GALAXY'S WINLESS STREAK CONTINUES HOUSTON TIES L.A.; SKID REACHES 10 GAMES MLS: GALAXY 0, HOUSTON O.

Byline: LARRY MORGAN Staff Writer

CARSON -- The Galaxy's season-long problems continued Saturday night at Home Depot Center, where they tied the Houston Dynamo 0-0 in front of an announced crowd of 17,485.

But some much-needed help is on the way in the form of Landon Donovan and Chris Albright, who are back with the club after the U.S. was eliminated at the World Cup.

Albright, in fact, started at right back after flying in from Germany in mid-afternoon and lasted 62 minutes before he was substituted by Troy Roberts. But Albright didn't leave the game because of exhaustion; he left to join his wife, Leah, who is expecting the couple's first child. She went into labor and was taken to a local hospital.

Donovan, on the other hand, told friends he was ``burned out'' and watched the game from a luxury suite. He saw occasional glimpses of attractive soccer, but the end result was a tie that gave the Galaxy a Major League soccer-worst 2-10-3 record. Los Angeles also hasn't won since a 3-2 victory over Real Salt Lake on April 29.

The Galaxy earned its first shutout of the season, but it also has scored a league-low 10 goals. Coach Frank Yallop said he doesn't sense any drop in the team's overall effort.

``We should be scoring more than we are, but we can't get frustrated,'' he said. ``It is what it is. We just have to keep plugging away and hope the tide turns."

Yallop's record since taking over the Galaxy from Steve Sampson on June 7 dropped to 0-3-1. His counterpart with Houston (6-3-4), good friend Dominic Kinnear, said he could tell a difference in the Galaxy's style of play from the last time the teams met. < That was June 3 in Houston, where the Dynamo won 2-1 in Sampson's last game as coach of Los Angeles.

The Galaxy had two good first-half chances chances. First it was Herculez Gomez dribbling well into the Houston penalty area, but Dynamo defender Eddie Robinson broke up Gomez's pass just outside the goal crease. The Galaxy's John Wolyniec also found himself deep in scoring territory two minutes later, but his pass to the middle of the penalty area was deflected out of trouble by Houston's Kevin Goldthwaite.

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Photo:

The Galaxy's John Wolyniec, center, fights to get the ball past Houston's Craig Waibel, right, and Ricardo Clark.

Lucas Jackson/Associated Press