Landon Donovan extended his half-season long retirement party to the final game of the season, helping the LA Galaxy to their 9th MLS Cup final appearance with a second half assist against the Seattle Sounders at CenturyLink Field on Sunday. Donovan’s 54th minute corner found Juninho, whose shot from distance gave LA the crucial away goal as they took home the Western Conference final.
It was a classic game of two halves, though neither side played at their best in the early going. The Sounders were particularly sloppy, with Ozzie Alonso clearly still nursing his hamstring and his teammates giving the ball away on several occasions. For a while, Seattle looked identical to the team that lost 1-0 in the first leg, without enough personnel going forward to help the Obafemi Martins/Clint Dempsey partnership come to life. Though LA lacked bite, save for a weak Keane chance in the 11th minute, they were in control.
That all changed in a moment, however, when the ball finally made its way to Martins in the final third from out wide in the 26th minute. The forward fell down in the 18 yard box on a give and go with Dempsey, but Omar Gonzalez failed to pick up “Deuce” on the second ball. Gonzalez watched dumbfounded as Dempsey rounded the keeper to send in a shot that clipped Dan Gargan’s heel, allowing Brad Evans to rush in and finish for Seattle’s opener.
Something suddenly clicked for Seattle. They poured on a vulnerable Galaxy back four, with Martins missing a sitter three minutes later, followed by a saved attempt from Lamar Neagle. The Sounders took the aggregate lead shortly after when DeAndre Yedlin’s cross came off the back of Gonzalez to the feet of an on-running Dempsey, who powered a shot that bobbled out of keeper Jaime Penedo’s hands into the net. LA were having a howler, and only Keane – who saw his curled shot saved by an outstretched Stefan Frei in goal in the 37th minute – seemed to want to force the issue.
Despite getting sucker punched, the Galaxy were still a single away goal from the MLS Cup final, and the until-then anonymous Landon Donovan helped provide it early in the second half. After a dangerous cross whipped in by Stefan Ishizaki was cleared over the net by Zach Scott, Donovan’s follow up corner in the 54th minute found Juninho in space outside the 18 yard box. He sent in a shot that bounced off the post and in past an outstretched Frei.
Minutes after his assist, Donovan nearly sealed the Western Conference title when he picked up Alonso’s weak pass and ran confidently into the box only to have his shot saved by Frei. The 32 year old wasn’t done, beating Zach Scott in brilliant fashion and sending in a perfect cross to Ishizaki whose header was saved brilliantly by Frei in the 65th minute.
From there LA were content to play in their defensive shell and try to score on the break. Though the Sounders sent in a few dangerous crosses, including one from Pineda on a set-piece that nearly came in off the head of an LA defender, they weren’t able to get a decisive shot off. Dempsey, however, finished with a pair of good chances, one that went wide and right three minutes into stoppage time, but it wasn’t enough. The Sounders, who won the US Open Cup and the Supporters’ Shield this season, will have to settle for a double while MLS fans wonder at the possibility of Donovan retiring a champion when the Galaxy meets the Revolution next week.
