Newcastle Jets beat LA Galaxy 2-1

Despite taking the lead through Donovan, two goals in reply from the Newcastle Jets saw the Australian side emerge as the victors from this friendly encounter.

Beckham came close to levelling the tie, but it was the home side who triumphed. In the meantime, the team have been fulfilling engagements and finding time to relax whilst in Australia.

No further Galaxy games are planned until the start of the next season in march 2011, although there may be pre-season games somewhere... The next scheduled England match is against Wales in Cardiff on 26th March 2011 - watch this space for any scraps of news in the meantime...

England outclassed by France

England youngsters never looked likely to take control of this game, standing off far too much and giving France too much room. France, sensing the fear in the English players, had three shots within the first ten minutes - England had one free-kick taken by Gerrard, collected too easily by the French 'keeper.

At their seventh shot, France scored just quarter of an hour in, 1-0 France.

After 28 long minutes, England have their second strike on goal, straight to the 'keepers hands again.. At the end of the first half, England have been thoroughly outplayed and outclassed, 'lucky to get nil' as the old joke goes.

Almost unbelievably Capello then takes off two experienced players in Barry and Ferdinand, he also replaces Walcott with Adam Johnson - at least that was a sensible move. Walcott had two sniffs of the ball in the first half with little to show for it.

Just 9 mins into the second half, a ball crossed in from wide finds two French strikers in space, one of them scores and England are two-nil down. Only now do England show any spirit with Gerrard nodding a free-kick across the top of the goal. After 71 mins débutante Andy Carroll is replaced by Jay Bothroyd. A few minutes later Gerrard latches onto a loose ball in the box and shoots narrowly past the far post. 82 mins and Nasri nearly makes it 3-0 hitting the post, meanwhile Gerrard signals to the bench that he needs a replacement. Crouch comes on with 6 mins to go, he dangles a long limb in the air to guide an over-hit corner beyond the 'keepers reach. England have one back, Crouch has barely been on the pitch for 30 seconds. England are finally up and running but it is far too late, more chances come and go, but even five minutes of extra time cannot get England out of this mire. England lose 2-1 to France, and were lucky to only lose by the one goal.

Conclusions from this match are:

• England are missing some key players who are looking irreplaceable right now.
• Carroll looked a good prospect for the future, although what was asked of him on the night was probably unreasonable.
• Too many youngsters inexperienced at this level will not hold sway against a tight international outfit.
• Putting on the same shirt does not make you a 'team'....

LA Galaxy 0 FC Dallas 3

Dallas and LA meet again, this time to determine who will meet the Colorado Rapids in the MLS cup final. Both teams come out with determination and set a very quick pace right from the outset.

Despite most of the action being initiated by The Galaxy, it is Dallas through Colombian midfielder David Ferreira, that scored first with what was virtually their first and only effort on goal in the first half. At the other end, Hartmann in the Dallas goal has been making great saves to keep them in the game.

Meantime, Beckham looks like he could be carrying an injury, but appeared back on the pitch for the second half, even enduring for the full ninety which may not have been the wisest choice, but demonstrates Beckham's commitment to the cause.
This was not to be LA's night as the second half saw Dallas take control with two more goals from George John and Honduran international Marvin Chavez scored the opener for Dallas with a strike from the edge of the box.
Beckham is reported to have a groin strain and it is understandable why may feel can afford to suffer such an injury at the end of the MLS season with no need to impress England manager Fabio Capello - hopefully this will be something that can be overcome relatively quickly.
England play on Wednesday, and there was no realistic chance of Beckham being considered for this game even though injuries to key players have made for some surprising selections.

Next round coming up...

The next play-off game for The Galaxy will be the semi-final against FC Dallas, on Sunday 14th November at 6pm PST ( Monday 2AM GMT) at the Home Depot Centre.

The other semi will be between San Jose Earthquakes and Colorado rapids on 15th, the final is scheduled for 8:30pm on Sunday 21st (1:30am Monday GMT)

In the meantime, England are due to play France in a friendly on Wednesday 17th November at home.

LA Galaxy 2 (3) Seattle Sounders 1 (1)

Both teams come out with intent, and Beckham gets a booking for a rash challenge in the first 10 minutes.

