MLS Cup 2012
EventMLS Cup
DateDecember 1, 2012
VenueThe Home Depot Center, Carson, California, US
Man of the MatchOmar Gonzalez
(LA Galaxy)
RefereeSilviu Petrescu
Attendance30,510
WeatherOvercast, 64 °F (18 °C)

MLS Cup 2012, the 17th edition of Major League Soccer's championship match, was a rematch between the Houston Dynamo and the Los Angeles Galaxy to decide the champion of the 2012 season. The soccer match was played at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California on December 1, 2012.[1] Los Angeles defeated Houston 3–1 giving the Galaxy their second-straight league title and their fourth overall.[2][3][4]

Calen Carr lies injured as David Beckham look on during the 2012 MLS Cup.

For the first time in MLS Cup history, the championship was not held at a predetermined neutral site. Instead, the match venue was held in the home stadium of the finalist with the best regular season record, in this case The Home Depot Center (Los Angeles), which broke the MLS record for hosting the most MLS Cup matches (5).[5] The game was a rematch of the 2011 MLS Cup, won 1–0 by the Galaxy.

As MLS Cup finalists, both Houston and Los Angeles qualified for the 2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League (champion in Pot A, runner-up in Pot B).

Road to the final

Los Angeles Galaxy Round Houston Dynamo
Western Conference
Team GP W L T GF GA GD Pts
San Jose Earthquakes 3419697243+2966
Real Salt Lake 34171164635+1157
Seattle Sounders FC 34158115133+1856
Los Angeles Galaxy 34161265947+1254
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 341113103541−643
Regular season
Eastern Conference
Team GP W L T GF GA GD Pts.
Sporting Kansas City 3418794227+1563
D.C. United 34171075343+1058
New York Red Bulls 3416995746+1157
Chicago Fire 34171164641+557
Houston Dynamo 34149114841+753
Opponent Result Legs Playoffs Opponent Result Legs
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2–1 2–1 home Knockout Round Chicago Fire 2–1 2–1 away
San Jose Earthquakes 3–2 0–1 home; 3–1 away Conf. Semifinals Sporting Kansas City 2–1 2–0 home; 0–1 away
Seattle Sounders FC 4–2 3–0 home; 1–2 away Conference Finals D.C. United 4–2 3–1 home; 1–1 away

Los Angeles Galaxy

Galaxy striker, Robbie Keane, lead the team in scoring during the 2012 MLS Cup Playoffs.

Los Angeles Galaxy entered the 2012 season as the defending MLS Cup champions, as well as the Supporters Shield titleholders, becoming the first team since 2008 to achieve a "league double" (having the best regular season record, and winning the championship). Due to preseason injuries, the Galaxy started their 2012 campaign off on a rough note, at point being at the bottom of the Western Conference table. Their 3–8–2 record to begin the season caused many critics to wonder if the club was even capable of qualifying for the 2012 MLS Cup Playoffs.[6]

Midway through the regular season however, Los Angeles went on a resurgence, that saw the club climb as high as third place in the Western Conference. Many point to the return of center-back Omar Gonzalez as a source for the team's renowned success, as well as the Josh Saunders returning from injury. Due to their early season underachievement, the club was unable to ever seriously be in the talks of the Supporters Shield race. Their revitalization in the regular season got them within a dozen points of eventual premiers, and their upstate rivals, San Jose Earthquakes, but in early October Los Angeles was mathematically unable to defend the Shield for what would have been a record third-consecutive year.

The regular season ended with the Galaxy finishing fourth place in the West, and eighth place overall, their poorest regular season performance since 2008. Despite this, the club embarked on a remarkable run in the MLS Cup Playoffs, having to play a record five matches before reaching the MLS Cup final. Despite this, the club lost two matches during the run, one being at home. The Galaxy's playoff campaign began a month before MLS Cup, on November 1, hosting the fifth-placed Vancouver Whitecaps FC at the Home Depot Center, in the wildcard round. Many pundits and media outlets expected Los Angeles to be heavy favorites in this round, mostly due to Los Angeles' strong form, in stark contrast to Vancouver's weak form (the Whitecaps had only won a single match in their last 11).

