[MLS NAMES & NUMBERS] Landon Donovan finished off a nice sequence of counterattack passing to send the Galaxy past Chicago. Seattle ended Columbus’ home unbeaten streak. A couple of midseason signings scored their first goals. And San Jose made sure it wouldn’t finish rock bottom in 2009. For MLS’s weekend highlights. …
LANDON DONOVAN. His 11th goal of the season gave the Los Angeles Galaxy a 1-0 win over Chicago in front of a home crowd of 21,679 that sends the Galaxy to the playoffs after missing the postseason the last three years.
24. Seattle ended defending champion Columbus Crew‘s 24-game league-record home unbeaten streak with a 1-0 win on a goal by Roger Levesque. The Crew’s Guillermo Barros Schelotto had a chance to keep the streak intact, but shot wide on an 82nd minute penalty kick – his first MLS miss from the spot after eight conversions. The Crew’s run included 22 regular-season and two playoff games.
LUIS ANGEL LANDIN. The Houston Dynamo’s first Designated Player — the Mexican striker signed in August — scored his first MLS goal in a 1-1 tie with Kansas City that clinched a playoff spot for the Dynamo.
16. Colorado’s Conor Casey and FC Dallas’ Jeff Cunningham share the league in scoring. Cunningham scored his 16th in a 1-0 win over New England on Wednesday. And the Revs were also Casey’s victim on Saturday when his 58th minute penalty kick equalized Kheli Dube first-half goal in the 1-1 game in front of 16,535 at the Rapids’ Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. It was the third time in four games that Colorado salvaged a 1-1 tie thanks to a late Casey penalty kick.
JESUS PADILLA. The 22-year-old Mexican-American who is on loan from sister club Guadalajara scored his first MLS goal for Chivas USA, which he joined in August, in a 2-0 win at D.C. United. Padilla scored after Chivas USA took the lead on an own goal by Milos Kocic and before United’s Ben Olsen was ejected for retaliation.
26. In a battle between the league’s two worst teams, San Jose extended its unbeaten streak to four games with a 1-0 win over the New York Red Bulls on a Ryan Johnson penalty kick. The Red Bulls’ loss extended its record road-game winless streak to 26 games – it last won away in May 2008 – and assured the Red Bulls of finishing with the worst record of 2009.