AP: c215618d-69ed-4eda-83cd-1aa7460807b7
Seattle's Fredy Montero goes down as he battles with Los Angeles' David Beckham, right, and Edson Buddle, left, for the ball in the first half. (AP)

Galaxy advance to MLS Cup final 4-2 on aggregate

November 18, 2012 @ 9:54 pm (Updated: 9:09 am - 11/19/12 )

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By TIM BOOTH
AP Sports Writer

SEATTLE (AP) - Robbie Keane stood next to the conference title trophy, politely smiled for the picture and let the confetti rain down.

Just as quick, Keane, David Beckham and the rest of the Los Angeles Galaxy were rushing off the stage at midfield and ready to get out of Seattle, thankful there is still one more game in their surprising season.

"Certainly they were the better team tonight there's no question," Keane said. "At the end of the day we're in the final, that's all that matter."

Eddie Johnson and Zach Scott scored to give Seattle a 2-0 lead, but Keane converted a penalty kick in the 68th minute on Sunday night that clinched the Los Angeles Galaxy's 4-2 aggregate victory over the Sounders in the Western Conference finals and a spot in the MLS Cup final for the second straight year.

Frantic and desperate, Seattle rallied from a 3-0 deficit after getting overwhelmed in the first leg of the Western Conference finals last week.

And they were on the verge of completing the huge comeback after Johnson's goal just 12 minutes in, and Scott's header in the 58th minute pulled Seattle within one in the aggregate count.

Just when Los Angeles needed something, anything to stem the wave of momentum the Sounders were on trying to find a tying goal, Keane expertly controlled the ball along the end line and was able to send a cross that caught Seattle defender Adam Johansson's hand.

There was no hesitation from referee Mark Geiger, who was the subject of complaints all night from both sides, and he called a handball in the penalty box. Keane then converted his fifth goal of the playoffs and all but ended Seattle's chances at a rally.

A statement from Geiger after the match said he made the call because Johansson had extended his arms outside his body and making himself bigger by taking space.

"At that point it took the air out of Seattle and its fans," Los Angeles coach Bruce Arena said. "It was an important goal."

After fighting back from an awful start to finish fourth in the Western Conference, the Galaxy's reward is a rematch with Houston in the MLS Cup final on Dec. 1, a game Los Angeles will host.

It'll pit the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds from each conference in the title match and be the Galaxy's third appearance in the final in the past four seasons.

"There were many times (this year) we would have been ecstatic just to get to the playoffs," said Galaxy midfielder Landon Donovan, who did not play with a hamstring strain. "But you've got to give our guys a lot of credit from where we were the beginning of June to where we are now it's pretty impressive."

For the second straight year, Seattle's season ended because it was unable to make up a three-goal deficit in the second leg at home. The Sounders' frustration boiled over after the final whistle when Johnson and Osvaldo Alonso both confronted Geiger at midfield while the Galaxy celebrated.

"Kind of put a stab in our hearts at that point because we worked so hard and felt like we were back in the game," Johnson said of Keane's goal. "It was painful today. Credit to them, good team, got the job done in first game. When put yourself in difficult situation against defending champions, it's tough to get back."

Even though Los Angeles knew Seattle would attack from the start, the Galaxy were overwhelmed the first 15 minutes. In the 11th minute, Johnson appeared to get Seattle the lead off a quick pass by Christian Tiffert, but was disallowed as Johnson was offside. Television replays showed Johnson was onside when the pass was played and the goal should have counted, but it became a moot point moments later.

Scott won a free ball in midfield and sent it ahead to Johnson, who got position on Omar Gonzalez and scored with a left-footed blast giving Seattle a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute.

Seattle continued to press for chances, but was unable to draw any closer by halftime. Los Angeles nearly got a decisive break just before halftime when Mike Magee's shot was blocked in the penalty box and appeared to hit the arm of Seattle's Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, but Geiger immediate waived off any handball call.

