Quartet of Rapids Net Against Galaxy

by TJ Boyce

A promising opening day turned into a meltdown for the Los Angeles Galaxy, as David Beckham and crew were throttled by the Colorado Rapids by a score of 4-0. Four different players found the back of the net for the winning team, including three within a 20-minute stretch of the second half.

As expected, an Englishman was the star of the match, but not according to the script. The big playmaker turned out to be Terry Cooke, who scored a goal and set up two others on the night. His dangerous crosses and precision passes kept L.A. unbalanced all night, a tribute to Cooke’s talent.

The Rapids wasted no time in jumping ahead, cashing in on a wild sequence just ten minutes into the game. After drawing a foul against Abel Xavier, Christian Gomez slammed his 25-yard free kick into the Galaxy wall causing the ball to pinball off several players and back to the Argentine. Though the former MLS MVP’s follow-up shot was rejected by the far post, the rebound fell to the feet of Terry Cooke who buried the ball into the back of the net past Steve Cronin’s weak side to move the Rapids ahead.

Jose Burciaga Jr., another new addition to Colorado’s lineup, nearly doubled the home side’s advantage, picking up the ball at midfield and weaving his way past a pair of rookie Galaxy defenders. The former Kansas City Wizards defender looked goalward and steadied for a shot, but his effort sailed inches wide of the frame and out of play.

Beckham’s first set piece came in the 23^rd minute after the Englishman drew a foul near the right sideline. Curling over a two-man wall, the ball had to be snagged out of the air by Rapids keeper Bouna Coundoul to prevent further trouble.

A better opportunity came from the foot of Beckham three minutes later as he quickly restarted play after Carlos Ruiz drew a foul. Flipping the ball in the air, Becks was nearly successful in finding a charging Landon Donovan in the box, but the play was broken up once again by Coundoul.

Three minutes past a half-hour, Beckham created more trouble, lofting the ball 50 yards into space between Ruiz and Donovan. Coundoul would again foil the danger, but paid the price for his urgency, inadvertently taking a Ruiz boot to the face while trying to smother the ball. After some medical attention and some loss of blood from the Senegalese netminder’s mouth, Coundoul was able to continue.

Christian Gomez threatened to extend Colorado’s lead in the 38^th minute with a superbly-placed long-range shot, but Cronin was just able to get fingertips to the ball, knocking it over the crossbar.

Just before the halftime whistle, it was again Beckham doing the creating for the Los Angeles offense, swinging a dead ball into a crowd of players in front of the goal. Flicked on by midfielder Alvaro Pires, Donovan found himself in possession on the byline with defenders closing fast, but the assistant referee’s flag stopped the attack in its tracks.

A slow start to the second half was halted in the 57^th minute as Abel Xavier was judged to have taken down Omar Cummings in the box. Despite fervent arguments from several members of the Galaxy - and evidence from the replay that Xavier’s tackle got the ball - referee Abbey Okalaja continued signaling to the penalty spot. After the argument died down, Christian Gomez calmly converted, staking the Rapids to a 2-0 lead with less than a half-hour to play.

At the other end of the field, Alvaro Pires slid a ball through the Colorado backline to a wide-open Alan Gordon. A second-half insertion into the lineup, Gordon was also unable to crack Coundoul, as the Rapids keeper hit the earth to make another save.

The game would be put completely out of reach for Los Angeles in the 67^th minute, as Cooke and Cummings combined to put a dagger in the Galaxy. Racing forward, Cooke found an unmarked Cummings streaking through a flat-footed L.A. backline, who juked around a sprawling Cronin and slotted the ball into an open net.

Colorado wasn’t done scoring there tacking on a fourth goal in the 80^th minute. Taking on Abel Xavier at the left edge of the box, Colin Clark beat the first defender and then squeezed his shot between Cronin and the near post putting an exclamation point on the scoreline.

Things took an ugly turn in the final five minute of the game. A red card was issued to Xavier in the 89^th minute as the already hot-under-the-collar defender physically confronted the official over a suspicious foul call. He will miss the club’s next match against the San Jose Earthquakes on Thursday.

In stoppage time, Carlos Ruiz was chopped down from behind by rookie Ciaran O’Brien, who had entered his first MLS match just minutes earlier. Taking issue with the challenge, Landon Donovan charged up to O’Brien, giving him a two-handed shove. A melee broke out as both teams scrambled into the mix, with Donovan briefly grabbing O’Brien’s throat. After the two were finally separated, a red card was issued to O’Brien, but Ruiz needed to be carted off the field visibly in pain.

It was a nightmare game to start the season for Los Angeles, who had hoped to turn around last year’s struggles with an overhauled roster. They will have a short week to recover hosting San Jose on national television this Thursday night.

Colorado couldn’t have dreamt up a better start to 2008 making a statement against the Galaxy in front of a sell-out crowd. They look to carry the momentum into next weekend’s road clash with the Kansas City Wizards.

Official Scoresheet

Scoring Summary:
COL – Cooke (Unassisted) 10
COL – C. Gomez (Penalty Kick) 60
COL – Cummings (Cooke) 67
COL – Clark (Cooke) 80

Lineups:
Colorado Rapids – Bouna Coundoul, Kosuke Kimura, Facundo Erpen, Stephen Keel, Jose Burciaga, Jr., Terry Cooke, Colin Clark, John DiRaimondo (Pablo Mastroeni 81), Nick LaBrocca, Christian Gomez (Ciaran O’Brien 71), Omar Cummings (Herculez Gomez 68)
Substitutes Not Used: Justin Hughes, Rafael Gomes, Kelly Gray, Jacob Peterson

Los Angeles Galaxy – Steve Cronin, Chris Klein, Greg Vanney, Abel Xavier, Michael Gavin (Troy Roberts 65), Ely Allen (Alan Gordon 46), Peter Vagenas (Brandon McDonald 46), Alvaro Pires, David Beckham, Landon Donovan, Carlos Ruiz

Substitutes Not Used: Josh Wicks, Edson Buddle, Sean Franklin, Mike Randolph

Misconduct Summary:
LA – Gordon (Caution) 50
LA – Xavier (Caution) 59
COL – H. Gomez (Caution) 72
LA – Vanney (Caution) 73
LA – Xavier (Ejection) 89
COL – O’Brien (Ejection) 90

Referee: Abiodun Okulaja
Referees Assts.: Jose Corro, Peter Manikowski
Fourth Official: Shane Moody
Attendance: 18,713