 |
|
US Open Cup: LA Galaxy 2, San Jose Earthquakes 1 [Thu Aug 25th, 2005]
San Jose, California (AP) -- Herculez Gomez scored a pair of first-half goals as the Los Angeles Galaxy eliminated the San Jose Earthquakes from the US Open Cup with a 2-1 victory in the quarterfinal round.
Los Angeles played the final 27 minutes with 10 men after defender Todd Dunivant, a former Earthquake, earned his second yellow card, and a subsequent red, in the 63rd minute.
Los Angeles, which has eliminated San Jose from the US Open Cup four times since 2000, moves on to play the Minnesota Thunder, a USL1 minor league team, in a semi-final match Sept. 14.
The Galaxy won the 2001 US Open Cup, the nation's oldest football competition that is open to all amateur and professional teams affiliated with US Soccer.
Jovan Kirovski assisted on both Gomez goals, in the fifth and 31st minutes. Playing with a man advantage, San Jose cut the lead in half on a 76th-minute Ronald Cerritos strike set up by Brian Mullan and Eddie Robinson.
Mullan had a chance to equalise in stoppage time, but his 18-yard blast was just wide of LA's left goalpost.
The first 45 minutes also featured a combined six yellow cards from the Earthquakes and Galaxy.
The lack of either side's regular teams -- four starters sat out for the Earthquakes and two, including Landon Donovan, sat out for the Galaxy -- did nothing to temper the rivalry between MLS's two California clubs. There were only two yellow cards in the second half, Dunivant's second and an 85th-minute caution to San Jose's Dwayne De Rosario.
The Earthquakes, the Western Conference leaders at 11-4-8, and the Galaxy, equal second in the West at 10-9-5, meet again in San Jose in MLS action.
News headlines from around the world.