August 6, 2011: LA Galaxy defender Omar Gonazalez (4) being congratulated by teammate Gregg Berhalter (3) during the match between LA Galaxy and FC Dallas - Photo Credit ISIPhotos

PRO SOCCER NEWS: La Galaxy vs FC Dallas

Bend it like Beckham became a reality for FC Dallas as David Beckham assisted on all three goals in the LA Galaxy’s 3-1 victory versus Dallas Saturday night at the Home Depot Center.

FC Dallas started the game with an up-tempo approach that had the Los Angeles outfit on their heels. In the ninth minute Marvin Chavez ran on to a cut-back pass from Maicon Sanchez and his blistering left-footed drive left LA goalkeeper Josh Saunders with no chance.

The game began to turn ugly with both teams refusing to back down and referee Michael Kennedy was working overtime to stop the game from boiling over.

With about ten minutes left in the half Beckham’s right foot took over. The English international whipped in a wicked ball that completely fooled keeper Kevin Hartman and somehow bounced through to the far post and to a waiting Omar Gonzalez, who scored one of the easiest goals he will ever have in his career.

Tied 1-1 at the beginning of the second half, the intensity did not diminish as both teams continued to plow into each other.  There was a total of 34 fouls called and 6 yellow cards handed out in the game and countless bodies going down all over the field.

The second half saw the LA Galaxy gain the upper hand, if only slightly, and their play was rewarded in the 62nd minute.

Another Beckham free-kick was headed out by Greg Berhalter to Juninho, who smashed a volley into the top corner of the net.

With less than ten minutes to go Beckham again delivered a magnificent ball into the box, this time from a corner, and Mike Magee headed the delivery into the net to give LA a 3-1 win and all three points.

Head coach Bruce Arena talked about his team’s performance.

“We beat a good team tonight. I think both teams were fatigued from not only a long week but a pretty busy schedule to date. It wasn’t going to be easy and I thought perhaps the difference in the game is that our team showed a lot of determination. They fought real hard over 90 minutes, but it was something we had to do to neutralize Dallas. I thought Dallas came out and played real well and gave us a lot of trouble in the opening 20 minutes of the game,” said Arena.

Arena made several changes to the team that lost 3-0 to Portland in midweek, and he talked about moving Sean Franklin forward into the midfield.

“I thought he played well. I think that we have five backs that we’ve rotated during the season for a variety of reasons, mainly injuries. Those five were still able to get onto the field when we pushed Sean into the midfield. I think that’s a position Sean likes. His speed is a plus for us. The combination of Landon Donovan on the left and Sean on the right gives us some speed. I thought that Sean had an exceptional game tonight against a very good player. I think it’s a move we may continue to see,” said Arena.

With the win, the LA Galaxy is now 13-3-9 on the season, giving them a league-best 48 points. They remain in first place in the Western Conference and are now six points ahead of FC Dallas and seven points ahead of third place Seattle Sounders, who beat Sporting Kansas City 2-1 Saturday night.

The LA Galaxy does not return to MLS action until two weeks from tonight on Saturday, August 20 when they host the San Jose Earthquakes at The Home Depot Center. That game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. and will be shown live on Prime Ticket starting with the Galaxy Live pregame show at 7 p.m.

LA will open the CONCACAF Champions League on Tuesday, August 16 when they host Honduran champion Motagua at The Home Depot Center in a game that kicks off at 7 p.m.

Scoring Summary:
FCD – Marvin Chavez 5 (Maicon Santos 2, Zach Loyd 3) 9’
LA – Omar Gonzalez 2 (Unassisted) 32’
LA – Juninho 4 (Gregg Berhalter 1, David Beckham 9) 62’
LA – Mike Magee 2 (David Beckham 10) 81’

Misconduct Summary:
FCD – Ricardo Villar (Yellow Card) 18'
LA – David Beckham (Yellow Card) 25’
FCD – Jair Benitez (Yellow Card) 27’
LA – Gregg Berhalter (Yellow Card) 35’
FCD – Marvin Chavez (Yellow Card) 68’
LA – Michael Stephens (Yellow Card) 94+

Lineups:

LA Galaxy: Josh Saunders; A.J. DeLaGarza, Omar Gonzalez, Gregg Berhalter, Todd Dunivant; Sean Franklin, David Beckham, Juninho, Mike Magee (Michael Stephens 88’); Adam Cristman (Juan Pablo Angel 78’), Landon Donovan©.

Subs Not Used: Brian Perk, Bryan Jordan, Chris Birchall, Paolo Cardozo, Miguel Lopez.

FC Dallas: Kevin Hartman; Zach Loyd, George John, Ugo Ihemelu (Bobby Warshaw 92+), Jair Benitez; Daniel Hernandez©, Bruno Guarda (Daniel Cruz 72’), Marvin Chavez, Ricardo Villar, Brek Shea; Maicon Santos (Eric Alexander 79’).

Subs Not Used: Chris Seitz, Andrew Jacobson, , Ruben Luna, Andrew Wiedeman.

Referee: Michael Kennedy
Referee’s Assistants Adam Wienckowski and Jason Cullum
4^th Official: Mark Declouet