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LA Galaxy and Seattle Sounders out leaving Toronto as last MLS hope
Los Angeles 1-2 Toronto (agg. 3-4)
Santos Laguna 6-1 Seattle Sounders (agg. 7-3)
Los Angeles Galaxy forward Robbie Keane has a shot blocked by Toronto FC goalkeeper Milos Kocic during the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions League soccer quarterfinal on Wednesday, March 14, 2012, in Carson, California. Toronto won 2-1 and advanced to the semifinals. Photograph: Bret Hartman/AP
Toronto are the last remaining MLS side in the Concacaf Champions League as they beat Los Angeles Galaxy at the Home Depot Center - while Seattle Sounders fell to a heavy defeat against Mexican league leaders Santos Laguna.
Santos Laguna 6-1 Seattle (agg. 7-3)
Seattle came into this game with their coach Sigi Schmid advising caution and urging his side to "defend as a collective" - but plans of a cautious rearguard action were shelved, as they conceded two quick goals, then blown away entirely, as the Mexicans ran rampant in the second half.
It might have been different had Seattle converted their first clear chance in the 7th minute - Fernandez's sharp header was met with a great reaction save by Sanchez - followed by another one at point blank range as Evans tried to nod in the rebound. But with the replays of the Sounders' near miss still playing, Santos took the lead. Christian Suarez cut neatly past two defenders on the edge of the box, shaped to curl the ball into the far corner, then instead reshaped to beat Gspurning at the near post. A minute later and Santos had doubled their lead. Peralta split his markers and spun off the last man, Hurtado, by the penalty spot, to poke under Gspurning.
In a perverse way, the situation seemed to suit Seattle as they now had to do what comes naturally and come forward. For the most part their best chances would come from set pieces - and in the 37th minute they got their breakthrough. A Montero corner was cleared, but not fully, and the ball was sent back wide to him. His cross found Fernandez in space at the six yard line to head home and level the aggregate scores.
Seattle were happy to go into the half level, but were put on notice in the first minute of the second half, as Santos came out strongly. Gomez made a short diagonal run of the type that brought him a goal in the first leg and found himself totally free in the heart of the box. He seemed unable to believe he wasn't offside and blazed over, but three minutes later, yet another fast Santos break was cut back perfectly by Suarez and this time Gomez crashed home.
If anything Santos were faster and more direct throughout the second half, countering at speed, stretching Seattle and finding more and more space as the half wore on. By the time Eddie Johnson came on as a sub in the 63rd minute, all the main chances of the half had belonged to the home team. Johnson almost made an instant impact with a shot Sanchez had to get down sharply to at the near post, but five minutes later Estrada, ubiquitous for Santos, had rendered the American forward's contribution irrelevant. From midway inside the Seattle half, Estrada split their defense with a perfectly weighted through ball. It gave Peralta the simplest task to set up Gomez with a simple touch home, for his second goal of the night.
With Seattle needing two goals, they were stretched to breaking point and Santos were merciless with the space they were given. On 76 minutes Suarez made it five. Yet again Estrada found himself in an advanced position for Santos and switched the ball wide to wrong foot the entire Seattle defence on the edge of the box. Racing in from the right, Suarez fired home. Five minutes after that Hurtado failed to cut out another cross field ball to the same area and this time it was Ochoa arriving to finish coolly.
It was a cruel result for Seattle, and in particular the inventive Rosales, who can expect to dissect most of the defenses he faces in MLS this season. They played their part in this tie, but must now turn their attention to their domestic campaign, which starts this Saturday night when they host another Champions League quarter-finalist, Toronto.
Santos Laguna 6
Suarez (8, 76), Peralta (10), Gomez (49, 68), Ochoa (81))
Seattle Sounders 1
Fernandez (37)
(agg: 7-3)
Santos Laguna: Sanchez, Mares, Estrada, Baloy, Galindo, Crosas (Salinas), Rodriguez, Suárez, Ludueña (Ramirez), Gómez (Ochoa), Peralta
Seattle Sounders: Gspurning, Parke, Kennedy, Johansson (Levesque), Gonzalez (Sivebaek), Fernandez, Alonso, Evans, Rosales, Estrada (Johnson), Montero
Los Angeles 1-2 Toronto (agg.3-4)
After the crazed, debris-strewn atmosphere of last week's first leg in Toronto, this was a game played in the surreal environment of a quarter full Home Depot Center, and strewn mainly with incomplete passes and disjointed play. All that will be of little concern to Toronto FC, who made the most of their limited chances, to dump Los Angeles Galaxy out of the Champions League and advance to a tough semi-final against Santos Laguna.
