July 16, 2009 ANOTHER LOSS Reeling Red Bulls fall to Galaxy, 3-1
Alfredo Pacheco tackles the ball away from Landon Donovan in the first half of Thursday's 3-1 loss to the LA Galaxy. Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images
East Rutherford, N.J. -- The Los Angeles Galaxy celebrated David Beckham's return to MLS with a rousing 3-1 victory over the hapless Red Bulls at Giants Stadium Thursday night.
Landon Donovan and Eddie Lewis led the way with a goal and assist apiece before a season-high crowd of 23,238 as the Galaxy (6-3-9, 27 points) earned its fourth consecutive win.
The reeling Red Bulls (2-14-4, 10), who haven't won in more than two months (since May 8), extended their winless streak to 11 games (0-9-2).
Juan Pablo Angel pulled one back with an 87th-minute penalty kick after a hand ball to make the score look more respectable. Angel also had a penalty saved by goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts in stoppage time.
Beckham really didn't have that much to do with the Galaxy's attacking prowess, but his presence in the lineup certainly did not hurt. Beckham, who had to put up with boos whenever he took a free kick, left to a chorus of Bronx cheers when he left the game in the 70th minute.
With the match barely three minutes old, Alecko Eskandarian gave the Galaxy a 1-0 lead. He won a loose ball and powered a 28-yard bullet past goalkeeper Danny Cepero and into the upper right corner.
Unlike his first goal against the Red Bulls in April, 2006, Eskandarian did not open a can of Red Bull, take a swig and spit it out. Instead, he was mobbed by his Galaxy teammates in celebration.
The Galaxy doubled its lead in the 31st minute on a marvelous goal by Donovan. Beckham started the sequence with a corner kick. The ball was knocked around by a few players before former U.S. international midfielder Eddie Lewis fed Donovan, who cracked a 28-yard shot into the upper right corner. It was Donovan's seventh goal of the season.
His teammates' mobbed him, including Beckham, with whom Donovan had criticized in Grant Wahl's book, "The Beckham Experiment." Donovan apologized to Becks.
Lewis added a goal of his own in the 45th minute, when Donovan sent a cross from the corner of the penalty area to the opposite side, where Lewismet it with a strike to the far post.
After many weeks and games of missing players due to injury, suspension and international commitments, the Red Bulls finally fielded a semblance of a lineup. But that didn't help the team's struggling attack.
During a bang-bang sequence in the 42nd minute, Ricketts blocked two shots, one a long-range blast by Seth Stammler, another from the left side by Jorge Rojas.
One tradition continued for the Red Bulls, who had given up buckets of goals in the final minute of the first half -- they surrendered yet another one. This time it was by Lewis, who took a right-wing cross from Donovan and powered a left-footed shot into the net in the 45th minute.
