Game 23: RSL @ LAG: Broken result, broken leg

Sigh...kind of a tough game to watch. RSL really outplayed the Galaxy for 99% of the game and yet could only come away with a draw against a very beatable LA team. A Galaxy squad that was also missing Beckham and MLS's leading scorer Landon Donovan. Instead, RSL decided to use some defensive moves from RSL circa 05-07 to give up 2 goals to nobodies. And in the process, give up two points that will be very crucial coming down the stretch. In addition, the inevitable finally happened and Espi injured himself doing his celebratory backflip. To add insult to injury, the goal was waved off. To make matters worse, the official word is that Espi has broken his leg. Well, that was a nice 80 or so minutes he gave us since the first injury...
On the plus side, RSL did get a point on the road, which is sadly a vast improvement over their usual road result. In addition, Yura finally played a game where he didn't look 100% lost. His goal was just a right place, right time affair, but credit is due on the assist on the Johnson goal. That was a beautiful pass. Unfortunately, if you discount the 15 seconds that those plays took up, he was completely invisible in this match. At least it is a step in the right direction.
Overall, this is a game RSL could and should have won and one that will come back to haunt them. If RSL misses the playoffs, they will look back to this game as the point where it got away. That being said, they did outplay LA on the road and looked like a team that may be able to put a couple road results together yet.
GAME GRADE: B-

Individual Grades:
Nick Rimando-5 Put in a bad position on both goals, but if he's going to dive after the ball he needs to get it clear at the very least.
Chris Wingert-6 Pushed forward well, pretty good defensively.
Nat Borchers-5 See below
Jamison Olave-5 I wanted to give 6's across the board for the D, but those two insane scrambles that led to the goals (that prominently featured these 3) push them all down to a collective 5.
Ian Joy-5 See above
Will Johnson-8 Has been a great pickup; nice goal and was EVERYWHERE on the field.
Kyle Beckerman-7 Finally, some of the feistiness that's been missing.
Javier Morales-6 Meh.
Clint Mathis-5 Didn't really provide much of anything.
(Dema Kovalenko 67)-6 Nice to see Dema on the field.
Kenny Deuchar-6 Kept the defense honest throughout.
(Robbie Findley 75)-6 Why he came in so late is beyond me (did he run over Jason's stupid cry kids or something?); was ok after coming in.
Fabian Espindola-3 Broke his leg celebrating a goal that got called back...at least wait on the celebration until you know it stands!
(Yura Movsisyan 9)-7 Goal and (very nice) assist, yes, but invisible for the other 80 minutes he was on.
Coaching grade-6 JK lucked out with the Movs sub, but I'd still have liked to have seen Robbie get some extended minutes against a club that he would have something to prove to. Why exactly does Jason hate Robbie anyway? He seems to be SO reluctant to use him...
Refs grade-6 Would've been a 7, but really, does it really take 15 minutes to decide whether a goal stands or not? On top of that, there were a few foul calls both ways in this game that came in REALLY late. It almost seemed the ref was watching the game on tape delay or something...

RSL Man of the Match: Will Johnson
Scored a goal and, with Beckerman, was really the catalyst for the offense. On top of that, he worked hard defensively as well and was more than willing to mix it up.

Assclown of the Match: Fabian Espindola
I love ya, Espi, but 80 minutes between major injuries isn't going to cut it. Especially when it's 100% preventable...