Sunday's game between D.C. United and the L.A. Galaxy promised rich entertainment thanks to the array of storied offensive talent on display. Not only that, writes Pat Walsh, it was going to feature United's Zach Wells and L.A.'s Steve Cronin, "the worst two goalkeepers in MLS."
But the weekend's highest scoring Major League Soccer game was not down to poor goalkeeping. Wells may have conceded a goal, but it was not his error, and he made a number of good saves to prevent L.A. from taking the lead when the score stood at 1-1. Cronin, meanwhile, was repeatedly let down by his defense and made a season-high nine stops to prevent the final 4-1 scoreline from looking less like a sore beating and more like abject humiliation.
Other key factors in United's dominance included the early introduction of left-sided Marc Burch for Santino Quaranta, which allowed Fred to move to the right flank and concentrated play away from the Galaxy's David Beckham on the other side of the field. And Marcelo Gallardo had what Walsh terms "his best game of the year," despite getting away with what looked like a blatant red card offense for elbowing Landon Donovan in the face. "We lost our way," admitted Beckham, who did little to delight the crowd of almost 36,000.
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