For the second consecutive week, the Kansas City Wizards held a 1-0 lead at halftime, and for the second consecutive week the Wizards failed to come out with three points.
The Los Angeles Galaxy scored three second-half goals and beat the Wizards 3-1 at The Home Depot Center on Saturday night, extending the Wizards' winless streak to four games.
Claudio Lopez scored the Wizards' only goal as he found the back of the net in the 40th minute but goals by Landon Donovan, Edson Buddle and David Beckham gave the hosts the victory.
Entering the match, the Galaxy's offense proved a formidable challenge for the Wizards. The Galaxy had scored a league-high 19 goals in eight games before Saturday's contest and Donovan and Beckham had combined for 11 goals and 10 assists in those games.
As it was likely expected, the Galaxy held the ball for large stretches of time and put Kevin Hartman to the test. As he was a week ago, Hartman was up for the challenge save for a few ultimately disastrous moments.
Lopez tested Steve Cronin in the 25th minute with a shot from just outside the penalty area but Cronin did well to dive and make the save.
Sasha Victorine was booked in the 33rd minute after a foul in the middle of the field. For Victorine the start was just his second of the season and just the fourth game he's played in this season.
It was Lopez who finally opened the scoring with a moment of brilliance. Lopez took possession of the ball some 40 yards out and blew past a pair of defenders. He found space near the top of the penalty area and tucked his shot past Cronin and into the right corner of the net.
The goal was Lopez's first since May 3 and just the second goal since the season opener. It was also Kansas City's first goal from the run of play since an April 20 victory in Chicago. It also tied him with Jimmy Conrad as each now have a team-high three goals.
Overall, though, it was the host Galaxy who maintained possession and put pressure on the Wizards. K.C. goalkeeper Kevin Hartman did what he did for many years at The Home Depot Center as he came up with several clutch saves in the first half. Hartman turned both Donovan (eighth minute) and Beckham (42nd minute) away in the opening half on point-blank shots and did well to come off his line and parry several crosses away in the opening half as well.
The Wizards' strong defense, though, gave away a penalty kick. Tyson Wahl was called for a foul on Donovan inside the penalty area in the 54th minute. Donovan stepped up to the spot and buried the shot as the Galaxy leveled terms early in the second half.
The goal was Donovan's league-high ninth of the season. It also marked the second consecutive week the Wizards yielded an equalizer in the second half. Though not as backbreaking as last week's late goal K.C. conceded in New York, the equalizer breathed life into the Galaxy.
After the goal, the Galaxy continued to control the possession and pace of the game. However, the Galaxy's barrage on the K.C. goal did not come right away as the Wizards defense did well to keep the ball out of danger areas.
Davy Arnaud won a set piece after he was fouled some 10 yards outside the penalty area in the 66th minute but Carlos Marinelli sailed his attempt well over the crossbar. Along with an earlier corner kick, the set piece was the only semblance of Kansas City's venture forward as the visitors seemed content with playing to win via a counterattack.
The Galaxy's perseverance paid off in the 74th minute. Donovan took the ball outside the penatly area and drew defenders towards him. As he approached the top of the box, he slipped a ball to Buddle, who suddenly found himself with space to shoot. Buddle beat Hartman and scored his fourth goal in two games.
Wizards coach Curt Onalfo immediately reacted. He made a pair of substitutions as he inserted Eloy Colombano and Kurt Morsink for Victorine and Arnaud.
The Wizards nearly equalized on a bizarre sequence but ultimately Sealy could not find space to shoot on an empty goal. Lopez carried the ball to the top of the penalty area and fed Sealy, who averted a defender and found Cronin charging at him at the top of the area. Sealy could not find the ball, though, and tried to dribble around Cronin. He tried a shot from the right side of the box but Cronin made the save, then found the ball and slipped a pass to the front of the goal. Donovan deflected the ball and sent it on an empty net but former Wizards standout Chris Klein dove and cleared the ball off the line.
Ivan Trujillo replaced Chance Myers in the 84th minute as Onalfo made his final substitution of the match.
The Wizards tried to mount pressure on the Galaxy in the latter stages of the game but failed to do so. Beckham scored four minutes into stoppage time from well behind the center line, knocking the ball into an empty net after Hartman had joined the Wizards attack on a corner kick.
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
