MLS Game #21
Saturday, August 28, 2010, 9:30 p.m. CT
English TV: KCWE 29
Spanish TV: KCWE 29 (SAP)
The Home Depot Center | Carson, California
Weather: Clear and 65 degrees
Attendance: 20,112
Score: 1 2 F
Kansas City Wizards (7-9-5, 26 pts) 1 1 2
Los Angeles Galaxy (13-5-4, 43 pts) 0 0 0
Kansas City Wizards: Jimmy Nielsen; Michael Harrington, Shavar Thomas, Jimmy Conrad, Roger Espinoza; Davy Arnaud©, Stéphane Auvray, Craig Rocastle (Jack Jewsbury 66); Kei Kamara (Teal Bunbury 81), Birahim Diop, Ryan Smith (Graham Zusi 87)
Subs not used: Eric Kronberg, Korede Aiyegbusi, Jonathan Leathers, Chance Myers
Los Angeles Galaxy: Donovan Ricketts; Sean Franklin, Omar Gonzalez, Leonardo, Todd Dunivant; Michael Stephens, Chris Birchall (Jovan Kirovski 77), Chris Klein (Tristan Bowen 62), Landon Donovan©; Edson Buddle, Mike Magee (Alex Cazumba 73)
Subs not used: Josh Saunders, A.J. DeLaGarza, Dema Kovalenko, Eddie Lewis
Stats: KC LA
Shots 6 9
Shots on Goal 3 3
Saves 3 1
Fouls 19 13
Offside 3 3
Corner Kicks 2 9
Misconduct Summary:
LA – Chris Birchall (caution, Reckless Foul) 69
KC – Jimmy Nielsen (caution; Delaying a Restart) 93+
Scoring Summary:
KC – Davy Arnaud 3 (Kei Kamara 3) 12
KC – Jimmy Conrad 1 (Davy Arnaud 3) 70
(August 28, 2010) – The Kansas City Wizards continued their postseason push on Saturday with a 2-0 victory over the first-place Los Angeles Galaxy at The Home Depot Center. Wizards captain Davy Arnaud scored the game-winning goal in the 12th minute and defender Jimmy Conrad secured the victory with his first goal of the season in the 70th minute to earn an important three points on the road.
The win moves Kansas City into 4th-place in the Eastern Conference standings, one point back of Toronto FC and just three points out of the final playoff position with nine games remaining.
Arnaud gave Kansas City an early lead, making a timely run into the penalty area and controlling a cross from forward Kei Kamara before burying his shot inside the far post from six yards out in the 12th minute. On a night when he surpassed 17,000 minutes played in MLS, Arnaud netted his 40th career goal to move into sole possession of third place on Kansas City’s all-time goal scoring chart, behind Preki (71) and Josh Wolff (42).
Kamara, who returned to the Cal State-Dominguez Hills campus where he attend college and once interned for the Galaxy, tallied his third assist in the past two games, giving him a new career high.
Arnaud was again leading the attack as Kansas City came close to scoring their second goal in the 36th minute. Arnaud forced a turnover near midfield and dribbled at pace toward the Galaxy goal before playing a pass to forward Birahim Diop at the top of the penalty area. The Senegal native, coming off a two-goal performance the week before, couldn’t convert the one-on-one with Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts, who came out quickly to make a sliding stop.
Kansas City’s defense held the high-scoring Los Angeles offense without a shot on goal in the first half, limiting the Galaxy’s best scoring opportunities to a shot from Chris Birchall that went high in the 39th minute and a Mike Magee volley in the 43rd minute that was cleared out by Wizards centerback Shavar Thomas.
Wizards goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen would be called into action in the second half though as Los Angeles’ halftime adjustments increased the pressure in hopes of a comeback. Galaxy captain Landon Donovan created a chance for Birchall in the 49th minute with a quick turn and well-played pass but Birchall’s blast from the right side was met with an outstanding kick save from Nielsen. Less than ten minutes later, Donovan and Birchall combined again, but Nielsen denied Birchall once more on his shot from the edge of the 18-yard box in the 58th minute.
Nielsen’s three saves on the night earned his eighth shutout of the year and he is now tied for third in MLS with 63 saves. The 2010 All-Star selection has played every minute of every league match for Kansas City this season.
The Wizards attack continued to pose problems for the Galaxy backline, as Diop again got behind the Galaxy defense on the left side with only Ricketts to beat, but couldn’t sneak his near post shot past the Jamaican international in the 61st minute. The Wizards confidently held on to their 1-0 lead until the 70th minute when a hard foul on Kansas City playmaker Ryan Smith led to a free kick in front of the Kansas City bench. Arnaud sent the service into a dangerous area inside the box and Conrad acrobatically got his foot on the cross to redirect it off the inside of the post for his first goal of the season.
