CARSON, Calif. -- No Beckham? No Donovan? No problem.
Not if Mike Magee is finishing like he did Sunday afternoon, when he netted his first career hat trick to lead the LA Galaxy in a 4-0 rout of the Chicago Fire at the Home Depot Center.
All three strikes were outstanding, and he might have had two more: It was the easy ones he missed.
“You see the quality that he has,” said Robbie Keane, who partnered Magee up front and played key roles in all three of the strikes before netting one of his own near the finish. “The three goals that he scored were exceptional goals. ... It was one of those things. Sometimes you just hit everything and it hits the back of the net. Mikey had one of those days today.”
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Magee volleyed home the first, just inside the right post, after Todd Dunivant's deflected pass soared his way. Then he found the far-post netting from Keane's defense-splitting ball from the top of the box, and added the best of the bunch for last, taking a rebound on his chest and volleying it in off the bounce. All three with his left foot.
“What can you say, three goals?” head coach Bruce Arena said. “I don't think his first 30 minutes were as good as I'd like to see, [but] I don't want to get on the wrong side of Magee, because he could get me fired, I guess, at this point.”
Do the math: Magee is currently on pace to score 102 goals this season.
“It was cool,” he said. “The hat trick was cool, the win was cool, and the best part of the day was getting the [championship] rings [before kickoff]. It was a helluva day.”
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Keane was the instigator of a Galaxy attack largely fueled by Juninho and especially Marcelo Sarvas in midfield, and the “common understanding” that Magee shares with the Irishman Keane caused problems for the Fire backline.
“[Magee] did a good job of creating a lot of space and getting behind their defense,” defender Todd Dunivant noted. “I think we were really dangerous with balls in behind, and Robbie always does such a good job in front creating havoc, and Mike faded off [Chicago's] defenders' shoulders really well, got behind their defense, and got a lot of opportunities from it.”
Magee acknowledged Keane's role by mimicking his trademark scoring celebration after the third goal, a mostly failed attempt at a somersault.
“That was my last-minute, makeshift, try-to-do-a-Robbie-Keane celebration,” Magee said. “I had no idea what I was doing, but it was a little bit of a thank you for having something to do with all three of them.”
