Galaxy's start finishes Revs; 4-game unbeaten streak ends.

PositionSPORTS

Byline: Carl Setterlund

FOXBORO - A late goal provided a jolt of energy, but it wasn't enough to derail the red-hot Las Angeles Galaxy as a crowd of 26,623 came out to see David Beckham and friends take down the Revolution, 2-1, last night at Gillette Stadium.

"Especially against a team like New England, who is generally a low-scoring team and a team that doesn't give up too many goals, getting the first goal and making them have to chase the game and open themselves up a little was important in this game," Los Angeles coach Bruce Arena said. "I thought our team defended well, we created chances, got the ball forward, and we were smart in trying to manage this game in the right way."

Steve Ralston scored for the Revolution, slotting his 83rd-minute penalty kick just out of the reach of L.A. goalie Donovan Ricketts, but New England couldn't capitalize on the momentum as the Revs had their four-game unbeaten streak snapped and fell to 6-6-6 (24 points).

"We just needed a little bit of luck in front of goal and we didn't really have it," said Paul Mariner, filling in for Revs coach Steve Nicol while he serves a two-game suspension for a red card in last weekend's match against Toronto FC. "You can't give a team like that a two-goal start."

An enthusiastic effort by Beckham and an early wonder goal by Landon Donovan in the 21st minute to open things up helped Los Angeles win its fifth game in six matches and improve to 7-3-10 (31 points).

In the lead-up to Donovan's goal, Alan Gordon sent a ball into the box, which Darrius Barnes cleared away with far too little power. The ball fell to Donovan, who struck it out of the air from the edge of the box and curled his volley around a diving Matt Reis, just inside the left post.

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