Conrad, a Southern California native who was playing in front of 185 friends and family, now has 17 goals in his Kansas City career, tying him with Eddie Johnson for ninth on the Wizards all-time goal scorers chart.
The Galaxy threatened again in the 73rd minute thanks to the playmaking of Donovan but Wizards defender Roger Espinoza recovered to disrupt Los Angeles second-half substitute Tristan Bowen’s shot from the top of the penalty area.
The Wizards secured the team’s second win on the road over a conference leader in as many months, after Kansas City also upset Columbus 1-0 at Crew Stadium in July.
Kansas City’s road trip continues next Saturday with a game at Philadelphia to face the expansion Union at the newly opened PPL Park. The match, which kicks off at 2:30 p.m. CT, will air live in high definition on KCWE Channel 29 in both English and Spanish, accompanied by a live radio broadcast on La Gran D 1340 AM.
Fast Facts:
• Kansas City is now 7-9-5 (26 pts) on the season.
• The Wizards are 4-1-2 in their last seven MLS matches.
• The Wizards are currently in 4th place in the Eastern Conference, one point back of Toronto FC.
• With the victory, the Wizards are now three points out of the final playoff position, held by San Jose, with nine games remaining.
• The Wizards are 2-6-2 on the road this season in MLS play.
• Kansas City is 5-0-1 when leading at halftime and 7-0-2 when scoring first in 2010.
• The Wizards have scored first in six of their last seven games. Five of those six goals came before the 30th minute.
• Kansas city scored multiple goals on the road for the first time this season and in back-to-back games for the first time in 2010.
• Kansas City is now 17-21-10 all-time, and 5-13-6 away against the Galaxy.
• The Wizards won at Los Angeles for the first time since a 2-1 victory on June 5, 2004.
• Kansas City is only the second team to defeat Los Angeles at The Home Depot Center and the second team to shutout the Galaxy on their home field this season.
• The Wizards shutout Los Angeles in both meetings in 2010, following a scoreless draw on April 24 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. Kansas City has shutout the Galaxy in back-to-back meetings on only one other occasion during the 2000 MLS regular season.
• Saturday’s game was the 450th regular season match in Kansas City Wizards history.
• Wizards captain Davy Arnaud moved into a tie for 7th place on the MLS all-time fouls suffered chart, with 482 fouls suffered in his career.
• With 90 minutes played, Arnaud surpassed 17,000 minutes in his Kansas City and MLS career.
• Arnaud tallied his third goal and third assist of the season.
• Wizards forward Kei Kamara made his 75th career MLS start on Saturday.
• Kamara earned his third assist of the season, a new career high. All three assists have come in the last two matches to give him six in his career.
• Kamara also has a career high in goals this year, with eight.
• Defender Jimmy Conrad scored the 17th goal of his Kansas City career and 19th goal of his MLS career. He is now tied with Eddie Johnson for 9th all-time on Kansas City’s career goal scoring chart.
• Conrad’s last goal came on September 19th, 2009 against FC Dallas.
• Kansas City defender Michael Harrington recorded the 100th career start of his Kansas City and MLS career.
• Goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen made three saves on the night and now has 63 on the season.
• He is now tied for 3rd in MLS in saves (63) and 4th in MLS in shutouts (8).
• Nielsen lowered his goals against average to 1.10, tied for 7th best in MLS.
• Nielsen has played every minute of every MLS game for Kansas City this season, one of only seven players in the league to do so thus far in 2010.
• The Wizards defeated a first place team on the road in consecutive months after also beating Eastern Conference leaders Columbus 1-0 on July 14.
• The Wizards are 2-0-1 when Davy Arnaud scores in 2010.
• After going 8 years and 88 days between MLS starts (5/25/02 – 8/21/10), Wizards forward Birahim Diop made his second consecutive start and 7th appearance of the year for Kansas City.
• The Wizards started the same lineup for the second consecutive match, following last Saturday’s resounding 4-1 victory over New England.
• Omar Bravo, recently signed by Kansas City as a Designated Player and on loan to Chivas Guadalajara until the Wizards 2011 preseason, started and played 90 minutes against Pumas in Week 6 of Mexico’s 2010 Apertura. Bravo recorded two shots on goal, including one of the best chances of the match in the 64th minute on a well-timed volley that forced a diving save. The match aired live in the US at 7:00 p.m. CT on Telemundo.