Despite the predictions, Los Angeles fell behind Vancouver very early on, due to a third-minute goal from the Whitecaps' Darren Mattocks. Despite the advantage for Vancouver, Los Angeles dominated possession throughout the first half. The Galaxy's effort paid off thanks to an eight-yard volley from Mike Magee off a cross from Juninho in the 69th minute of play, tying the match at 1–1. With a minute, the Galaxy penetrated the Whitecaps' back line, as Juninho slid a pass into the penalty box to Landon Donovan. Donovan was immediately brought down by Vancouver's Martin Bonjour who had just entered the match. Center official, Silviu Petrescu gave a yellow card to Bonjour, in what some believed should have been a red card, for denial of a goal-scoring opportunity. Donovan scored on the penalty kick, and gave the Galaxy the 2–1 lead, which would eventually end up being the scoreline to the match.

"I feel like you’re assuming [Gonzalez] is really dominant. I feel like you’re wanting me to assume these things or something. I’m not comfortable assuming these things."

-San Jose striker Steven Lenhart speaking about Omar Gonzalez, November 3, 2012 [7]

As winners of the wildcard round, the Galaxy played their California Clasico rivals, San Jose Earthquakes, in the conference semifinals. San Jose, coming off a remarkable turnaround season, earned the Supporters Shield and amassed 68 points during the regular season. Some drama between the two sides sparked throughout the American soccer niche, when Galaxy defender Gonzalez described the Earthquakes' style as "embarrassing",[8] while San Jose's Steven Lenhart, who had been creating a cult-following in the league,[9][10][11] described being "unintimidated" by Gonzalez.[7] The two-leg, aggregate series began on November 4, with Los Angeles hosting San Jose. The closely knitted affair looked likely to head into a draw, until a free kick was awarded to San Jose in the third minute of second half stoppage time. San Jose, known throughout the season for their late-match heroics, notched a bizarre free kick thanks to Víctor Bernárdez.[12] The ball seeped through the wall that Los Angeles had assembled and awkwardly caught Saunders off guard, who failed to stop the shot from going in the goal. The result gave San Jose a 1–0 aggregate lead headed into the second leg.[13]

Los Angeles Galaxy became the first team to defeat San Jose at Buck Shaw Stadium since August 2011.

On November 7, Los Angeles and San Jose dueled in the second round of the conference semifinals, where Galaxy striker, Robbie Keane quickly gave the Galaxy the upper hand in the series, notching two goals in the 21st and 34th minutes of play. Los Angeles' Magee added an insurance goal that would eventually be the series winner in the 39th minute. For the remainder of the first half and a majority of the second half, Los Angeles comfortably held off San Jose, until the 'Quakes earned a free kick in the 81st minute. There, a chip from Alan Gordon gave the Quakes a late goal, resulting in Los Angeles' series lead being trimmed to a goal. For the final 10 minutes, plus added time, San Jose dominated possession but failed to find an equalizer, giving the Galaxy a fourth-straight berth into the Western Conference championship.

With the final leg being played at San Jose's Buck Shaw Stadium, where the Earthquakes went undefeated during the regular season, it looked likely for Los Angeles' postseason to end in the conference semifinals. Although there was an advantage for San Jose, the Galaxy expressed confidence heading into the second leg that they felt that the club could repeat as MLS Champs.

Houston Dynamo

Houston's home stadium, BBVA Compass Stadium. During the playoffs, Houston went undefeated here and only conceded one goal.

Houston entered the 2012 as the finalists for MLS Cup 2011, but failed to perform as well during the regular season in 2012 as they did the previous year. Barely qualifying for the playoffs, Houston finished one point ahead of Columbus Crew for the fifth and final playoff berth, although their spot in the playoffs was claimed with a week left in the regular season.

On October 31, Houston Dynamo played the Chicago Fire in the opening round of the playoffs (known as the Knockout round). Played in Chicago's suburb of Bridgeview, the Dynamo took a 1–0 lead over the Fire off a 12th-minute strike from Will Bruin. Bruin would double Houston's lead a minute into the second half, before Chicago's Alex slashed the lead in half in the 88th minute. The late surge by Chicago proved to be too little too late, as Houston advanced past Chicago and into the Conference playoff semifinals, where they took on Eastern Conference regular season, and 2012 U.S. Open Cup champions, Sporting Kansas City.