With midweek noise ordinances capping the attendance, only the most faithful of LA fans, and a handful of their Toronto counterparts, were able to cheer on their side in this second leg. Not that the game gave the hardcore home fans much to cheer about, as Los Angeles looked one-dimensional and ragged - despite being given plenty of opportunities by a Toronto defense who struggled with their own organizational discipline.
Needing a win or a high-scoring draw to advance, Toronto had few coherent attacks in the opening half hour and showed little ambition. With no onus to get men forward themselves, Galaxy largely restricted themselves to lobbing long balls into the problem space behind Frings and the Toronto center backs. A sharper Galaxy front line, or Santos Laguna for that matter (or indeed Seattle's Rosales), would have wreaked havoc, but defensive frailties aside, Galaxy have looked curiously incoherent in their link up play in these opening games, by their own high standards. So whilst Magee and Buddle both sprang the offside trap with inventive runs, they didn't turn consistently dangerous situations into goals.
On 34 minutes they were punished for failing to take their chances. For once Toronto committed men forward and when Soolsma floated a ball to the back post, Johnson moved off the last man to head past Saunders. For the next few minutes Toronto were briefly in the ascendancy, though their ambitions didn't last long - having reached half time with the lead, Aron Winter's defensive instincts kicked in again and he withdrew Plata for the defense minded Dunfield, to try to stifle LA's midfield.
It seemed dangerously early to go for this option - last week Plata's withdrawal freed LA's backs to push forward, without his pace to give them pause. And Toronto's first half performance hardly suggested the defensive solidity to see out the kind of 1-0 grind that Los Angeles had patented in their run to MLS Cup last year. Sure enough, LA began to put Toronto under pressure from the start of the second half. In the 51st minute a raking Beckham cross from deep was flicked on by Magee into the path of Keane at the back post - but his shot was straight at Kocic.
Toronto should have taken note of the danger, but instead LA drew level, and ahead on aggregate, just four minutes later. Yet another long ball over the top found Donovan, who squared the ball into the path of Keane. Racing back to cover, the luckless Ty Harden could only turn his attempted interception into his own net.
After the drama of the first leg, the tie had taken another twist. Toronto now needed another goal - with one of their most potent weapons across the two legs, now off the field. Winter was forced into a change and brought off one of his DPs, De Guzman, for the attacking potential of the rookie Silva. With 66 minutes gone they snatched the lead again. Galaxy looked to have plenty of cover when a Ryan Johnson cross landed in the heart of the box, but Soolsma streaked in to score.
Now it was Galaxy who needed to score, just to take the game to extra time - yet it was Toronto who had the chance to finish the game, as when Silva shot just wide after a 3-on-2 break. With just over quarter of an hour to go Arena went to his bench - bringing on Cardozo and Keat for Magee and Franklin. They almost had an instant result. Reconfiguring for the changes, Toronto's defense were wrong-footed by a neat Donovan flick that left Keane free, but, typical of Galaxy's night, his short range chip over Kocic was flailed clear by the goalkeeper, who had stayed up well.
It proved to be their best chance, as an exhausted Galaxy slumped to their second consecutive home defeat and an uncomfortable inquest for Arena's selection policy in their opening games of a much anticipated season. Toronto march on - carrying the Champions League hopes of MLS with them.
