Two teams battling for top spot in the league, both having reached the play-off stages start cautiously, The Galaxy choosing to start with Landon Donovan on the bench. Beckham starts the game having played little more than 30 minutes for England last week.
The first half certainly lacked a sense of urgency though arguably Houston were found pressing more than The Galaxy. Ricketts stood up well in defence of the LA goal. Beckham had a reasonable if not exactly hectic first half, and Galaxy managed to look like a team that were just waiting for Landon Donovan to take the field.
Bruce Arena opted to keep Landon Donovan on the bench at the beginning of the second half, but it was Buddle who had a shot cleared off the line on 50 minutes. Only a few seconds later Donovan took the field with a view to changing the scoreline in The Galaxys' favour. 15 minutes later, Donovan was released into a great position, but the chance was wasted across the width of the net and beyond, eventually going out of play just before the corner flag.
On 77 minutes, Houston had a terrific chance which was saved by Ricketts at point blank range once again proving invaluable for LA this season.
Ten minutes from the end, Beckham was involved in a shoving match after a strong tackle, he conceded a foul but was caught by a retaliation. However, it was an uninvolved Houston player who ended up with a red card and dismissal for his over-physical remonstrations which saw him push Beckham in the face.
Expectations were raised by the anticipated arrival of Donovan, and the second half certainly was more heated than the first, Beckham himself slicing a shot wide in the last few minutes. At the end of the day, the teams were well-matched and a draw was a fair result - a good one for The Galaxy as the visiting team. The match finishes with no score and the battle for league leadership goes down to the wire.
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