wondolowski, 3-1 to advance to the Western Conference final on aggregate. It was a vintage Galaxy performance from the entire team, one that makes you wonder why we even bother with the regular season.
LD on LA center back Tommy Meyer: "Tommy became a man tonight...If he plays like that, we have a good chance." Get him to the USMNT?
In other MLS action, the Houston Dynamo lost to Sporting Kansas City 2-1 but advanced on aggregate. C.J. Sapong missed a number of opportunities that would have tied the two-game series. And New York-D.C. United was postponed due to snow. It will be played Thursday night, hopefully.
The Hexagonal round draw is in and the United States... well, let Jurgen Klinsmann tell it: "In a draw like that, nothing turns out perfect for nobody. You would like to have the first game at home, but if you don't have it at home, you make the best out of it. We'll take it that way and we're looking forward to going to Honduras for the first game."
The schedule, you ask? 2/6 at HON, 3/22 vs CRC, 3/26 at MEX, 6/7 at JAM, 6/11 vs PAN, 6/18 vs HON, 9/6 at CRC, 9/10 vs MEX, 10/11 vs JAM, 10/15 at PAN. (We'll have more thoughts later in the day.)
Speaking of schedules, there are a number of Americans in Europa League action, including Clint Dempsey's Tottenham at Slovenia's Maribor and Steve Cherundolo's Hannover host Helsingborg. Here's hoping they fare better than Michael Parkhurst, whose Nordsjælland club got obliterated 4-0 by Juventus in a Wednesday afternoon Champions League match.