It’s gone final: Los Angeles 3, Seattle 0 — giving the Sounders plenty of ground to make up at 6 p.m. next Sunday when the Western Conference final resolves at CenturyLink Field.
Robbie Keane scored the first and last goal, with Mike Magee getting the one in the middle. But it was that first one — coming in stoppage time of the first half — that turned the game.
I’ll be back with notes and quotes.
15 minutes left: Seattle has used all of its subs: Johnson for Montero, Rose for Tiffert, and Zakuani for Caskey.
67th minute: Gspurning gets trapped off line, and Robbie Keane finishes into open net. 3-0.
64th minute: GOAL LA. String of passed on nice counter ends with Mike Magee goal. LA 2-0.
Eddie Johnson check in for Fredy Montero.
Second half: … has begun.
On LA sub: Juninho out, Sarvas in. We’re told the chance is injury related.
Halftime: Galaxy, 1-0. Robbie Keane puts LA ahead with a header inside the far post in stoppage time. Assist from Donovan. Sounders were seconds away from a scoreless half they probably would have been very happy with.
First playoff goal allowed by Sounders in 317 minutes.
Shots 5-4 SEA, on goal 3-3; corners 5-0 LA; duels won 55% SEA; possession 53.8 SEA.
28th minute: Keane to Donovan’s head inside the box. Waay dangerous moment, but shot pretty directly to Gspurning. Scoreless.
25 minutes in: Scoreless. LA becoming more dangerous.
15th minute: Yellow card to Jhon Kennedy Hurtado for tugging down Donovan on dangerous run just outside area.
First 10 minutes: Even go so far. Both teams looking to go forward. Jeff Parke went down early and seems a little labored so far.
First kick: … has been struck. Sounders in rave/rave, Galaxy in white/white.
Lineups: For Sounders: Gspurning, Johansson, Parke, Hurtado, Scott, Martinez, Alonso, Evans, Caskey, Tiffert, Montero. Reserves: Hahnemann, Carrasco, Rose, Estrada, Zakuani, Ochoa, Johnson.
For Galaxy: Saunders; Dunivant, Gonzalez, Meyer, Franklin; Magee, Juninho, Beckham, Wilhelmsson; Donovan, Keane. Reserves: Perk, Sarvas, Stephens, Boyens, McBean, Villareal, Gaul.
Elsewhere: Houston takes a 3-1 advantage over DC United in the Eastern Conference final. This, of course, suits the Sounders, who could/would host MLS Cup against the Dynamo, but not United. That series will resolve next Sunday at RFK Stadium, a few hours before the Sounders resolve their series with the Galaxy at CenturyLink.
At 6 p.m. (or so) the Sounders and Galaxy will kick off their home-and-away, aggregate-score Western Conference final series.
The game will be shown on ESPN, heard on the usual radio outlets, blogged here, and tweeted @donruiztnt.
I’ll be back with pregame news as it happens… probably meaning lineups 45 minutes or so before first kick.
Since there is only one true forward in the starting lineup (Montero), would appear that the team is going with a 4-5-1 line-up, with maybe Evans and Martinez playing on the wings. Given LA’s midfield quality, kind of makes sense to try and close down space there.
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