Five days after the knockout round match against Chicago, Houston's newly opened BBVA Compass Stadium hosted its first ever MLS Cup Playoffs match, for the first leg of the Conference semifinals. Taking on Sporting Kansas City, the Houston Dynamo jumped–once again–to an early lead off of an Adam Moffat goal in the 18th minute of play. Though it would end up being the leg-winning goal, Houston's Bruin score the insurance goal in the 27th minute, which would prove to eventually be the series winner. The match itself ended in a 2–0 advantage for Houston, being up two goals in the second leg.

The second leg of the Conference semifinals proved to be a hostile environment for Houston, as Kansas City dominated much of the ball possession, but failed to tally a goal in the first half of play. Kansas City would eventually score, and slash the series lead in half with a diving header from Seth Sinovic in the 64th minute. From there, it looked likely that Kansas City would eventually find the series-tying goal. Despite that onslaught of pressure from Kansas City, the Dynamo were able to hold off wave, upon wave, of attack, and even managed to create some counterattacking moments, although they were unsuccessful in doing so. Nevertheless, the match ended in a 1–0 loss to Houston, but with Houston winning the series, upsetting Kansas City 2–1 on aggregate.

In the Conference Finals, Houston Dynamo took on D.C. United, who had been returning to the playoffs for the first time in five years. The first leg of the series proved to be extremely controversial, with some saying that a decision by referee Ricardo Salazar decided the whole series. Played on November 11, United went up early off of a through ball from United's Marcelo Saragosa to rookie midfielder, Nick DeLeon who slotted a shot underneath Houston's Tally Hall to give United the 1–0 lead in the 27th minute. United maintained the 1–0 lead through the remainder of the first half. In the second half, United's Saragosa had a breakaway shot on goal, but was taken down by Houston's André Hainault. Protesting for a red card, due to a take down and denying a goal-scoring opportunity, center official Salazar did not card Hainault, nor call a foul. Subsequently, the Professional Referee's Association made a press release saying that it should have been an ejection. However, Houston eventually went on to score three unanswered goals, including one by Hainault. The decision was heavily criticized, though United's Ben Olsen said his club should have done a better job closing out the match regardless.

Honduran international, Oscar Boniek García, scored the opening goal of the second leg in the Eastern Conference championship.

A week later, the second leg of the Conference Finals, commenced, with United hosting the Dynamo at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C. In front of a season-record crowd of 20,015, the match was closely knitted for the first 20 minutes, before United began to dominate possession throughout the match, requiring Houston's Hall to make a couple acrobatic saves in the first half, primarily off of shots from United's Chris Korb and Branko Boskovic. Eleven minutes prior to halftime, Houston found themselves on a counterattack, as Adam Moffat successfully managed to penetrate the left flank of United's back line, sliding a pass to García. García, drilled the ball past United's Bill Hamid giving Houston a very likely series-clinching goal, leading 4–1 on aggregate. Plagued with injuries, United's depleted attack failed to generate much offensive output until the 80th minute, when Boskovic dribbled past three Houston defenders and slotted the match-tying goal, slashing Houston's series lead to two goals.

From there, United's attack looked more menacing for the final 10 minutes of the match, but neither side was able to capitalize on the wide-open play, as the match ended in a 1–1 draw, and Houston clinched their second consecutive Eastern Conference postseason championship, and berth into the MLS Cup final and CONCACAF Champions League.

