GALAXY/CHIVAS USA: WHERE THERE'S SMOKE ... RIVALRY BETWEEN TEAMS' FANS TAKES AN UGLY TURN.

Byline: BILLY WITZ

Staff Writer

CARSON -- If the Galaxy felt as if it has been under fire this season, then the team learned during Thursday night's 3-0 loss to Chivas USA what it's really like to be under siege.

Near the end of the night, goalkeeper JoeCannon found himself trying to avoid several smoke bombs that were thrown onto the field, forcing the game to be stopped while the air cleared.

About 10 minutes later, after Chivas' last goal, Galaxy defender Troy Roberts was hit in the back of the head by a water bottle fired from the stands packed with Chivas supporters behind the Galaxy goal.

Some Galaxy fans say they had it worse than their team.

Members of the fan club, the Riot Squad, complained that Chivas fans grabbed scarves they were wearing and ran off with them, and that they were assaulted in the parking lot before and after the game by bottle-throwing Chivas fans.

However, Obideo Mojarro, the president of the Chivas fan club, La Legion, said it was members of the Riot Squad who provoked the postgame fracas.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies, who patrolled the event, reported no arrests or incidents at the game.

"This is the most passionate rivalry in American soccer and one of the great things is we're the home to this rivalry," Home Depot Center general manager Rod O'Connor said. "When there's a passionate soccer rivalry, it brings passionate fans and sometimes there are incidents. When they arise, we'll deal with them swiftly."

The typical soccer match for either Chivas USA or the Galaxy usually brings a low-key atmosphere. But this is not the first time the stadium, which opened in 2003, has had trouble with rowdy fans.

In July 2006, prior to Chivas USA's exhibition against Club America -- the archrival of Chivas de Guadalajara -- about 150 people were involved in a rock-and-bottle throwing melee in which a Cal State University Dominguez Hills police officer was hospitalized after being hit in the chin with a rock.

There were several skirmishes in the crowd when the Galaxy played Chivas de Guadalajara at the Coliseum on July 28, and again when they played Pachuca for the SuperLiga championship Aug. 29 at Home Depot Center.

After that game, security guards had to wrestle several Pachuca fans out of the stadium club when they refused to leave without finishing their beers.

O'Connor said he meets with officials, players and fans from both teams on a regular basis, and security was beefed up Thursday inside the stadium.

Also, Chivas and the Galaxy officials say they keep an open dialogue with their fan clubs, urging them to keep their support clean.

"The Home Depot Center has a reputation as a very family friendly venue for soccer," O'Connor said. "It's very important to maintain it."

But Mojarro said that members of LaLegion and the Riot Squad should not have been allowed to park in the same lot, or enter and leave the stadium through the same gate. He praised security inside the stadium, but said it was lacking in the parking lot.

It was there that two Riot Squad members said they were among a group of about 20Galaxy fans who were heading toward their cars in Lot 13 along Victoria Boulevard when they began verbally jousting with a similarly sized group of Chivas' fans.

As the heckling subsided, anywhere from 75to 100 members of La Legion appeared. Two of them rushed the Galaxy fans, and others began throwing beer cans and bottles, they said.

One Galaxy fan was hit with a baton, they said.

"A bottle landed near me and shattered, and a small piece of glass stuck in my eyelid," said Galaxy fan Ali Beituri.

The skirmish continued for anywhere between 30 seconds to a minute before sheriff's deputies arrived to break up the crowd, they said.

Mojarro said he heard the sound of glass breaking but did not see who threw the bottles. He said two members of the Riot Squad provoked people from his group, just as they had at the Coliseum this summer.

Despite the disturbance, Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies reported no arrests, expulsions or incidents, according to Sgt. Romeo Pascal.

"Nothing indicates any problem at all," Pascal said.

There was no discrepancy about the disturbances on the field.

After Chivas' injury-time goal, Roberts stood in the penalty area when a plastic water bottle hit him.

"I had my back turned. It hit me flush on the back of the head," Roberts said. "I'm just happy it didn't hit me in the face."

The last time the teams played, Chivas players Maykel Galindo and Francisco Mendoza celebrated goals in front of the Riot Squad and were doused with streamers and cups of beer.

After the smoke bombs, which are prohibited at the stadium, were first lit in the stands, more began being lobbed onto the field. Some Galaxy players said it was hard to breathe and see through the smoke before the game was stopped momentarily until it cleared.

But many, such as Galaxy defender Abel Xavier, who has played in Italy, Turkey, England and Spain, shrugged it off. His teammate, Peter Vagenas, said he has had bags of urine and batteries thrown at him while he has played for the United States abroad.

"You don't want violence, but as long as it's good-natured, it adds to the game," said Chivas defender Shavar Thomas, who began the season with the Galaxy. He also plays internationally for Jamaica.

"This is just the transformation of the rivalry," he said. "This is the way it is in South American, in Mexico. This is a sign that the league is growing. It's getting good players and its fans are growing, too. As long as it's clean, it's good for MLS."

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A smoke bomb makes it way on the pitch, at the feet of Galaxy goalkeeper Joe Cannon, during Thursday's 3-0 loss to Chivas USA at Home Depot Center.

Victor Decolongon/Getty Images