OAKLAND -- The Los Angeles Galaxy suffered a frustrating loss Sunday afternoon, dropping a 3-2 decision to San Jose on a last-minute goal by Earthquakes defender Ryan Cochrane. With the loss, the Galaxy's winless streak now stands at seven games as they slip to fourth place in the MLS Western Conference.
"It wasn't because we were totally outplayed," Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit said. "We really battled for the game. It's a real compliment to the team, but unfortunately we didn't win."
The Galaxy had come back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the match, only to see Cochrane bang in the game winner for San Jose in the 90th minute.
"We fought for it, we did everything we could to get a good result, and I think we deserved a lot better than we got," Gullit said. "I can't blame the team, the team did everything well. I blame myself. There's nothing to say -- the team was excellent, it was just one of these days when luck is not on your side."
LA came into the game with the most prolific attack in MLS, scoring 36 goals in their first 18 games -- six better than the next best total. But they've also given up 37 goals in that same period, which is nine more than any other team.
"They scored two and conceded three today, and that's kind of their season, if you like," Earthquakes coach Frank Yallop said. "But it could have been the other way around."
San Jose opened the scoring in the eighth minute with an Arturo Alvarez goal, then doubled their lead in the 40th minute through Darren Huckerby.
"(Defender Chris) Klein said to me that on the first goal he was interfered with by the referee and couldn't do anything (to stop Arturo Alvarez)," Gullit said, "And on the second goal he slipped, so it's just unfortunate that it happens. Despite that, I think we played good football, and created a lot of chances."
The Galaxy battled back to tie the score, getting their first goal in the 42nd minute. A David Beckham free kick from 35 yards out found Landon Donovan for a header from six yards out, but Earthquakes goalkeeper Joe Cannon pushed the ball off the crossbar. But when San Jose couldn't clear, Beckham tried another cross from the right wing, and this time Donovan's header from eight yards out cleanly beat Cannon inside the left post for his league-leading 13th goal of the year.
"When we hit the crossbar, in that moment I thought we were jinxed or something," Gullit said, "But then David put a good ball in there and we scored."
LA tied the game in the 76th minute on a great individual effort by Edson Buddle, who slammed home a shot from 20 yards out, but couldn't find the game winner.
"I thought our attitude the second half was great, but we were unlucky in the end not to at least get a point," Donovan said.
Said Beckham: "It's disappointing to lose, but we can take from today's game that it was 100 percent better than the last game (a 4-0 loss in Dallas). We showed some fight, some character, even when we went 2-0 down.
The Galaxy knew they had seen a much-improved Earthquakes from the one they had defeated twice earlier in the season.
"It's disappointing when you lose any game, especially when you lose in the last couple minutes when we worked so hard to get ourselves back into it," Beckham said. "Sometimes when you're not playing well, you don't get the luck in games. These things happen."
The Galaxy now haven't won since their last trip to San Jose, a 3-0 win on June 14.
"We've got to 10 days now until we play Chivas," Beckham said, "and the Chivas game now becomes a must-win game for us. We need to get back to winning. I'm fed up, and the rest of the players are fed up with not winning games, and we need to turn it around quickly."
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