Landon Donovan scored the go-ahead goal for defending Open Cup champion Los Angeles in its 3-1 semifinal win over the Houston Dynamo, which, when it was the San Jose Earthquakes, had been eliminated four previous times by L.A. from the Open Cup.
Alan Gordon, who notched two goals last weekend for the Galaxy in MLS play, opened the scoring before Dwayne De Rosario equalized. Santino Quaranta scored the Galaxy's third goal in front of 6,144 crowd at The Depot.
Rookie Calen Carr scored twice after Justin Mapp opened Chicago's account in a 3-0 win over D.C. United to send the Fire to the U.S. Open Cup final. Second-half red cards went to D.C. United's Facundo Erpen and Chicago's Chris Armas, who will be suspended for the final. Attendance at the Fire's Toyota Park was 5,153.
The Fire aims for its fourth Open Cup title after victories in 1998, 2000 and 2003. Los Angeles won the 2001 Open Cup in addition to last year's title.
Since MLS teams' 1996 entry in the 92-year-old competition they have won all but one Open Cup. The USL's Rochester won in 1999.
The U.S. Open Cup winner gets $100,000 and the runner-up $50,000.