Scott then made the possibility of Seattle's rally realistic when he scored on a diving header that Tiffert smartly played toward the near post. It was just the eighth goal for Seattle in MLS play off set pieces all season and gave Seattle more than 30 minutes to try and equalize.

"We felt we were in pretty good shape ... that we could get the third," Seattle coach Sigi Schmid said.

But the handball ended all those hopes and re-established a two-goal cushion and silenced a crowd of 44,575, the largest for a non-final in MLS playoff history and the sixth largest for any MLS playoff game. Keane had two goals and an assist in the first leg.

"There is no way you can try and get a penalty in that situation," Keane said. "I was just trying to get the ball across and the referee gave the penalty. Lucky for us."


(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Comments (10)


  • Add A Comment

  • maplefish wrote...
    Bummer
    November 18, 2012 9:10 pm
    Can't believe our soccor team lost....whaaaaaaaaa
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Shplunker wrote...
    Stop crying seattle....
    November 19, 2012 6:55 am
    It's not even a sport. A bunch of whiners, running around in a box.... hoping for tie (might as well give them a yellow participation ribbon.) Would be better to have a bunch of judges lined up on the sidelines to raise scorecards on the quality of the "flop". At the end of the day, just add up the scores and give someone the win.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • soo purletiv wrote...
    Another season ends
    November 19, 2012 7:41 am
    due to a stupid MLS rule.

    How dumb is it to have the better regular season record team start on the road! And then the team with more goals, not wins in a series, wins the series by aggregate.

    Stupid,stupid, stupid!!!!!

    Why is it so hard for the MLS to figure out a best of 3 makes more sense? Second year in a row the Sounders lose to such a stupid rule.

    STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!!!!!!

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Rayvensdad wrote...
    soo purletiv...
    November 19, 2012 11:03 am
    No... second year in a row that the Sounders lost... because they failed to do their job! Plain and simple!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Lessmith50 wrote...
    Nothing personal soccer fans
    November 19, 2012 7:43 am
    But this is exactly why this sport will NEVER amount to nothing in my world. I have played sports all my life through youth leagues to high school and college. I cannot fathom in my little brain ANY game that ends in a tie or your lose a series when you actually won one and lost one. I cannot fathom that in baseball, football, or basketball. I cannot imagine playing a best of seven in basketball and you win 4 out of 7 and still lose because some chump team ran up the score in one game. Just doesnt compute to me. ONE GAME ONE WINNER! Nothing personal soccer fans. I am glad we have a great team and facility to play in a root for. I just dont understand the tie thing and aggragate total thing. Doesnt make one lick of sense to me.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • flipper wrote...
    You stay classy, Seattle
    November 19, 2012 8:47 am
    Happened to flip to ESPN during a timeout of Sunday Night Football (love the Steelers Hooped jerseys, by the way). Saw the last minute of stoppage time and the utter classlessness of the soccer player and soccer fan in the diatribe after the game. I've been to a couple of Sounders games and from what I can tell, the games are no more than a reason to get blistered drunk and then sing for 2 hours and jump up and down. They have a diagnosis for that. It's called insanity. What a complete bunch of losers. Oh and I agree with others. Two games and aggregate score? Really? what the flip (since I can't use W-T-F) is that?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Rayvensdad wrote...
    Amazing...
    November 19, 2012 11:01 am
    All the negative comments on here because you guys can't "fathom" why anyone, including the majority of the world, loves this sport??? You don't get aggregate style playoffs? Do we need to dumb it down for you??? It's as balanced of a playoff system as they come. You think it is stupid? How about our beloved Seahawks hosting a playoff game at 7-9 against a 10 win team. Yeah... that's not stupid. How about a World Series Home-Away split that is completely decided upon an All Star Game's winner. Not stupid at all. Or a playoff system that is only really interesting in a Game 7, IF the game is close in the final minutes.