Los Angeles 1
Harden OG (55)
Toronto 2
Johnson (34), Soolsma (66)
(agg 3-4)
Los Angeles Galaxy: Saunders, Franklin (Keat), Meyer (Barrett), Dunivant, DeLaGarza, Magee (Cardozo), Beckham, Juninho, Buddle, Donovan, Keane
Toronto FC: Kocic, Aceval, Eckersley, Harden, Morgan, de Guzman (Silva), Frings, Plata (Dunfield), Koevermans (Maund), Johnson, Soolsma
Los Angeles 1-2 Toronto (agg. 3-4)
Santos Laguna 6-1 Seattle Sounders (agg. 7-3)
- Graham Parker
- guardian.co.uk, Thursday 15 March 2012 05.19 GMT
- Article history
Los Angeles Galaxy forward Robbie Keane has a shot blocked by Toronto FC goalkeeper Milos Kocic during the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions League soccer quarterfinal on Wednesday, March 14, 2012, in Carson, California. Toronto won 2-1 and advanced to the semifinals. Photograph: Bret Hartman/APToronto are the last remaining MLS side in the Concacaf Champions League as they beat Los Angeles Galaxy at the Home Depot Center - while Seattle Sounders fell to a heavy defeat against Mexican league leaders Santos Laguna.
Santos Laguna 6-1 Seattle (agg. 7-3)
Seattle came into this game with their coach Sigi Schmid advising caution and urging his side to "defend as a collective" - but plans of a cautious rearguard action were shelved, as they conceded two quick goals, then blown away entirely, as the Mexicans ran rampant in the second half.
It might have been different had Seattle converted their first clear chance in the 7th minute - Fernandez's sharp header was met with a great reaction save by Sanchez - followed by another one at point blank range as Evans tried to nod in the rebound. But with the replays of the Sounders' near miss still playing, Santos took the lead. Christian Suarez cut neatly past two defenders on the edge of the box, shaped to curl the ball into the far corner, then instead reshaped to beat Gspurning at the near post. A minute later and Santos had doubled their lead. Peralta split his markers and spun off the last man, Hurtado, by the penalty spot, to poke under Gspurning.
In a perverse way, the situation seemed to suit Seattle as they now had to do what comes naturally and come forward. For the most part their best chances would come from set pieces - and in the 37th minute they got their breakthrough. A Montero corner was cleared, but not fully, and the ball was sent back wide to him. His cross found Fernandez in space at the six yard line to head home and level the aggregate scores.
Seattle were happy to go into the half level, but were put on notice in the first minute of the second half, as Santos came out strongly. Gomez made a short diagonal run of the type that brought him a goal in the first leg and found himself totally free in the heart of the box. He seemed unable to believe he wasn't offside and blazed over, but three minutes later, yet another fast Santos break was cut back perfectly by Suarez and this time Gomez crashed home.
If anything Santos were faster and more direct throughout the second half, countering at speed, stretching Seattle and finding more and more space as the half wore on. By the time Eddie Johnson came on as a sub in the 63rd minute, all the main chances of the half had belonged to the home team. Johnson almost made an instant impact with a shot Sanchez had to get down sharply to at the near post, but five minutes later Estrada, ubiquitous for Santos, had rendered the American forward's contribution irrelevant. From midway inside the Seattle half, Estrada split their defense with a perfectly weighted through ball. It gave Peralta the simplest task to set up Gomez with a simple touch home, for his second goal of the night.
With Seattle needing two goals, they were stretched to breaking point and Santos were merciless with the space they were given. On 76 minutes Suarez made it five. Yet again Estrada found himself in an advanced position for Santos and switched the ball wide to wrong foot the entire Seattle defence on the edge of the box. Racing in from the right, Suarez fired home. Five minutes after that Hurtado failed to cut out another cross field ball to the same area and this time it was Ochoa arriving to finish coolly.
It was a cruel result for Seattle, and in particular the inventive Rosales, who can expect to dissect most of the defenses he faces in MLS this season. They played their part in this tie, but must now turn their attention to their domestic campaign, which starts this Saturday night when they host another Champions League quarter-finalist, Toronto.
Santos Laguna 6
Suarez (8, 76), Peralta (10), Gomez (49, 68), Ochoa (81))
Seattle Sounders 1
Fernandez (37)
(agg: 7-3)
Santos Laguna: Sanchez, Mares, Estrada, Baloy, Galindo, Crosas (Salinas), Rodriguez, Suárez, Ludueña (Ramirez), Gómez (Ochoa), Peralta
Seattle Sounders: Gspurning, Parke, Kennedy, Johansson (Levesque), Gonzalez (Sivebaek), Fernandez, Alonso, Evans, Rosales, Estrada (Johnson), Montero
Los Angeles 1-2 Toronto (agg.3-4)
After the crazed, debris-strewn atmosphere of last week's first leg in Toronto, this was a game played in the surreal environment of a quarter full Home Depot Center, and strewn mainly with incomplete passes and disjointed play. All that will be of little concern to Toronto FC, who made the most of their limited chances, to dump Los Angeles Galaxy out of the Champions League and advance to a tough semi-final against Santos Laguna.
