New York Red Bulls Stop Los Angeles Galaxy, 1-0

David Beckham
Tri Le / The Daily Sports Herald

Carson, CA -- On Cinco de Mayo, the Los Angeles Galaxy hosted the New York Red Bulls at the Home Depot Center in front of a sellout crowd and national television audience in a rematch of the teams' compelling 2011 first round playoff matchup won by the Galaxy.

Although Los Angeles again might have been the better team on the pitch, they just could not capitalize on their offensive chances against New York in this game.

The Galaxy started the game off with a David Beckham free-kick in the 4th minute, but nobody could get their head on the ball.

Then, in the 13th minute, Sean Franklin delivered a terrific long pass over the defense to Robbie Keane.  Keane was faced with charging goalkeeper Ryan Meara, so he chipped the ball over Meara's head.  Unfortunately, it did not have enough pace due to the nature of the shot, and the Red Bulls were able to clear the ball just before it went into goal.

Joel Lindpere's Game-Winner
Tri Le / The Daily Sports Herald

In the 19th minute, Jan Gunnar Solli passed the ball to Joel Lindpere in the 18-yard box.  Lindpere had three Galaxy defenders surrounding him, but was able to get a shot off over the diving Bill Gaudette for a 1-0 New York lead.

Among their many chances, the Galaxy had a free-kick in the 38th minute when Beckham crossed the ball in front of goal, but multiple Galaxy players were unable to score for LA.

David Beckham
Tri Le / The Daily Sports Herald

The Galaxy continued to be the better team on the day, as they started off the first half with a furious offensive attack, including a Mike Magee shot in the 45th minute, and a Beckham cross in the 62nd minute.

But LA’s best chances to score came in the final part of the game when Chad Barrett had a shot go wide of goal in the 72nd minute; Juninho's shot in the 82nd minute was tipped away; Landon Donovan’s 86th minute-shot was hit at the goalkeeper; and an unstoppable Beckham shot in stoppage time was just wide of goal.

Landon Donovan Attacks
Tri Le / The Daily Sports Herald

The Red Bulls would hold on for a 1-0 win, despite the Galaxy playing with great effort and putting forth a better overall game.

On a day where the ball would just not go in the net, the Galaxy must now look to get their offensive production on track in the coming weeks, as this loss moves them further down the Western Conference standings.

NY Keeper Ryan Meara
Tri Le / The Daily Sports Herald 

By Brian Kowalski
Staff Reporter for The Daily Sports Herald

Photographs by Tri Le
Photography Editor for The Daily Sports Herald