TORONTO — Staring at a two-goal deficit inside 20 minutes, David Beckham didn’t sweat. He knew his Los Angeles Galaxy had the offense they needed to mount a comeback.
Landon Donovan scored the tying goal in the 89th minute and the Galaxy rallied to secure a 2-2 tie with Toronto FC in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals match on Wednesday.
“I wasn’t worried at any point,” Beckham said. “Even at 2-nil down I thought we were going to create chances and going to score goals.”
Beckham was right. Donovan disappointed a raucous crowd of 47,658 when he hammered home a loose ball following a Beckham corner kick, giving Los Angeles a pair of vital away goals in the two-game series.
“Landon is a dangerous player,” Beckham said. “If you have players like that and they have chances, they’re going to capitalize on them. Great to have Landon back, a great player for us.”
For Donovan, it was his first game with the Galaxy since his loan to Everton. He had six assists with Everton, missing the final game with bronchitis, which also caused him to miss the U.S. 1-0 exhibition win at Italy last week.
With the MLS season opener on tap this weekend, and a return engagement against Toronto next week, Donovan said he made a conscious effort to ease himself back into the action.
“I wanted to make sure I paced myself correctly,” he said. “It’s a big two weeks ahead and obviously I haven’t trained and played much so I wanted to be smart about it.”
Mike Magee also scored for the Galaxy, the reigning MLS Cup champions. The draw was the Galaxy’s first competitive match since winning the MLS title last November.
Magee credited the Galaxy’s international stars, including Irishman Robbie Keane, for keeping things under control despite the early deficit.
“Our veterans, David, Landon and Robbie, did a good job in calming everyone down and just saying we’ve just got to play,” Magee said. “I think we showed our class.”
Ryan Johnson and Californian rookie Luis Silva scored for Toronto.
“We let that one slip,” Silva said. “It hurts.”
The game was played indoors and on an artificial turf surface at Rogers Centre, home of the Toronto Blue Jays, because of concerns about cold weather affecting an outdoor game at TFC’s home stadium, BMO Field.
Beckham and Keane complained about the surface after training on it the day before the game, and Beckham appeared to stumble when chasing the ball early in the first half.
Beckham, who turned down European suitors to sign a two-year contract extension with the Galaxy earlier this year, was also jeered and showered with paper streamers every time he lined up to take a corner kick.
An irritated Beckham went onto the field to pick up a beer can and waved it angrily at the linesman on the corner immediately before Donovan’s tying goal.
“It’s disappointing because a crowd like that turns out and it’s a great atmosphere, great to play in front of,” Beckham said. “The majority of the fans created an amazing atmosphere tonight.”
Johnson opened the scoring for Toronto in the 12th minute. Torsten Frings’ corner kick was headed away by Magee, but the ball fell to Johnson, who volleyed a left-footed shot past goalie Josh Saunders.
“I should have done better,” Magee said. “It came short and a bunch of guys jumped in front of me and I reacted late. I headed it where I thought was out and I headed straight to Ryan Johnson.”
Frings was involved again as the home side doubled its lead just six minutes later. The former German international curled in a Beckham-like cross from near midfield and Silva, Toronto’s top pick in this year’s MLS Super Draft, calmly headed it into the far corner, touching off a wild celebration.
“It was a great ball by Torsten,” Silva said. “I was just trying to get my head on it. That’s all I was thinking, just put it on frame. I think I did well for myself.
“I’m pretty sure I’m going to call home now and everyone is going to be texting or calling me as well,” he added. “It’s obviously a great experience for me and I’m just happy.”
Beckham nearly tied it moments later on a corner kick, but Toronto goalie Stefan Frei made an acrobatic save.
The Galaxy cut the deficit in half in the 29th minute when Frei couldn’t hang on to a cross from Galaxy defender Sean Franklin. The ball skimmed off Frei’s fingers and straight to a wide open Magee at the far post.
“Frei would probably like to have that one back,” Magee said. “We’ll take it, obviously.”
Tempers nearly boiled over in the 56th minute when Saunders jumped to collect a loose ball at the edge of his penalty area and raked his cleats along the thigh of Toronto’s Danny Koevermans. The Dutch striker took offense and engaged in some yelling and shoving with the Los Angeles goalie as several Galaxy defenders crowded around.
Koevermans almost scored from the halfway line in the 64th minute, catching Saunders off his line and lifting a long shot that drifted just wide of the net.
Silva came close to adding a second four minutes later when Saunders failed to corral Johnson’s chipped cross, but he couldn’t control the ball in time to get a shot off.
NOTES: The Galaxy open their MLS schedule at home against Salt Lake on Saturday, while Toronto starts March 17 at Seattle. Toronto midfielder Julian deGuzman served a one-match suspension. … TFC’s Frei picked up a yellow card for arguing in the second half. … The two teams meet again next Wednesday in Los Angeles, with the winner of the two-game series moving on to face either Seattle Sounders or Mexico’s Santos Laguna in the semifinals.
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