New York crowds flock to see BeckhamBrian Doogan at Giants Stadium, New York
New York Red Bulls 5 Los Angeles Galaxy 4

A record crowd of 66,237 for a Major League Soccer (MLS) game at Giants Stadium witnessed David Beckham’s compelling debut in the Big Apple, which contained a multiplicity of defensive errors, nine goals of varying quality, a central role for the star attraction and enough dramatic fluctuations to leave New Yorkers hungry for more. For Beckham, it was a successful enterprise in almost every department bar the result.
The 32-year-old Galaxy captain played an entire game for the first time since making his $250m trans-Atlantic switch to MLS two months ago and the injured left ankle which has plagued his new venture held up sufficiently to justify his optimism that he will play some part for England in Wednesday’s friendly against Germany at Wembley. “My ankle took a pounding, obviously, and it’s more swollen now than it was before the game but I’m sure it will be fine for the game on Wednesday,” he said.
Whether he will be fine to play for England and in Galaxy’s derby game against Chivas USA on Thursday back in Los Angeles remains to be seen. The plan is that he will be on a plane to get him back to the Home Depot Center by noon on Thursday, seven hours before Galaxy kick off against Chivas. Defensively lacking, Galaxy require Beckham’s offensive qualities – even if he remains considerably distant from full match fitness – if they are to stand any chance of arresting their alarming form. Last night’s defeat was their eighth in 16 MLS games this season. They have won only three and a play-off position is increasingly looking out of reach, a huge embarrassment if this should happen.
“I think it’s about confidence,” Beckham reasoned. “We’re disappointed because we lost the game but there’s a lot we can take away from here because we showed a lot of character. To go 1-0 down, then 2-1 up before going down again 4-2 and getting it back to 4-4 shows the character in the team. It’s a learning curve and sometimes you just have to accept that you’re only going to get a point. But we have the mentality that we want more, which might be bad when you end up with nothing from the game but in the long run we have a team that wants to win and that’s a positive.”
It may also be stretching the point. Without the injured Abel Xavier, Galaxy’s defence looked shaky from the start and it was only some stellar goalkeeping by Joe Cannon which prevented New York from taking advantage of the visitors’ deficiencies to an even more embarrassing degree. Ty Harden’s poor backpass in the first minute set the tone, leaving Cannon under pressure to clear the ball and when the 23-year-old defender, in his first season in MLS, brought down Red Bulls striker Jozy Altidore just outside the penalty area he was fortunate to escape with just a yellow card from referee Kevin Stott. Juan Pablo Angel, the former Aston Villa striker, made both Harden and Galaxy pay a heavier price, however, when he fired the resultant free kick low, through the wall and inside Cannon’s right post.
Galaxy needed a large shot of confidence and Beckham, demonstrating his deadliness from set pieces, provided the reassuring touch. Twice in the space of two minutes he produced perfect deliveries for Carlos Pavon, which the Peruvian striker finished with aplomb to give Galaxy the lead.
The first goal came from an in-swinging Beckham corner kick, which Pavon met at the near post with a header that beat Red Bulls goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus and slipped inside the far post. Beckham’s left ankle continued to bother him but, despite his obvious discomfort, he picked out Pavon again with a 30-yard free kick and another crisply-despatched header put Galaxy ahead. Suddenly, they had the initiative and the interplay between Beckham and Landon Donovan became pivotal, for when they combined intelligently and incisively the visitors were at their most effective.
But Red Bulls trio Clint Mathis, Dave van den Bergh and Joe Vide worked tirelessly to disrupt their rhythm, van der Bergh inciting a spiteful reaction from Beckham with a late tackle which prompted Vide to pull Beckham away while his team-mate was booked. The challenge, certainly, was questionable but no one could dispute the commitment. “We were very thin in midfield with the injuries to [former Rangers, Sunderland and Manchester City midfielder] Claudio Reyna and Dema Kovalenko, so for Clint to come in with a young kid like Joe and try to deal with Beckham and Donovan for most of the game, I give them a lot of credit,” said Red Bulls coach Bruce Arena.
