The Official Site of Landon Donovan

Fri, Jul 17th 2009, 10:22

Landon gets a goal and an assist in Galaxy's 3rd straight win

Video Highlight: Landon’s Goal

The Los Angeles Galaxy celebrated David Beckham’s MLS return by posting a comprehensive 3-1 victory against the New York Red Bulls on Thursday night at Giants Stadium.

Alecko Eskandarian, Landon Donovan and Eddie Lewis each scored first-half goals for the Galaxy and the visitors never looked back, conceding only a 87th-minute penalty kick from Red Bulls captain Juan Pablo Angel. The win was LA’s fourth in a row.

It didn’t take long for the Galaxy to grab the lead. Less than three minutes in, recently acquired forward Alecko Eskandarian pounced on some non-existent Red Bulls defending by drilling a searing left-footed half-volley past goalkeeper Danny Cepero from 22 yards.

It was the New Jersey native’s third of the season and second for Los Angeles since arriving via trade from Chivas USA on July 1.

Following the opener, the Red Bulls scrambled to answer. But a short stretch of sustained pressure didn’t create a legitimate scoring chance — not surprising considering New York came into the match averaging less than a goal per game, the worst scoring offense in MLS this season. Continue game recap….

Landon’s post-game quotes

On tonight’s win:
“We played very well. It was nice to have a confident team coming in and a confident team that got a lot better with a world-class player joining us. And we were very good tonight and deserved to win.”

On the Galaxy’s success in his absence:
“They were fantastic. What I think we have done now is built a solid defensive foundation which is hard to breakdown when you have that. And then you add pieces like myself and Alecko [Eskandarian] and Edson [Buddle] playing well and Alan Gordon, who didn’t play tonight who would start on most teams in this league, and then you bring in David, you’re going to have a pretty good team and that’s where we are at right now.”

On the chemistry with David Beckham on the field:
“It was fantastic. The first day he got back in training – with players like that you don’t worry about chemistry because he sees the game the same way. I think even with a little time to practice and get back on the same page, we’ll figure things out a little bit more. He understands how to play the game, he knows how to play and he can make all the plays that I need to get the ball in a good spot.”

On taking the red eye flight to the game tonight:
“We felt collectively that being at the ESPYs was a big opportunity. It’s not often that soccer is on the front of people’s minds in this country and right now, it seems to be. Not necessarily for the right reasons the past two weeks, but people are talking about it and that’s good. I felt it was important. Bruce (Arena) thought it was important. Tim Leiweke thought it was important. And I’m at a place now where it doesn’t matter when I arrive, the preparation is ideal. I know how I’m going to perform and I promised Bruce that and I think it worked out.”

On the New York Red Bulls’ struggles:
“New York actually has a pretty good team. They aren’t as bad as their record is. When I look at their players, they have some good talented players. Sometimes things don’t work out.”