    The format of MLS soccer is consistent with the rest of the world, and the rest of the world is NOT consistent with the idiocies of American sports.

    If you guys want to bash the sport, fine... but don't act like your beloved "big three" in this country are perfect and without flaws. In baseball and basketball, the big markets get to decide pretty much everything while the smaller markets, like Seattle, end up being the bottom feeders for the majority of the existence of the sport. In football, the Commissioner is slowing turning it into Flag Football by trying to prevent injuries. Freaking ridiculous to try and prevent all injuries in a sport where guys crash into each other for 4 straight quarters. And you don't like the flopping of soccer... well it is happening in football too. Guys grabbing their hamstrings to stop the no-huddle offense is becoming a regular practice. Football fans don't like it, soccer fans don't like it, but it is simply a strategic point... nothing less.

    You don't like soccer... big freaking woop. No surprise here. Flipper, you said: "I've been to a couple of Sounders games and from what I can tell, the games are no more than a reason to get blistered drunk and then sing for 2 hours and jump up and down. They have a diagnosis for that. It's called insanity. What a complete bunch of losers..." But they definitely don't serve alcohol during football games, AND BY NO WAY do guys get blistering drunk there either! The fact that you "flipped to the last minute of stoppage" shows you didn't have a bloody clue as to what had transcended during the game. No clue that the referee completely screwed the sounders on some Pivotally blown calls! You call what the soccer player was doing classless, I call it passion and frustration. What... you've never seen an angry sports player? Just because they play in the "big three" they get a pass??? Hypocritically ignorant idiots love to bash one sport for something that happens all over the sporting world. You don't understand soccer... no one asked you to. It apparently is much too fast of a game without all the stopping for huddles, and timeouts, and in between innings for you to compute what you are watching.

    So continue to enjoy watching sports completely controlled by the American Pop Culture and being diluted that you're the best in the world. The world laughs at this country, and all we do is stand their looking at ourselves and posing in the mirror, gloating of our own idiocy.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Dan1 wrote...
    Rayvensdad
    November 19, 2012 2:13 pm
    Settle down man, it's not that big of a deal. Soccer does suck though!!!!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Lessmith50 wrote...
    Ravensdad
    November 20, 2012 7:10 am
    Who gives a rats A55 about what the rest of this stinking world likes. WE LIVE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. As Americans we are lucky to have multiple sports to play as we grow up.

    Soccer is all the rest of the world has. I would like to think we are not as narrow minded as others in the world.

    as for you Seahawks 7-9 playoff team. LAME ARGUMENT! That was the first time that ever has happened.

    As far as Major League Baseball all star game determining the home field advantage. I dont like it. Id rather have the best record host the series. ANOTHER LAME ARGUMENT.

    your comment "The format of MLS soccer is consistent with the rest of the world, and the rest of the world is NOT consistent with the idiocies of American sports." WHO GIVE A FLYING ....! WE LIVE IN AMERICA. I could careless what the other idiots in the rest of the world are doing. DONT CARE DONT LIVE THERE! The rest of the world are morons for not having options.

    One last thing Ravensdad tell me when the last time an american athlete was Kidnapped or MURDERED because someone other athlete made a goal against them. TELL ME RAVENSDAD WHEN? When was the last time during a football game the fans from the other team rioted and killed 10-20 innocent fans? OVER A STUPID A55 game. SOCCER FANS DO THAT ALL OVER YOUR GREAT WORLD! Sorry man you can have that lame A55 lets play for a tie game and all their lame hooligan fans in the rest of the world.

    NOTE: American soccer fans dont riot and kidnap and murder their athletes BUT THE REST OF THE WORLD DOES. GREAT SPORT!

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • soo purletiv wrote...
    @ Rayvensdad
    November 21, 2012 7:40 pm
    I for one am a soccer fan and am not complaining about the sport as much as the retarded format.

    And it is retarded, by any standard.....

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }