To say that the first-leg of the Los Angeles Galaxy - Puerto Rico Islanders CONCACAF Champions League playoff series did not run to form on Tuesday night at the Home Depot Center is a bit of an understatement. The Galaxy lost 4-1, with the Islanders scoring all five goals.
Puerto Rico was up in the 26th minute through David Foley and had a 2-0 lead going into the half when Nicolas Addlery scored. Josh Hansen got Puerto Rico's third goal in the 55th and Addlery scored again in the 81st. Bill Gaudette's shutout attempt was ruined two minutes later when Richard Martinez put the ball in the back of his own net.
Galaxy coach Bruce Arena kept his primary offensive weapons with Edson Buddle and Landon Donovan playing 90 minutes the night before their appearance as MLS All-Stars. What Arena changed was his keeper, putting on Josh Saunders for MLS best Donovan Ricketts. There was gamesmanship in the move, with Saunders a former Islander. Instead, the Galaxy defense simply didn't play to form against an Islanders team that made the most of limited opportunities. 9 shots taken, 6 on goal, and 4 goals scored to the Galaxy's 23 taken, 7 on goal, and none scored.
"This has nothing to do with the schedule," Arena said. "I mean, Puerto Rico had to do a little bit of traveling. This has nothing to do with our schedule. If we for a second use that as an excuse, we are absolutely insane. Maybe rip the coach here. As much as our performance and some players didn’t execute absolutely, but when you get a result like that, I don’t think the coach did a good job tonight, either."
It was a better night for MLS in Toronto, with Toronto FC getting a 1-0 win over CD Motagua with Chad Barrett scored in the 20th minute. There wasn't a lot of offense in front of 18,891 at BMO Field, with Stefan Frei needing 2 saves for the shutout and Toronto putting 3 shots on goal.
In other Champions League Qualifiers on Tuesday, Santos Laguna got a 1-0 win over San Juan Jabloteh and Cruz Azul beat Panama's San Francisco 3-2. Santos and Cruz Azul host their second games.
