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US: MLS Preview- San Jose Earthquakes v Los Angeles Galaxy [Fri Aug 26th, 2005]
San Jose Earthquakes (11-4-8, 41 pts) v Los Angeles Galaxy (10-9-5, 35 pts)
When: 11 pm ET, Saturday, August 27
Where: Spartan Stadium, San Jose, California
For the second time this week these two sides will meet in Spartan Stadium. Wednesday’s match saw Los Angeles knock San Jose out of the US Open Cup for the fourth time as the Earthquakes’ back line was uncharacteristically disorganised.
The teams have split their first two league matches this season, both winning at home. The Quakes will want to exact some revenge for their midweek loss and have a great chance to do so as they are the only team in MLS to not lose at home yet this season.
While San Jose weren’t successful in their bid for the Dewar Cup, they have been nearly perfect in their current five-match unbeaten streak, winning four of them. Brad Davis will miss the game with a groin injury, putting more pressure on Mark Chung and Dwayne DeRosario to lead the attack.
DeRo has been hot of late, notching a pair of goals to go with three assists in the team’s last five games. While Pat Onstad has been sharper of late, he’s only posted one clean sheet in the last two months. He sat out Wednesday’s loss, so some of the defensive confusion could be cleared up by the Canadian, as well as the return of Ricardo Clark from Madrid.
Los Angeles is looking to win their second road match outside of Los Angeles in MLS action in a row. After waiting 14 months for their first, they’ll be lucky to repeat this week. Landon Donovan will be back to complement Herculez Gomez, who scored a pair of goals in the midweek win. Donovan, who missed that game while in Spain, will again be greeted callously by the Quake fans who cannot forgive him for the way he left the team in the off-season.
This will be the fifth consecutive two-match week for LD and he has racked up the frequent flier miles as only two of those games have been in Los Angeles.
Expect the crowd to be in full effect with Donovan in town, giving the Quakes even more of a home field advantage. Add to that the revenge factor from Wednesday’s loss, and this match will be a long night for Steve Sampson as the Quakes will pull further away from the pack in the Western Conference.
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