Los Angeles Galaxy forward Landon Donovan was voted Major League Soccer's Player of the Week for Week 4 of the 2008 season. Donovan scored a pair of goals as the Galaxy (1-2-1, 4 points) tied the Houston Dynamo 2-2 on Saturday night.
After going down a goal in the first half on a strike by Houston's Brad Davis, the Galaxy responded in the 67th minute with a spectacular goal. Landon played a ball out to the right wing where David Beckham took a touch and crossed it back to the near post. Donovan was able to gain a bit of separation from his defender and drove a diving header past Dynamo goalkeeper Tony Caig.
Houston regained the lead when Franco Caraccio scored in 79th minute, but the Galaxy answered a few minutes later, when Donovan and Beckham combined for the fourth time this season. Chris Klein played a ball behind the Houston defense to Beckham in stride. Beckham sent the ball across the six yard box to Donovan, who slid to finish at the far post.
Donovan currently leads the race for the Budweiser Golden Boot with five goals in four games. Donovan is also the only player with two multi-goal games. Last year, Donovan led the Galaxy with eight goals and finished second in MLS with 13 assists. This marks the sixth MLS Player if the Week award in Donovan's career. He won the honor in Week 19 of the 2001 season, Week 25 of the 2003 season, Week 2 of the 2005 season, Week 5 of the 2006 season and Week 4 of the 2007 season. The Galaxy are back in action on Saturday, April 26 against local rivals Chivas USA at 10:30 p.m. ET on Fox Soccer Channel and Fox Sports en Español.
The Major League Soccer Player of the Week is selected each week of the MLS regular season by a panel of journalists from The North American Soccer Reporters (NASR). The group consists of members of print, television, radio and online media. More information and membership information can be found at http://www.soccerreporters.com/.
2008 Player of the Week Winners
Week 1:
Terry Cooke (Colorado Rapids)
Week 2:
David Beckham (Los Angeles Galaxy)
Week 3:
Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus Crew)
Week 4:
Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy)
