David Beckham had his first two-goal game in the MLS Saturday as the L.A. Galaxy came up with a draw, 2-2, against Real Salt Lake in a game featuring high-powered offensive attacks from both sides.

RSL came charging out of the gate and got the record-setting crowd of 25,500 on their feet as forward Fabian Espindola rocketed a shot past L.A. goalkeeper Steve Cronin in the sixth minute of the match. The Galaxy tried to fire back one minute later, but a save by RSL's Nick Rimando kept them at bay, and the only thing they came away with was an injured forward Edson Buddle, who strained his right hamstring and was forced to watch the rest of the match from the hospital.

RSL kept up an aggressive attack for most of the first half, dominating possession early. Just before the 20-minute mark, RSL's Scottish sensation, forward Kenny Deuchar, broke away down the field and headed a pass from midfielder Javier Morales into the goal to put RSL up 2-0. It was Morales' second assist of the night, a feat that put him atop the league, and tied with Beckham, for most assists in a season.

"I feel really good," Morales said after the match. "I was very happy with them, but I would have liked them more if we could have won."

Beckham scored L.A.'s only two goals of the night, the first one coming 36 minutes into the match after L.A. went down 2-0 thanks to the likes of RSL forwards Fabian Espindola and Kenny Deuchar.

The international superstar and midfielder for the English national team liked his role as team scorer, but was quick to credit his success to the team.

"It was my turn to score the goals tonight instead of Landon [Donovan]," Beckham said. "But it's important that all the players take a part of scoring goals and winning games and getting the team back into the game."

Donovan didn't seem to mind the lack of spotlight for one night.

"He was terrific," Donovan said, commenting on Beckham's performance. "Not only that, he could have had a chance to score another one, and could have provided a few assists still in the game for us. But when we needed him he stepped up and made a difference. That's what you hope to get from him, and that's what he gave us tonight, and he was terrific."

Beckham managed his second goal during a free kick in the 40th minute.

"I'm like a little kid every time a free kick is given on the edge of the box," Beckham said. "The excitement comes into myself and most of the time I can score them. Recently I've had a couple which have hit the wall, but tonight I was happy with the free kick and also happy with the first goal. But like I've said, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't."

The second half was all defense, as RSL's Nick Rimando and L.A.'s Cronin picked up a number of critical saves to keep their teams off of the losing end of the pile.

One of those "special saves" Kreis mentioned occurred in the 51st minute, as the Galaxy mounted a charging spurt from all angles and nearly came away with a goal. After performing a diving block in the corner, Rimando found himself out of position as the ball ricocheted into the possession of another Galaxy attacker. Another rocket toward the center of the net found defender Nat Borchers jump in front of the ball to avert disaster, and a final, sweeping clear by midfielder Kyle Beckerman narrowly finished off the Galaxy's chances at going ahead 3-2 at the point of the match.

"[Rimando] was there when we needed him the most and there to make the special saves," RSL coach Jason Kreis said. "I think there were one or two saves in the second half that were really special."

RSL had a chance of their own to come away with the win right before the half, as Deuchar found himself with a clear shot that sank into the deep pocket behind Cronin for what would have been RSL's third goal of the night. But the goal was called back after referees ruled Deuchar off-sides and gave possession to the Galaxy.

"Personally, I thought I was off-sides on the first goal, not the second, but what can you do?" Deuchar told reporters after the game.

Kreis was quick to defend his foreign friend.

"If the refs had even thought he was off-sides then, they would have called it," Kreis interjected.

Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit pointed out his team's successes on an away field like Rice-Eccles Stadium, and was happy to come away from the night with a point.

"After the game there was a feeling that we should have won this game, but if you saw the first 20 minutes, you know it was incredible," Gullit said. "I think that the most difficult part is that we tried to practice on turf, but nothing is like this turf, therefore players had difficulty getting into the game. We did things I didn't think we'd normally do, but after the [first] 20 minutes this team battled back."

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Copyright Brigham Young University 5 May 2008