The thought of writing this post after the opening day game against DC United never entered my head. That was a slightly improved version of the meltdown season of 2008 defensive breakdowns, not much stability in the middle and an attack that put two in the back of the net, but looked frustrating doing it.

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The mix of young and old make the Galaxy a tough team to figure out for the expansion draft. (Getty Images)

We are quickly working our way through the 15 MLS clubs as we gear up for next week's expansion draft. The new kids on the block, the Philadelphia Union will get to select 10 players from the list of unprotected players that each club will have to submit by next Monday.

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And those words are: Western Conference Champions!

In another step in the worst-to-first journey that MLS Coach of the Year Bruce Arena has taken the team on, the Los Angeles Galaxy turned away a stiff challenge from the Houston Dynamo in 30 minutes of extra time with a 2-0 scoreline.

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The lights went out twice in Carson, California last night, but LA scored twice in the overtime portion to eliminate Houston and win the west.
I would like to salute myself for tactical wizardry in the area of PVR programming. I did not stay up all night to watch this, I pvr'ed it to watch Saturday morning. Click to continue reading...

The Los Angeles Galaxy and Houston Dynamo are set to face off for a place in the 2009 MLS Cup Final and it is anybody's guess which of these Western Conference powers will pull off the victory tonight at the Home Depot Center (11:25pm, ESPN2).

The Galaxy will be the host tonight and is a slight favorite, but the Dynamo has a strong enough defense and quality attacking weapons to score the upset.

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Whatever happens tonight it's the last game of the season at Home Depot Center with a trip to MLS Cup 2009 in Seattle against either the Chicago Fire or Real Salt Lake in the offing for the winner.

Looks like another good playoff crowd gradually filling in with the temperature about 60 degrees and excellent for football.

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This match promises to be a dogfight. The season series between the Los Angeles Galaxy and the Houston Dynamo featured exactly one goal and a lot of physical defending. If that sounds a lot like what Chivas and the Galaxy went through for the bulk of their five games this season, its not coincidence.

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Oscar Garcia, Los Angeles; Barry Lightner, Pasadena; Kyle Taylor, Irvine; and Jason Dieguez, Wilmington.

Each wins a pair of tickets to Friday's Western Conference showdown between the Galaxy and Houston Dynamo at Home Depot Center in Carson courtesy of the Galaxy. You can pick up your tickets at Media Check In, at the northwest box office, starting at 6 p.

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And those words are: Meeting the challenge.

Right. So before the first playoff leg I predicted a series score of 2-1. Then before the second playoff leg, seeing the kind of chaos the two teams were creating and the resulting goals, I predicted 2-1 for the game on Sunday.

So, looking at a 3-2 aggregate and a 1-0 second leg scoreline, you can see that I bloody well can't predict anything when it comes to these two teams.

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Sunny and 80 degrees here at the under populated Home Depot Center.

Kick off has apparently been pushed back to 2:25 p.m. to accommodate TV if you're wondering.

It's the same starting lineup this afternoon that both teams fielded for the respective MLS season finales.

Here's Arena's team: Donovan Rickettts, Sean Franklin, Gregg Berhalter, Omar Gonzalez, Todd Dunivant, Chris Birchall, David Beckham, Dema Kovalenko, Mike Magee, Edson Buddle, Landon Donovan.

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And those words are: Western Conference champions!

In a fitting display on their home turf, the Los Angeles Galaxy put the finishing touches on a worst-to-first regular season for 2009. After a horrific 2008, the culmination of years of front-office incompetence and on-field underachievement accomplished under the glare of international media, the Galaxy put together a season that culminated in a first-in the West finish and a return to the playoffs for the first time since 2005.

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Gregg Berhalter is all business!

While Landon Donovan and David Beckham bask in the aftermath of the Galaxy making the playoffs, the real story in their turnaround is their defense.

31 goals given up in 2009. That is half of the 2008 total!

That is right. In 2008, the Galaxy gave up 62 goals even as they set the scoring ablaze with 55 goals.

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The Galaxy come into the season's final game knowing a win will give them the top spot in the Western Conference and home field advantage in the playoffs because L.A. holds most of the tiebreakers over Houston and Chivas USA, which play each other at noon Sunday here at Home Depot Center, should either of those two teams finish tied with them on points.

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And that word is: Punchless.

Or it could be seven words: This team is nothing without Landon Donovan.

So let's start with the positive: shutting out Houston at home in front of a sell-out crowd and forcing Pat Onstad to actually make some saves. Once again Donovan Ricketts proves his worth making a busload of saves and the backline bends but doesn't break.

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And those word are: Gutting it out.

The Los Angeles Galaxy took three points at home from a determined Fire team populated with a large number of replacement for injured players. As has been the case all season, the defense provided the base from which the Galaxy was able to generate just enough offense to put the game away.

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Galaxy 1 Chicago Fire 0

The Galaxy wall (AP Photo)

Game story

Bonus quotes

Here's Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena on David Beckham's contribution, in what was one of his best games in a Galaxy shirt:

"David played a bunch of balls in tonight and our guys needed to be a little bit sharper and read where the ball was going in front off the goal.

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An important game for two teams with identical records as the regular season winds down and playoff implications on the line.

Lovely warm fall night here at Home Depot Center; let's hope the crowd fills in.

Not surprisingly, Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena has rung the changes in the wake of the disappointing 2-0 loss to Columbus last weekend.

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Photo by Getty Images
And those words are: Not the time to tinker.

Let me be clear at the beginning. I'm not a coach, I've never been a coach, and I don't have access to the kinds and amounts of information an MLS coach has at his disposal, nor the skills to interpret it. But, having said that, I just plain didn't understand Bruce Arena's starting lineup yesterday.

