The LA Galaxy went into the locker room at half time, down a goal after having the lions share of the chances in the first half. Real Salt Lake’s Fabian Espindola got up over his marker on a Javier Morales corner kick, putting the Galaxy in a hole. LA has responded with two second half goals to take the lead back against RSL.
The Galaxy scored both goals off David Beckham’s free kicks. The clubs is renowned for their prowess on set pieces, and tonight has been no different. On the first scoring play, Chad Barrett had to chase down a Beckham quick restart. With the ball and Barrett up against the near post, and Yordany Alvarez on his back, Barrett flipped the ball up over Nick Rimando’s head for the equalizer.
Then came the go ahead goal. On a much more planned set piece, Beckham’s ball was popped up by Landon Donovan and kept in by Todd Dunivant. The ball then bounced around in front of RSL’s defense, and bumped in by Real’s Nat Borchers. The own goal put the Galaxy up with little time remaining.
The sell out crowd at the Home Depot Center has been quiet at times, but has been given quite a show. Now it’s up to the Galaxy to close out one of two wins needed to repeat as MLS Supporter’s Shield winners.