Match details

Los Angeles Galaxy3–1Houston Dynamo
Gonzalez 60'
Donovan 65' (pen.)
Keane 90+4' (pen.)
Report Carr 44'
Los Angeles Galaxy
Houston Dynamo
GK12Puerto Rico Josh Saunders
RB5United States Sean Franklin
CB4United States Omar Gonzalez
CB21United States Tommy Meyer
LB2United States Todd Dunivant
CM19Brazil Juninhodownward-facing red arrow 76'
CM23England David Beckhamdownward-facing red arrow 89'
RM9Sweden Christian Wilhelmssondownward-facing red arrow 74'
LM18United States Mike Magee
CF7Republic of Ireland Robbie Keane
CF10United States Landon Donovan (c)Yellow card 90+2'
Substitutes:
GK24United States Brian Perk
DF20Guam A. J. DeLaGarza
DF35United States Bryan Gaul
MF8Brazil Marcelo Sarvasupward-facing green arrow 89'
MF26United States Michael Stephensupward-facing green arrow 76'
FW11United States Pat Noonan
FW14United States Edson Buddleupward-facing green arrow 74'
Manager:
United States Bruce Arena
GK1United States Tally HallYellow card 90+3'
RB8United States Kofi Sarkodiedownward-facing red arrow 77'
CB32United States Bobby BoswellYellow card 64'
CB4Jamaica Jermaine Taylor
LB26United States Corey Ashe
CM13United States Ricardo Clark
CM16Scotland Adam Moffatdownward-facing red arrow 71'
RW27Honduras Óscar Boniek García
LW11United States Brad Davis (c)
CF3United States Calen Carrdownward-facing red arrow 59'
CF12United States Will Bruin
Substitutes:
GK24United States Tyler Deric
DF31Canada André Hainault
MF17Brazil Luiz Camargo
MF23England Giles Barnesupward-facing green arrow 71'
FW9Senegal Macoumba Kandjiupward-facing green arrow 59'
FW15United States Cam Weaver
FW25United States Brian Chingupward-facing green arrow 77'
Manager:
United States Dominic Kinnear

Man of the Match:
Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles Galaxy)

Assistant referees:
Daniel Belleau
Darren Clark
Fourth official:
Hilario Grajeda

Statistics

Overall[15]
Los Angeles Galaxy Houston Dynamo
Goals scored 31
Total shots 911
Shots on target 46
Saves 24
Corner kicks 39
Fouls committed 1713
Offsides 32
Yellow cards 12
Red cards 00

See also

References

  1. "MLS reveals 2012 schedule, including MLS Cup in December". MLSSoccer.com. January 5, 2012. Retrieved January 5, 2012.
  2. "David Beckham goes out a champion as L.A. Galaxy beats Houston Dynamo". Washington Post. December 2, 2012. Retrieved December 2, 2012.
  3. "LA Galaxy 3–1 Houston Dynamo: MLS Cup final – as it happened". Guardian UK. December 2, 2012. Retrieved December 2, 2012.
  4. "Galaxy win second straight MLS Cup". ESPN. December 2, 2012. Retrieved December 3, 2012.
  5. "Beckham ends MLS career on high note with second title in a row". USA Today. December 2, 2012. Retrieved December 3, 2012.
  6. Lovell, Darrell (May 26, 2012). "Recap: Galaxy unable to hold early lead in 2–1 loss to Dynamo". Major League Soccer. LAGalaxy.com. Retrieved December 3, 2012.
  7. 1 2 Lepper, Geoff (November 4, 2012). "Lenhart, Gonzalez rekindle heightened rivalry in West semis". MLSSoccer.com.
  8. Davis, Steve (October 22, 2012). "Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez: the way San Jose plays is "embarrassing"". NBC Sports – Pro Soccer Talk. NBCSports.com. Retrieved December 3, 2012.
  9. Lepper, Geoff (May 24, 2012). ""Comeback kings" San Jose dig deep once again". Major League Soccer. MLSSoccer.com. Retrieved December 3, 2012.
  10. "The MLS Grinder: Why you hate Steven Lenhart (and why I don't)". NoShortCorners.com.
  11. Enger, Chris (May 8, 2012). "Steven Lenhart: The Punk Kid Next Door". SoccerNewsDay.com. Retrieved December 3, 2012.
  12. Rigg, Zac Lee (November 4, 2012). "LA Galaxy 0–1 San Jose Earthquakes: Late Bernardez free kick stuns defending champs". Goal.com North America. Goal.com. Retrieved December 3, 2012.
  13. Almond, Elliott (November 4, 2012). "San Jose Earthquakes beat Los Angeles Galaxy 1–0 in first leg of Western Conference semifinals". Silicon Valley Mercury News. MercuryNews.com. Retrieved December 3, 2012.
  14. "2012 MLS Cup Playoffs". MLSsoccer.com. Archived from the original on October 31, 2012. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
  15. "Match statistics". Major League Soccer. Archived from the original on February 7, 2013. Retrieved December 2, 2012.
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