Galaxy Shines but Creates Few Fireworks in 1-0 Win

They could have had six goals. Perhaps even seven.

So absolute was the Galaxy’s domination of the Columbus Crew in front 53,844 at the Rose Bowl Tuesday night that the final score--Galaxy 1, Crew 0--is completely misleading.

It was, in short, a night of many chances but all too few goals, at least for the soccer fans in the large Fourth of July crowd, the largest of the Major League Soccer season.

Luis Hernandez twice was robbed by the woodwork, hitting the crossbar in the 11th minute and the right post in the 60th.

Danny Califf twice was robbed by bad luck in the space of one minute in the second half--once when his goal-bound shot struck a fallen defender and deflected up and over the bar and again when he fired just wide of the right post.

Marvin Quijano hooked a shot over the bar off a Cobi Jones pass when it was easier to score than miss, and Mauricio Cienfuegos was denied at point-blank range by Crew goalkeeper Mark Dougherty.

“Offensively it was much better [than previous games],” Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid said. “I think we were unfortunate, a little bit, with our timing. That’s maybe why we didn’t get three or four [goals].”

“We have an idea [of] who needs to play where right now and how that mixes. Now it’s a matter of getting the timing [of runs and passes] down.”

Coming off its worst loss of the season--a 4-2 defeat at the Dallas Burn on Saturday--the Galaxy wasted little time in showing that had been only a temporary lapse.

It took Los Angeles (9-5-7) less than four minutes to take the lead against a Columbus team that was coming off a 2-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes but which hasn’t won two in a row since May.

Galaxy midfielder Simon Elliott started the move on the left, passing the ball to a goal-hungry Hernandez. The Mexican striker immediately found Cienfuegos with a sharp pass and the Salvadoran playmaker did the rest.

He accelerated between defender Michael Clark and midfielder John DeBrito and fired a shot that sneaked into the net at the right post, beating goalkeeper Dougherty from 18 yards.

It was Cienfuegos’ second goal of the season and the first since his spectacular bicycle kick goal against the New England Revolution at the Rose Bowl on April 1.

The early goal, only 3:14 into the game, helped the Galaxy find a smooth rhythm. The team looked more confident and cohesive than it has lately, with defensive midfielder Sasha Victorine, in particular, combining well with the four defenders behind him and allowing the Galaxy to build its attack from the back.

Despite dominating the first 45 minutes and out-shooting the Crew, 11-2, the Galaxy took only the one-goal lead into the locker room. The statistic did not trouble Los Angeles, however, knowing that Columbus is 0-28 all-time on the road in the regular season and playoffs when trailing at the half.

Now, it’s 0-29, and the victory means Los Angeles is 8-0-1 when scoring first.

The Crew (7-9-4) has one of the league’s best forwards in Dante Washington, but the former U.S. Olympic team player (Barcelona ‘92) seldom received the ball in dangerous positions and was effectively thwarted by the Galaxy back line of Paul Caligiuri, Robin Fraser, Danny Califf and Greg Vanney.

Combined, they made it an easy evening for goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, who earned his sixth shutout of the season.

The victory, combined with the Kansas City Wizards’ tie with the Earthquakes, moved the Galaxy to within four points of first place in the Western Division.