Final
Pires, Allen help Galaxy edge Rapids
Jun 8, 2008 - 6:48 AM CARSON, California (Ticker) -- Rookies Alvaro Pires and Ely Allen both scored their first goals of their Major League Soccer careers on Saturday night as the Los Angeles Galaxy held on for a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Rapids.Edson Buddle also tallied for the Galaxy (5-4-2), who played without leading-scorer Landon Donovan but still overtook the Rapids (5-6-0) for the top spot in the Western Conference standings.
"I think this was a crazy match for a coach," Los Angeles' Ruud Gullit said. "I'm happy with the performance in the first half. I think the goals were excellent."
Colin Clark and Herculez Gomez scored for the Rapids, who outshot the Galaxy by a 9-5 margin.
Pires wasted little time getting Los Angeles on the scoresheet, scoring in the fourth minute. After David Beckham placed a free kick in front of the goal, Pires won the scramble for the ball behind the Colorado defense and converted past goalkeeper Preston Burpo.
"It was an interesting game to play as well as we did in the first half, and 10 minutes of the second to have a three-goal lead and end up like it was is not how we want to play," Beckham said. "We stopped moving and holding the ball. It's almost like you've lost the game. We're happy with the three points, but it's obvious that we have some things that we need to work on."
Buddle doubled the advantage in the 32nd minute with his fifth goal of the season and 58th of his career. He received an outlet pass from Abel Xavier, sprinted down the right wing and blasted a right-footed shot to the far corner.
The Galaxy, who lead the league with 25 goals this season, made it 3-0 early in the second half when Allen scored on a breakaway in the 50th minute.
"I'm very excited about coming away with a win and the fact that it's the game winner makes it even sweeter," Allen said. "I believe that puts us in first place and that is worth celebrating."
"I thought it was an entertaining game," Rapids coach Fernando Clavijo said. "I thought L.A. played extremely well in the first half. They dominated and created chances. As for us, we struggled putting are passes together and they took advantage of that. In the second half, we had an urgency to go forward but I told them at halftime that we can not give up that third goal."
That was just enough offense for Galaxy goalkeeper Steve Cronin, who had his shutout bid ended in the 73rd minute when Clark notched his second goal of the season from just inside the penalty box. Gomez scored his first goal of the campaign to cut the deficit to 3-2 in the 82nd minute.
"It's great to score but at the end of the day we didn't win and that leaves me frustrated and hoping for better results another day," Clark said.
- MLS
COLORADO 2
LOS ANGELES 3 FINAL
Jun 8 12:37 AM - MLS UPDATE
COLORADO 2
LOS ANGELES 3
COLORADO GOAL: Herculez Gomez in the 82nd minute
Rapids 2, Galaxy 3 82'Jun 8 12:20 AM - MLS UPDATE
COLORADO 1
LOS ANGELES 3
COLORADO GOAL: Colin Clark in the 74th minute
Rapids 1, Galaxy 3 74'Jun 8 12:13 AM - MLS UPDATE
COLORADO 0
LOS ANGELES 3
LOS ANGELES GOAL: Ely Allen in the 49th minute
Rapids 0, Galaxy 3 49'Jun 7 11:50 PM - MLS
COLORADO 0
LOS ANGELES 2 HALFTIME
Jun 7 11:27 PM - MLS UPDATE
COLORADO 0
LOS ANGELES 2
LOS ANGELES GOAL: Edson Buddle in the 33rd minute
Rapids 0, Galaxy 2 33'Jun 7 11:11 PM - MLS UPDATE
COLORADO 0
LOS ANGELES 1
LOS ANGELES GOAL: Alvaro Pires in the 4th minute
Rapids 0, Galaxy 1 4'Jun 7 10:42 PM
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