• Recap
• Bleachers

Ruiz, Cooper help FC Dallas stop long skid against Galaxy

Apr 13, 2007 - 6:16 AM CARSON, California (Ticker) -- Behind former Los Angeles Galaxy star Carlos Ruiz and Kenny Cooper, FC Dallas ended a long skid in Carson.

Ruiz and Cooper netted first-half goals as FC Dallas posted a 2-1 victory over the Galaxy, winning for the first time in nine tries at The Home Depot Center.

Coach Steve Morrow recorded his first win for FC Dallas (1-0-1), which last won here on September 6, 2000.

"It felt good to break that losing streak," Morrow said. "I had made a point of mentioning it before the game. It gives us something to build on."

Having combined for half of FC Dallas' 48 goals last season, the duo of Ruiz and Cooper was too tough for the Galaxy, who fell to 16-4-1 at home in the all-time series.

Ruiz opened the scoring with a penalty kick in the 35th minute. The opportunity was made possible when a hand ball was called in the box. On the penalty shot, Ruiz hesitated on his approach to the ball, got Joe Cannon to commit to his right before drilling a winner to the left of the goalkeeper.

It was the 22nd goal at The Home Depot Center for the former Galaxy star, the most by any player at that stadium.

In the 43rd minute, Cooper scored his second goal of the season from the edge of the 6-yard box after taking a perfect cross off a free kick from Ramon Nunez. The cross got Cannon moving to his right, but Cooper drilled a shot with his right foot into the far corner.

"The goal was from a set play, something we've been working on in practice," Cooper said. "It was great to see it work so well."

Cobi Jones was called for a foul, setting up the opportunity.

Cooper also tallied in Saturday's 2-2 draw against Real Salt Lake.

After getting totally outplayed in the first 45 minutes, Los Angeles came out more inspired after intermission. The Galaxy outshot FC Dallas, 9-1, in the second half.

"I told the guys at halftime to bring the intensity up, and unfortunately, we waited too long to score and we ran out of time," Los Angeles coach Frank Yallop said.

Los Angeles got on the board in the 86th minute, when Robbie Findley scored his first career tally on a header off a corner kick from superstar Landon Donovan.

"(Findley's) dangerous and he has a few things to learn about the game, but he's a great athlete," Yallop said. "He's brave, and he showed that on the goal. Good leap, good header."

"It was a good service by Landon, and I'm not sure if I was marked, but I was able to get open and put it away in the corner," Findley said. "It would have been a lot better, of course, if we had won, but I'm glad to have scored my first goal as a professional. But I know that this is mostly about wins."

Donovan had just one shot on goal for Los Angeles (0-1-1), which played to a 0-0 tie Saturday against the Houston Dynamo.

Shaka Hislop of FC Dallas and Cannon each saved four shots.