“The suggestion might seem counterintuitive, but on a weekend when the Galaxy allowed a franchise-record six goals in a 6-3 loss to Dallas and Chivas USA shut out New England 2-0, it was the attacking deficiencies of both Carson-based teams that caught the eye,” writes Nick Green of the Los Angeles Daily News. Both teams rank toward the bottom of the league in offensive statistics. Chivas USA ranks last in shots on goal and 13th in both goals and assists. The Galaxy ranks 11th in shots and ninth and 10th in goals and assists, respectively.
Except for the brilliant Landon Donovan, whose 10 goals means he is averaging a goal every other game, no other Galaxy player has scored more than four times this season. First-choice strikers Edson Buddle and Alecko Eskandarian have six goals between them as injuries have limited the two to only 11 starts. Buddle’s first appearance since July in the final minutes of the 6-3 loss to Dallas underscored how much the team had missed him. Buddle took only 20 minutes to find the back of the net, off a header from a David Beckham cross.
Chivas USA relies on top scorer Eduardo Lillingston, who has scored seven goals in 21 games, while few other players have produced. Cuban Maykel Galindo hasn’t been the same player since a succession of injuries in the wake of his breakout 2007 season, when he finished fifth in the MLS scoring race with 12 goals and five assists. He has just four goals in the past two seasons and is still struggling to regain match fitness. Sacha Kleijstan has also struggled to duplicate last year’s form, when he notched five goals and seven assists. This year he has managed only three goals and two assists.
Chivas coach Preki voiced his frustrations with his offense after the win over New England. “It was just frustrating for us on the bench not to be able to score a second goal. I thought in the first 15-20 minutes we should have at least had another one and put the game away,” Preki said. “For whatever reason, the ball is not rolling in the net for us easy all year, and that’s one thing that hopefully will change.” Both the Galaxy and Chivas look likely to achieve postseason berths, but their lack of firepower doesn’t bode well for the postseason success.