LA Galaxy Cough Up Win To Quakes As Cooler Heads Prevail

There are two prevailing themes about this LA Galaxy loss to the San Jose Earthquakes on twitter. The first is that the Galaxy played terribly hard tonight, their effort was top drawer, but the bad luck that has followed the Galaxy all year continued to follow them tonight. The other trend, which has shown up on some league associated accounts, is that David Beckham lost his head and the team went with it.

It's clear the Beckham does not like Jair Marrufo. He said as much in the locker room after the match, saying Marrufo likes to make himself the star. The red card he gave to Hector Jimenez was certainly warranted, with Jimenez going studs up on a 50/50 tackle. Beckham maintained his composure after that, finding Magee with a cross that led to the Galaxy's second goal after Magee dribbled past his marker and the keeper.

It was unfortunate that Jimenez got sent off, after scoring the opening goal of the match in the 3'. This was Jimenez' first start of the 2012 campaign and his first MLS goal. It was a nice set up too, with Juninho finding Chad Barrett in the box, Barrett fending off the challenge, then finding Jimenez who struck it cleanly.

All this goodwill was maintained through San Jose's first goal. On a corner kick, Brian Gaul lost Steven Lenhart who dove to head the ball past Brian Perk. Gual was the fifth center back to pair with A.J. DeLaGarza this year, as the Galaxy have yet to find consistency at the position. It shows on the pitch.

However, the goodwill was lost after Beckham picked up a yellow card. Defending on a long developing play in the box, Beckham jumped in the air and turned to block an incoming strike from Jason Hernandez. The ball hit Beckham's arm, Beckham claimed he had his arms as close to his body as he could, replay was inconclusive as to whether Beckham got his arms tucked in on time.

On the field, Beckham looked disgusted, not even bothering to argue the call; just dismissing Marrufo with a wave. Khari Stephenson converted the penalty, as San Jose's late magic continued. It would come full circle with Alan Gordon in stoppage time.

With the penalty and two other goals in the second half, there was four minutes of stoppage time awarded. On a bouncing cross into the box, the Galaxy defense gave up the ball for Brian Perk. However, Alan Gordon beat Perk to the spot, heading the ball over him for the game winner. Gordon's luck stole three points for San Jose as fans started to gather their belongings to go home.

So what's next for the Galaxy, who can't seem to catch a break? They head to Houston for a touch match on the weekend. Then, part of the team will be on to Cary, North Carolina to take on the Railhawks in a US Open Cup match. The Galaxy need to do something positive, and soon.