The LA Galaxy played their worst game in more than a month and were worked over by the San Jose Earthquakes in Friday night's California Clasico meeting in the Bay Area as part of MLS Heineken Rivalry Week, but most of their venom following the 1-0 defeat was reserved for the officials.
A red card to central defender Leonardo less than two minutes into the second half put LA (13-8-7) at a great disadvantage, and, although they looked stronger once down to 10 men, they scarcely created enough chances to contend the rest of the way and watched their four-game league and six-game competitive winning streaks come to an end.
“We deserved to lose the game, the way we played,” head coach Bruce Arena told media at Avaya Stadium. “We played a crappy first half. We played better with 10 players than we did with 11. And, obviously, you play with 10 players for 43 minutes or so, you're not putting yourself in a good position. That's life.
“But if there's any group of officials that get together and show stuff, that's a classic example of poor officiating that they can use and, hopefully, learn from it. But they ruined the game, I think.”
San Jose took charge early and went ahead in the 18th minute, when Omar Gonzalez got caught ball-watching as Shea Salinas, his man, broke to the net when Quincy Amarikwa headed a Marvell Wynne cross on frame. Goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts stretched to parry the shot, and Salinas was there to nod the rebound into the net.
“We were a little bit sloppy, because we didn't deal with the first ball, and the follow-up, he was free also, so I think we fell asleep on that play ...,” Ricketts said. “We were a little bit slow [tonight]. We got outhustled on every play. They were more hungry than us.”
Salinas' goal was all the Quakes needed, although they could have added to the tally when Chris Wondolowski bounced a header from another Wynne cross off the left post. If the Galaxy were going to regroup after the break, Leonardo's red card made it far more difficult.
It occurred on a San Jose counter after Robbie Keane and Steven Gerrard worked nicely into the Quakes' box without getting off a shot. Amarikwa got past Leonardo, who grabbed the forward's shirt and then appeared to clip his heels. Assistant referee Jeff Hocking made the last-man call, and referee Jose Carlos Rivero pulled out the red card.
“[The officials] didn't tell us anything,” Arena said. “I think the entire officiating crew didn't do a good job, I don't even know if it's a foul, and he's not the last player -- Omar's there -- and it's a bad piece of officiating.
“If you're going to give a yellow card, I'm going to maybe say OK, but I don't even think it's a yellow card.”
Keane, who struggled to leave an imprint on the game -- as did fellow Designated Players Gerrard and Giovani Dos Santos -- also wasn't happy with Rivero.
“I do have a problem when you've got a referee who thinks it's all about him instead of actually all about the players,” the Galaxy captain said. “The referee should never be mentioned in the game. Never. That's the sign of a good referee. Never ever be mentioned in the game. Just concentrate on his own job instead of trying to be the center of attention."
