Sports

Redlands Native Donovan + Juninho, Beckham Score as Galaxy Defeat Portland 3-1

Landon Donovan scored off an assist from Irish captain Robbie Keane to pull Los angeles even, Brazilian midfielder Juninho broke the deadlock, and David Beckham iced the match with a curving blast in the 90th minute.

Redlands native Landon Donovan, Juninho and David Beckham scored Saturday night in Carson as the Los Angeles Galaxy defeated the Portland Timbers 3-1 in a Major League Soccer match.

Donovan scored off an assist from Irish captain Robbie Keane in the 44th minute to pull the Galaxy even.

 Brazilian midfielder Juninho broke the deadlock in the 83rd minute with what proved to be the match-winner, and Beckham iced the match with a curving blast in the 90th minute.

Find out what's happening in Banning-Beaumontwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

It was the first dominant performance of the year for the defending MLS Cup champions, who have missed injured defender Omar Gonzalez.

The primary reason the Galaxy were in any position to win Saturday night was another Brazilian, defender David Junior Lopes, acquired by Los Angeles earlier in the week in a trade with Chivas USA.

Find out what's happening in Banning-Beaumontwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Lopes is 6-foot-3, strong and limber, and he shut down Portland attacks repeatedly, and gave Beckham a new target on set pieces.

Beckham said after the game Lopes "was possibly the man of the match," the Los Angeles Times reported.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here