Donovan came close to increasing Galaxy’s advantage with a strong run punctuated by a 25-yard shot which just rose above the crossbar and another free kick by Beckham which was deflected into the path of Alan Gordon ought to have yielded a better effort than a close-range shot straight at Waterreus. An injury to Ante Jazic, who was stretchered off with a sprained right ankle, forced Galaxy coach Frank Yallop to pull Kevin Harmse back into defence and, ultimately, it also meant that Beckham would have to soldier through 90 minutes.
Meanwhile Galaxy’s vulnerabilities at the back were never far from being damagingly exposed and Cannon had to parry a free kick by Angel before Pavon blocked the rebound on the goal line. New York were attacking with pace and penetration from the flanks, with Dane Richards especially efficient, and Angel had a perfect foil in the 6ft1ins 17-year-old Jozy Altidore, whose physicality was matched by a dextrous touch and a clear eye for goal.
Mathis showed the same ability to finish. After Pavon and Donovan had spurned chances and Angel at the other end, forcing another fine save from Cannon, Mathis collected a pass from Richards and rifled his shot into the roof of the net to tie the game at half-time and force another shift in momentum. Four minutes into the second half Mathis passed to Altidore inside the area and the striker coolly beat Cannon to regain the lead for New York. Beckham was struggling to maintain his grip on the game and fired several free kicks, with which he might have done better, straight into the wall. He did conjure up one exquisite ball for Donovan whose pass to Gordon should have registered a third goal for Galaxy but the striker shot wide from close range.
The makings of a memorable finale were put in place when Altidore cut in from the left side of the penalty box and, despite the close proximity of three Galaxyd defenders, was allowed to shoot past Cannon for his second goal to establish a two-goal lead for Red Bulls. Straight from the restart Donovan narrowed the gap with prodigious pace that took him to the right side of the penalty area and a strong finish inside the far post. Then with eight minutes remaining a Beckham corner kick created the equalising goal, substitute Kyle Veris heading against the crossbar and fellow substitute Edson Buddle scoring from the rebound. It seemed that Beckham’s intervention and Buddle’s finish had salvaged a precious point for Galaxy.
But with only two minutes remaining, it was Angel who stole Beckham’s thunder, pouncing on the loose ball when Cannon saved from Mathis and firing a shot through the keeper’s hands from a tight angle. The New York crowd, the eighth largest in MLS history and more than 50,000 above the average for the season, was in raptures.
“They witnessed an exciting game and it was great for the league and great for both teams to play in an atmosphere like that,” Beckham reflected. “Both teams made it exciting for the people who paid their money but we’re disappointed to come away with no points.”
It is a depressingly familiar scenario for Galaxy in a strange, incredible season, one which Beckham will not easily transform. But he departed with a smile on his face, for at least he had won over New York.
Star Man: Juan Pablo Angel
Red Bulls (4-4-2): Waterreus 5, Freeman 6, Parke 6, Stammler 5, Leitch 5, Richards 6, Vide 7, Mathis 8 (Mendes 90, 4), Van den Bergh 7 (Wolyniec 84, 4), Angel 9, Altidore 9 (Magee 90, 4). Booked: Mathis 68, Vide 74
Goals: Angel 4, 88, Mathis 45, Altidore 49, 70
Galaxy (4-4-2): Cannon 7, Klein 5, Harden 4, Jazic 4 (Glinton 17, 4) (Buddle 76, 5), Randolph 4, Donovan 8, Beckham 8, Harmse 6, Martino 7, Gordon 5 (Veris 60, 6), Pavon 8. Booked: Harden 4
Goals: Pavon 6, 8, Donovan 71, Buddle 82
Referee: Kevin Stott. Attendance: 66,237
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