by Alex Baker
(Carson, CA) – Two late goals struck from distance helped the LA Galaxy arrest their losing streak Saturday, with a 3-1 home victory over the Portland Timbers.
After going down a goal in the first half, the home side answered back through Landon Donovan, Juninho and David Beckham, who all registered their first goals of 2012 to give the Galaxy their second win on the season and earn them a valuable three points.
Portland had taken the lead midway through the first half courtesy of Chris Boyd. The Scotsman was played in behind the LA backline by Eric Alexander and slotted one past Galaxy keeper Josh Saunders. Despite replays that showed the Timbers striker may have been offsides, the goal was counted and the visitors went up 1-0 in the 23rd minute.
Five minutes later Boyd used an impressive bit of skill to flick the ball over himself and volley it into the back of the net again. However this time the former Rangers player did have his effort disallowed for being offside.
With just over a minute remaining in the first half, the Galaxy came roaring back into the match courtesy of Robbie Keane who ran the ball down the left and laid it back for Landon Donovan. The Galaxy captain coolly dispatched the equalizer from the top of the box to make it 1-1 in the 44th.
The Galaxy took the lead late in the game through Brazilian midfielder Juninho who blasted a shot through traffic from outside the 18 to make it 2-1 in the 83rd minute. But it would be David Beckham who truly put the icing on the cake. As the match ticked over into four minutes of stoppage time the former Manchester United midfielder was picked out by a Landon Donovan cross in the middle of the park and fired a magnificent bending shot into the top corner from 25 yards out to make it 3-1.
While it might be overly-optimistic to call Saturday’s result a corner-turn, it was undoubtedly a convincing win that saw several of LA’s high profile players step up and deliver the kind of performances that have been mostly absent thus far this season.
The win sees the LA side go 2-3-0 with five games played this season and move one up from the bottom of the Western Conference standings. The Galaxy will hope to build on this result when they travel to Colorado to face the Rapids on April 21st.
I know! And I was still reeling from Juninho’s exceptional goal. Hopefully this means the Galaxy are finding their form at last!
Was at the game and what a goal from Beckham!!