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An absent David Beckham. An invisible Landon Donovan. A Galaxy loss.

The Galaxy went meekly down 2-0 to the Columbus Crew Saturday even though the co-MLS leaders rested the likes of reigning MLS MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto, former Galaxy striker Alejandro Moreno and Rolling Hills Estates' Robbie Rogers ahead of Tuesday's CONCACAF Champions League game against Costa Rica's Saprissa.

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AP Photo

And those words are: Getting it done.

One week after giving up the most goals in team history, the Los Angeles Galaxy put together perhaps their most complete game of the season (though the Fire game at Toyota Park is in the running), shutting out a talented Toronto FC side to become only the fourth team in MLS history to record a shut-out immediately after giving up six goals.

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Kartik was right.   There was a buzz about this game – two solid, mature teams with something to prove. In the end, the Galaxy went out deserved winners. Some thoughts...

Welcome back Sean Franklin. When 2008 Rookie of the Year Franklin tore his hamstring in mid May, Galaxy fans saw disaster.

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Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena hasn't exactly rung the changes despite last weekend's record-setting 6-3 home loss to Dallas.

Sean Franklin has recovered from injury and replaces A.J. DeLaGarza (knee bruise) at right back in his first start since May, Chris Birchall makes his second MLS start in midfield, while Landon Donovan moves up front to partner Edson Buddle, perhaps the lone bright spot for the Galaxy last week when he came on as a sub.

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Photo by Getty Images

And those words are: EPIC FAIL! Or maybe I've got five words: What the @#$%&! was that? 6-3? That's a team record for goals allowed in a game. 4 FCD goals game after the 70th minute. Three came after the 81st minute. It was an unbelievable set of breakdowns across the board and a new-look, increasingly confident, and very fast Dallas team took full advantage.

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A cool and clear night at Home Depot Center, a welcome relief after the humidity and smoke of recent weeks.

The Galaxy have a chance to (temporarily at least) overhaul Houston for the Western Conference lead coming into the game.

The omens are good: the Galaxy have one loss in their last 10 games, haven't conceded a goal in 216 minutes and play a Dallas team that has just one road win all season.

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Galaxy 1 Chivas USA 0

Don't tread on me! Jovan Kirovski and the Galaxy steal a base a goal and steal the game. (Photos by Scott Varley).

Game story.

David Beckham spoke in the locker room for the first time I can recall and he gave a scathing assessment of the Galaxy's opening 45 minutes:

"To be honest they kind of controlled the game in the first half; our passing was terrible, we just kept giving the ball away.

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Galaxy 1 Chivas USA 0

A wide-open David Beckham has scored what could be the game-winning goal in the 80th minute, the ball hitting the ground in front of him and Becks pinging it off the left post and into the net from the edge of the penalty box.

The goal came from a long Todd Dunivant throw to Omar Gonzalez who nodded it back to Beckham.

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                                                         Photo by ISIphotos.com

By TRAVIS CLARK

Heading into Saturday's critical matchup against the Galaxy, three points were almost a necessity for D.

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I know I'm not the only one who thinks that DC United has gotten screwed by poor officiating multiple times this season, but this is really starting to get out of control. I can now count 7 points that have been stolen from us in 2009. If you're in the mood to be pissed off, view the videos and see for yourself. Click to continue reading...

D.C. United 0 Galaxy 0

Save the last dance for the Galaxy's Todd Dunivant and DC United's Luciano Emilio. (AP Photos)

You can always rely on Washington Post reporter Steven Goff for an elegant and thorough game story.

For comparison, check out the AP version.

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Chicago Fire 0 Galaxy 2
The Galaxy's Mike Magee is denied by Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch. (AP Photo).

Games like these can change the direction of a season.

The Galaxy (8-4-10) got better as the game wore on, the 9-5-8 Fire worse at a sold out Toyota Park.

The result was a Galaxy away victory; they're now second in the Western Conference although Seattle can retake the automatic playoff spot with a win Thursday over New England.

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Photo by C.J. Guntner

And those words are: Getting there.

In the normal MLS scheme of things I wouldn't be so cautious about a win on the road over the New England Revolution, but the fact is that if not for the Red Bulls' epic FAIL of a season, New England's struggles would be much bigger news.

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Galaxy 1 Barcelona 2

Barca retook the lead in the 67th minute when substitute Sergio Busquets threaded the ball through to Jeffren Suarez, who full back Todd Dunivant had clearly lost track of.

BTW, Barca started an entirely new lineup at the break (Messi is out, for instance).

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Galaxy 1 Barcelona 1

A trademark David Beckham free kick that curled into the top left hand corner of the net almost on the strike of half time evened the score after Landon Donovan was brought down by substitute Adriano Henrique.

Barca had the better of the half, but despite the best efforts of Lionel Messi couldn't find a way to score a second.

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The Wizards took the early lead against the Galaxy, but couldn't hold on and stretched their winless streak to 8 games now. The Galaxy came out from the start and were the more aggressive team from the beginning. Kevin Hartman was forced to make a few early saves on Landon Donovan and a David Beckham cross to keep the game scoreless. Click to continue reading...

I'd say the boo to cheer ratio was 60:40 when David Beckham jogged out to warm-up.

The Riot Squad have unveiled some apt signs for the occasion including "Hey Becks! Here before you, here after you, here despite you," "23 Repent" and "Go home fraud 23"

(Updated: It's about 13 minutes before kickoff; the signs are gone, no doubt removed by AEG.

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