CARSON, Calif. -- Paced by a hat trick from Landon Donovan, the Los Angeles Galaxy gained a measure of revenge in another goal-fest with D.C. United, in a 5-2 victory Saturday evening at The Home Depot Center.
Donovan's three goals gave him 19 on the season to lead Major League Soccer by a large margin, and Alan Gordon and Pete Vagenas each tacked on a goal to round out the scoring for the home side, putting an end to the Galaxy's club-record 12-game winless streak and giving Bruce Arena his first victory since taking over the club's coaching reins.
The first time the Galaxy and United faced each other this season, United got the better of the game, winning 4-1 behind a pair of goals from Luciano Emilio and one from Jaime Moreno.
Saturday, the majority of the cars in the parking lot hadn't even had a chance to cool off before United scored. Just 71 seconds into the match, Devon McTavish knocked on a corner kick. Ivan Guerrero took the set piece, and sent a ball to the near post. The ball bounced in the box and found McTavish, who fired home from inside the six-yard box to open the scoring.
The game slowed down a bit, as the Galaxy found their bearings, finally getting into the offensive flow in the 17th minute. David Beckham played a long ball into the area that was poorly cleared. The ball fell to Edson Buddle at the top of the area, but the Galaxy striker's full volley skipped just wide of the post.
One minute later, D.C. nearly doubled their advantage. Thabiso Khumalo put Emilio through on goal. The Brazilian's first touch was a little heavy though, allowing Josh Wicks to cut down the angle and save Emilio's shot.
Donovan leveled the score in the 23rd minute. Chris Klein spotted Donovan making a 40-yard run out of midfield and sent a perfect through pass that split the entire United defense. Donovan ran onto the ball, took one touch into the area and then hit a deft flick with the outside of his right boot to beat a charging Louis Crayton.
The Galaxy kept the pressure on, and in the 32nd minute, Eddie Lewis played an early cross from the left flank that found its way to the back post. Beckham ran onto the ball and played it back across the goalmouth first-time, where Lewis won a header, barely missing off the outside of the post.
Four minutes later, the Galaxy took the lead. With numbers going forward, Gordon and Donovan worked a great one-two, putting Gordon in alone on Crayton. The Liberian 'keeper made the save, but United had trouble getting the ball out of their defensive third. Eventually, Donovan got the ball back, and when he realized that nobody was closing him down, he laced a shot into the side netting from 22 yards out.
LA wasted no time in building a cushion. In the 38th minute, LA was again on the counterattack. Beckham tried to feed Buddle the ball, but Crayton read the play and broke it up. McTavish failed to clear the ball though, and instead played it straight to Lewis. The U.S. international collected the ball and put a shot on target, but Crayton scrambled across his goal to make the save. Unfortunately for him, the rebound went straight to Gordon, who sneaked a shot just inside the near post to give the Galaxy a 3-1 lead.
It was all Los Angeles to close out the half. In the 42nd minute, Beckham found Buddle with a long ball over the top of the United backline. Buddle did well to round Crayton, but Bryan Namoff did a great job of tracking back to break up the play.
Buddle was at it again in stoppage time. Seemingly living behind the D.C. defense, Buddle had another 1-on-1 opportunity with Crayton. The D.C. goalkeeper saved Buddle's first effort but gave up another rebound. Buddle took a second crack at goal, but this time was denied by the crossbar.
The second half started in much the same way as the first, with a quick United goal. In the 47th minute, Khumalo beat Klein to a long ball over the top and collected it at the edge of the area. Wicks was caught out of position on the play, and when Khumalo looked up, he had an empty net to shoot into, bringing D.C. back to within one.
With United fighting their way back into the match, things took a turn. In the 63rd minute, Marc Burch was shown a straight red card for taking down Beckham while he was trying to shepherd the ball out for a throw-in. Burch took a swipe at Beckham's heels, sending him tumbling into the sign boards, and referee Terry Vaughn sent off the United center back.
Earlier in the match, D.C. midfielder Clyde Simms made contact with Beckham, who fell to the ground near the middle of the field. As United collected the ball and raced toward the Galaxy third on a quick counterattack, Beckham stood up and chased referee Vaughn, eventually seeing yellow.
Up a man, the Galaxy put their foot on the ball and tried to take some of the air out of things, picking and choosing their moments to go forward. When they finally did they looked dangerous, especially in the 69th minute when Donovan found Lewis streaking down the left flank. From a sharp angle, Lewis shot on goal, but Crayton made another save.
The Galaxy added a fourth goal in the 81st minute. Donovan tracked down a long ball from Beckham, and streaked into the area. With no real help in the box, Donovan held up the ball waiting for support. When the second wave arrived, Donovan flicked a cross to Peter Vagenas, who placed a side-footed volley just inside the left-hand post.
The Galaxy got one last goal in second-half stoppage time, with Donovan completing his hat trick. Klein played another long ball over the top, sending Donovan in alone on Crayton, and he made no mistake with his one-on-one with the goalkeeper, rounding out the Galaxy lead.
With the win, the Galaxy stay in the hunt for a playoff position, as they travel to Chicago for an MLS Primetime Thursday match with the Fire. United are still grimly hanging on to the final playoff spot, remaining on the road for a trip to Honduras for CONCACAF Champions League play on Wednesday, followed by a game at FC Dallas next Sunday.
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