Not for the first time, the man who'd survived the most arduous journey to reach Home Depot Center stole the show. Maykel Galindo came to Chivas USA via Seattle and all the piles of paperwork necessary to properly process a Cuban defector who'd left his national team 2 ½ years ago during the Gold Cup. He put away two goals of exquisite class as Chivas USA (10-6-3) embarrassed Los Angeles, 3-0, to cast the Galaxy's playoff hopes deeper in doubt. David Beckham lasted the full 90 after going the distance the day before in England's loss to Germany. It was Beckham's third full game in a six days, a stretch that began with Saturday's loss in New York, and he was limping by the game's end.

Galindo's path was a much slower and far more harrowing trip than the hops across the Atlantic that brought Beckham, Landon Donovan, and Jonathan Bornstein to HDC a day after playing internationals in Europe.

Beckham started the match but his few good balls were wasted. Donovan came on as a sub to little effect. Bornstein didn't play at all, since so inept was the Galaxy (3-9-6) he wasn't needed.

That's a sad commentary, indeed, that Coach Preki felt it proper to save Bornstein for Sunday's home game. The opponent? Real Salt Lake.

Jesse Marsch and Francisco Mendoza, who tacked on the third goal following Galindo's pair of gems, controlled midfield.

Clever touches by Sacha Kljestan earned him assists on the second and third goals as Chivas USA often strolled upfield and stroked the ball around and through a chaotic, disorganized Galaxy.

Joe Cannon's superb saves kept the game scoreless through the first half, which ended in a melee and two players sent off, one from each team.

Marsch triggered the fracas by kicking Beckham in the stomach with a lunge from behind and Beckham's angry reaction sparked a scrum in which Alex Zotinca headbutted Galaxy midfielder Kevin Harmse.

Referee Terry Vaughn sent off both Zotinca and Harmse, though TV replays didn't reveal any provocation by Harmse to explain his ejection.

Marsch, cautioned, stayed on the field alongside do-everything Lawson Vaughn to buttress the runs and passes of Kljestan and Mendoza that pried apart the Galaxy back line.

A terrible scuff by Kyle Veris let in Galindo for the first goal, Mendoza and Kljestan linked up to send him in alone again to score the second, and Mendoza rolled in the third on a sequence sparked by substitute Ramon Nunez, whose zeal to go at players piled more misery on the Galaxy and its fans.

Thus, Beckham played about 190 minutes (counting stoppage time) for England and the Galaxy in back-to-back games played 5,800 miles apart. The grimace on his face and the limp in his step as he left the field doesn't bode well for Sunday's game at Colorado, nor the final eight weeks of the season.

Aug. 23 in Carson, Calif.
Los Angeles 0 Chivas USA 3. Goals: Galindo 58, Galindo (Mendoza, Kljestan) 69, Mendoza (Kljestan, Nunez) 88.
Los Angeles - Cannon, Klein, Veris, Xavier, Randolph, Jones (Donovan, 59), Beckham, Harmse, Martino (Gordon, 72), Buddle (Roberts, 46), Pavon.
Chivas USA - Guzan, Zotinca, Suarez (Hernandez, 77), Thomas, Perez, Kljestan, Marsch, Vaughn, Mendoza, Galindo (Nunez, 72), Razov (Nagamura, 59).
Yellow Cards: Los Angeles - Xavier 40, Martino 61; Chivas USA - Perez 26, Vaughn 41, Marsch 47+.
Red Cards: Los Angeles - Harmse 48+; Chivas USA - Zotinca 48+.
Referee: Terry Vaughn.
Att.: n/a.