With midweek noise ordinances capping the attendance, only the most faithful of LA fans, and a handful of their Toronto counterparts, were able to cheer on their side in this second leg. Not that the game gave the hardcore home fans much to cheer about, as Los Angeles looked one-dimensional and ragged - despite being given plenty of opportunities by a Toronto defense who struggled with their own organizational discipline.
Needing a win or a high-scoring draw to advance, Toronto had few coherent attacks in the opening half hour and showed little ambition. With no onus to get men forward themselves, Galaxy largely restricted themselves to lobbing long balls into the problem space behind Frings and the Toronto center backs. A sharper Galaxy front line, or Santos Laguna for that matter (or indeed Seattle's Rosales), would have wreaked havoc, but defensive frailties aside, Galaxy have looked curiously incoherent in their link up play in these opening games, by their own high standards. So whilst Magee and Buddle both sprang the offside trap with inventive runs, they didn't turn consistently dangerous situations into goals.
On 34 minutes they were punished for failing to take their chances. For once Toronto committed men forward and when Soolsma floated a ball to the back post, Johnson moved off the last man to head past Saunders. For the next few minutes Toronto were briefly in the ascendancy, though their ambitions didn't last long - having reached half time with the lead, Aron Winter's defensive instincts kicked in again and he withdrew Plata for the defense minded Dunfield, to try to stifle LA's midfield.
It seemed dangerously early to go for this option - last week Plata's withdrawal freed LA's backs to push forward, without his pace to give them pause. And Toronto's first half performance hardly suggested the defensive solidity to see out the kind of 1-0 grind that Los Angeles had patented in their run to MLS Cup last year. Sure enough, LA began to put Toronto under pressure from the start of the second half. In the 51st minute a raking Beckham cross from deep was flicked on by Magee into the path of Keane at the back post - but his shot was straight at Kocic.
Toronto should have taken note of the danger, but instead LA drew level, and ahead on aggregate, just four minutes later. Yet another long ball over the top found Donovan, who squared the ball into the path of Keane. Racing back to cover, the luckless Ty Harden could only turn his attempted interception into his own net.
After the drama of the first leg, the tie had taken another twist. Toronto now needed another goal - with one of their most potent weapons across the two legs, now off the field. Winter was forced into a change and brought off one of his DPs, De Guzman, for the attacking potential of the rookie Silva. With 66 minutes gone they snatched the lead again. Galaxy looked to have plenty of cover when a Ryan Johnson cross landed in the heart of the box, but Soolsma streaked in to score.
Now it was Galaxy who needed to score, just to take the game to extra time - yet it was Toronto who had the chance to finish the game, as when Silva shot just wide after a 3-on-2 break. With just over quarter of an hour to go Arena went to his bench - bringing on Cardozo and Keat for Magee and Franklin. They almost had an instant result. Reconfiguring for the changes, Toronto's defense were wrong-footed by a neat Donovan flick that left Keane free, but, typical of Galaxy's night, his short range chip over Kocic was flailed clear by the goalkeeper, who had stayed up well.
It proved to be their best chance, as an exhausted Galaxy slumped to their second consecutive home defeat and an uncomfortable inquest for Arena's selection policy in their opening games of a much anticipated season. Toronto march on - carrying the Champions League hopes of MLS with them.
Los Angeles 1
Harden OG (55)
Toronto 2
Johnson (34), Soolsma (66)
(agg 3-4)
Los Angeles Galaxy: Saunders, Franklin (Keat), Meyer (Barrett), Dunivant, DeLaGarza, Magee (Cardozo), Beckham, Juninho, Buddle, Donovan, Keane
Toronto FC: Kocic, Aceval, Eckersley, Harden, Morgan, de Guzman (Silva), Frings, Plata (Dunfield), Koevermans (Maund), Johnson, Soolsma
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