Third time lucky for LA Galaxy

Melbourne Victory have lost to LA Galaxy 4-3 in a penalty shout-out in their friendly at Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night. Melbourne welcomed David Beckham's championship winning Galaxy for the first time and the 34,608 fans enjoyed a warm evening inside the reconfigured stadium.

Harry Kewell was a late omission from the Victory side with the club saying he 'wasn't right' whilst the player himself claimed he was 100% ready to go but wasn't picked.

Melbourne Victory were by far the dominant team in the first half as they ran a tiring Galaxy all over the park.
The crowd at Etihad stadium was unusually hushed and maybe a little star-struck until the man they came to see picked up his first touch two minutes into the game. Beckham's first meaningful action though was to come when he spotted Victory 'keeper Ante Covic loitering around the edge of the area and audacioulsy shot from inside his own half. Covic was either left stranded or he has a fantastic sense of occasion as he watched the ball sail over his head and just wide.

Archie Thompson continued his great form with some early warning shots but was unable to open the scoring. That honour was left to Carlos Hernandez on 15 minutes with his second attempt, scoring with his left foot after Isaka Cernak provided the ball to the Costa Rican.

Galaxy looked to hit back soon after when striker Adam Christman headed just wide of the target after being provided with one of Beckham's trademark crosses.

Archie should have doubled the scoring on 26 minutes but was thwarted by Galaxy 'keeper Dunivant. Minutes later Hernandez shot over the bar with one of his trade mark long range free kicks.

On 37 minutes Isaka Cernak gave Victory their desereved two goal buffer when Hernandez turned provider and put Cernak through with only Dunivant to beat; a task he completed with aplomb.

Only three minutes later LA Galaxy were on the board when a handball was spotted by referee Strebre Delovski against either Leijer, Vargas or Foschini. Former Tottenham Hotspur striker Robbie Keane stepped up and duly tucked it away.

Both teams made a swag full of changes at half time with Galaxy coming out of the rooms looking the better side and were quickly rewarded with a second penalty. This time Beckham was taken out by substitute Franjic in a decision that looked both soft and outside the box. Much to the fans angst the famous number 23 of David Beckham didn't step up to take the spot kick, rather Keane again sent the Victory 'keeper, this time Thomas, the wrong way to level the scores.

Victory should have had the lead on 58 minutes when Solorzano and Cernak managed to ruin an opportunity that was easier to score than miss. Solorzano could count himself unlucky as he was then obstructed on the penalty spot chasing up his error however the referee waved away shouts for a penalty.

In a free flowing second half Robbie Keane put Beckham through on goal only for the former Man Utd, Real Madrid and AC Milan superstar to shoot marginally over the bar. Galaxy were the better side in the second half and looked to show Victory exactly what Mehmet Durakovic has been trying to spruik with his short sharp passing line.

Both sides had a chance to win the game inside the last 5 minutes with Cardozo hitting the post and Allsopp the side netting . Keane and Beckham were substituted late in the game which robbed the Melbourne public of seeing Keane get his hat trick and Beckham a penalty in the shoot-out.

After 90 minutes the game was locked at 2-2 but the crowd were treated to some bonus football with a penalty shoot-out deciding the Hyundai club challenge.

Langdon Donovan missed for Galaxy while Rojas and Retre were the villains for Melbourne, leaving Victory the only Hyundai A-League team to be beaten by LA Galaxy with both Newcastle Jets and Sydney FC defeating the traveling David Beckham circus on previous visits.