The 24, 279 fans in attendance on a Wednesday night at the Home Depot Center went home happy, and with coupons for free chicken. The Los Angeles Galaxy managed to shut out the Columbus Crew, 1-0, with Sean Franklin scoring the game winner and his first MLS goal. In the process, David Beckham picked up a silly yellow card, which has the very real consequence of a suspension for next match.
Sean Franklin's goal came as a result of a set piece but wasn't part of it. David Beckham took the free kick just outside the box, and after it bounced off the wall, Beckham let it roll to the feel of Sean Franklin, who hit a daisy cutter that took a funny bounce and hopped over William Hesmer.
"Good win for our team," said Coach Bruce Arena. "Both teams played hard. Had a couple chances to get a goal in the first sixty minutes of the game, but Columbus played hard and were a danger until the end of the game."
Outside of the win and the goal, there was little else in the way off excitement at the Home Depot Center. The Galaxy did come close to an MLS record for free kicks. The record, 19, was set in 1999 by the New York/New Jersey Metro Stars. The Galaxy ended up with 16 on the night.
The other story of the night was the continued ineptitude of Juan Pablo Angel. The striker had two shots on the stat sheet, but they were both memorable for the wrong reasons. In the 30' Landon Donovan picked up the ball at midfield, and juked out his defender so badly he fell down. Donovan made the unselfish play, and laid it off to Angel on his right. Angel tried to chip it over William Hesmer, but it beat the keeper and then beat the left post. There was also a 55' effort where Angel used a header to send a bounce pass to Hesmer. The finishing just isn't there, which had the crowd chanting "We want Buddle".
Mostly positives to walk away from this match with. The Galaxy have now won two in a row and extend their unbeaten streak to 13. In a MLS season which has been very stingy to dish out points, the Galaxy have eclipsed the 40 point mark before the All-Star game.
The Galaxy's next MLS match will be next Saturday in Vancouver, but first they have the friendly against Manchester City on Sunday. Bruce Arena said he will likely use a mix of starters and reserves, and you can be sure David will play the full 90 since he has a two week break after Sunday.