In the end, the 66,237 fans at Giants Stadium went home happy. Star attraction David Beckham produced the goods, starting his first MLS game, earning two first-half assists and going the full 90 minutes for the LA Galaxy. But the home team took the points as New York Red Bulls star Juan Pablo Angel scored a late goal to give his team a thrilling 5-4 win in a fabulously entertaining game Saturday night.
The game winner was Angel's 12th of the season and second of the match. Clint Mathis and Jozy Altidore (two) also scored for New York, which put an amazing 17 shots on target. Los Angeles got a first-half brace from Carlos Pavon and one each from Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle in the second half.
It didn't take long for the goalfest to begin. Four minutes in, Red Bulls starlet Altidore collected a long pass with his back to goal and quickly turned Ty Harden. The surprised Galaxy defender desperately tried to recover and grabbed hold of Altidore's jersey, hauling him to the turf.
On the ensuing free kick, Red Bulls captain Juan Pablo Angel (wearing the armband in place of the injured Claudio Reyna) did his best Beckham impersonation. He sent his powerful effort under the wall, off 'keeper Joe Cannon's hands and into the lower corner of the goal.
It only took the Galaxy two minutes to put the game back on level terms. Beckham, who was booed lustily every time he trotted over to take a set piece, bent a corner kick onto the head of Honduras international forward Pavon, who sent the ball past New York 'keeper Ronald Waterreus for his first MLS goal.
Moments later, Beckham found Pavon again to put the visitors ahead 2-1. With a backdrop of flashbulbs, the English icon sent a 35-yard free kick from the right side into the area, and Pavon dove to head home past Waterreus.
Just after his second helper, Beckham seemed to pull up lame and could be seen favoring his troublesome left ankle. So it was no surprise that he reacted strongly when New York midfielder Dave van den Bergh clattered into him with studs exposed. Beckham jumped to his feet, pushed van den Bergh and screamed at referee Kevin Stott, who amazingly didn't caution the Dutchman on the play. A scrum ensued, as Joe Vide shoved Beckham and Harden came in to protect his captain.
Once play resumed, the teams traded chances for the remainder of the half. Pavon had two good opportunites to complete a first-half hat trick, both off Beckham passes, but couldn't convert either. Landon Donovan could have put Los Angeles up 3-1 when he ran onto a long ball, beat a defender and had an open look at goal after rounding Waterreus, but his shot missed the mark and went into the outside netting.
For the home team, Angel and Altidore were the danger men. Each creating several first-half chances, the best of the bunch came in the 40th minute. Angel took a square pass at the top of the box and tried to curl his shot towards the top right corner, but a fully-extended Cannon was there to brilliantly tip it over the bar.
New York midfielder Clint Mathis tied the game at 2-2 on the stroke of halftime. Dane Richards showed some nifty footwork on the near touchline and sent a cross into the box that took a deflection and fell to Mathis, who volleyed past Cannon into the upper left corner. With the strike, Mathis became the New York club's all-time leading goal scorer.
The Red Bulls made it 3-2 just after the break when Altidore ran onto a through ball from Mathis and cooly finished past Cannon. Then, in the 70th minute, Altidore's impressive individual dribbling effort inside the 18, skipping past a pair of Galaxy defenders and cutting his shot back across his body, gave the home side a two-goal lead.
But the visitors weren't about to go quietly. Almost from the kickoff, Donovan raced upfield through the Red Bulls defense and ripped a low shot from inside the area that beat Waterreus inside his right-hand post.
Then substitute Edson Buddle evened the match at 4-4, tapping home from the doorstep after fellow reserve Kyle Veris had headed powerfully off the crossbar from a Beckham corner kick with eight minutes to play.
It looked as if the Galaxy had done enough to earn a point, but it was not to be. In the 88th, Mathis unleashed a powerful 20-yard drive that Cannon parried away with a dive to his right. But Angel anticipated the rebound and pounced, sending an acute angle shot off the retreating keeper's body and into the net to give the Red Bulls a dramatic victory and send the big crowd home happy.
With the loss, the Galaxy remain stuck on 14 points from 16 games played, and continue to languish in fifth place in the Western Conference standings.
Doug McIntyre is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
