Columbus Crew 2 LA Galaxy 0

Beckham sits out this game with a swollen ankle, and the game seems to suffer as a result. The first half gave us plenty of end-to-end action with The Crew having the best of a relatively mediochre game.
The flash point of the first half was a Columbus goal on 33 minutes which saw the ball headed across the goal and Ricketts helpless as it fell into the far corner. The Crew deserved to be ahead at the break, but neither team was playing the beautiful game as it can be played.
Despite bringing Gordon into the play, and looking more likely to have an impact, LA went down another goal before the hour mark. This prompted Bruce Arena to throw Eddie Lewis into the mix.
Despite LA's best efforts, they rarely worried the Columbus goalmouth and hardly looked like a team determined to make the play-offs. At least they had a game in hand compared to conference leaders Houston, now that potential advantage has been wasted.
Badly missing Beckham the playmaker, The Galaxy host The Chicago Fire next Friday at The Home Depot Center - one can only hope that Beckham can at least make it to the bench by Friday, another performance like this does not bear repeating.