On 18 minutes, goal-poacher supreme Buddle heads in from a Beckham corner. LA are one-up on the night, two-up in the tie.. On 26 minutes, Beckham is provider again, this time for Gonzalez who heads Beckhams free kick past the keeper extending The Galaxy's lead. The Sounders supporters are effectively silenced as LA go three-up over the two legs. In the closing minutes of the first half, Beckham has a golden chance from a free-kick at perfect distance. The resulting kick curls just wide of the post.

At half-time, The Galaxy must believe they are in the driving seat, Seattle have it all to do in the second half.

After just 4 minutes of the second half, Ricketts gets injured in a goal mouth clash but opts to continue. Seattle are getting more attacking moves going, but failing to get any end result.

66minutes and Ricketts saves point-blank despite still struggling with his injury.

On 70 minutes Bowen comes on for Buddle, 3 minutes later, Birchall comes on for Kovolenko, Dunivant comes on for Magee with just 10 minutes left on the clock as The Galaxy seek to run the game down. Seattle eventually find a way through the LA defence 5 minutes from the end and score their only gol of the play-offs. A nervy 5 minutes plus 4 minutes extra time ensues in which Seattle pile on the pressure. Nevertheless, The Galaxy take the game 2-1, the tie 3-1, Beckham plays a vital role in the win...

The Galaxy have to be pleased with the result and have seemingly coasted through this stage of the play-offs.

All eyes on The Galaxy

Sunday will be the time for David Beckham, Landon Donovan and the LA Galaxy to step up and score a decisive victory over the Seattle Sounders. The Galaxy adopted a very defensive approach last week, hopefully they will be free to attack with confidence on Sunday for the return leg.

Landon Donovan has struggled to give his usual sparkle to the game for some weeks now, and one can't help but wonder why that is - by his standards, he is falling short of his normal energetic performances, not getting the shots on goal that we have come to expect. Buddle has proved the more effective recently, and even Beckham has been putting a few goals in the back of the net.

The Galaxy have every right to feel that this is their year to dominate, they have already taken the supporters shield, the play-offs could well see them established as true champions.

Seattle Sounders 0 LA Galaxy 1

Seattle Sounders in their first ever MLS play-offs take just 30 seconds to get the ball in the net, but a confident call of offside by the Galaxy back-line proves correct...

On about 7 mins, Donovan draws a foul and Beckham takes the free-kick - the angle is very tight, but Beckham forces Casey Keller to make a good clawing save to keep the ball out of the net. In fact after just 10 minutes, Beckham has already taken three free-kicks... at this rate it is unlikely that the game will finish with 22 players still on the pitch!

23 minutes, sensational save by Ricketts from a point blank header keeps the score at 0-0, this coming just seconds after seemingly injuring his shoulder making a diving save. 25 minutes and a fourth David Beckham free-kick straight onto Buddles' head, headed wide...

On the half hour, the game has swung both ways, either team could score, Donovan shoots from distance, Keller parries the swerving shot - this is the second effort from Donovan within 30 seconds.

37 minutes and from 40 yards out Buddle swiftly turns and strikes in one move catching Keller off-balance 1-0 to LA.. The game continues apace, chances at both ends but Galaxy go into half-time up a goal.

The second half starts with Seattle pushing for the equaliser, the tackles are still flying in and the referee sees fit to book one from each side within the first five minutes.

Pressure mounts on Seattle to make an impact on this two leg play-off, but as time ticks away more bookings come, but for all the action there are few telling efforts on goal. The Galaxy will be happy with the one goal lead away from home, but a second away goal would make Seattles' job that much harder in the second leg in California. More so because for the play-offs, away goals do not carry any extra significance.

A telling feature of this game is how often both Donovan and Beckham can be found in defensive positions, and although the Galaxy defence are keeping Seattle at bay, they by no means look impenetrable.

Seattle spurn a good chance on 83 minutes, the ball across the box, nobody to convert. 84 minutes and a well-worked forward Galaxy move results in a shot from Juninho - narrowly wide.. 86 minutes, loose ball in the galaxy defence, defensive error - shot smothered by Donovan Ricketts. The officials see fit to add a huge 5 minutes of injury time, so desperate are Seattle that Nkufo kicks the ball out of Ricketts hands wasting a valuable minute of time and earning himself a booking into the bargain. As the five minutes tick away Bruce Arena questions the ref's time-keeping, but finally he blows up and the game is over. The Galaxy take the first leg 1-0..