Quick scoring spurt gives Real Salt Lake 2-1 victory over Galaxy


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CARSON, Calif. (AP) -- Robbie Findley and Eddie Pope scored in a four-minute span in the second half and Real Salt Lake rallied for a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday night.

Real Salt Lake (4-11-6) won consecutive games for the first time this season and gave the Galaxy (3-11-5) its sixth consecutive Major League Soccer loss.

"It was big for our team," said Pope, who has played in three World Cups for the United States. "We really wanted to get two wins in a row to have something to build on and not have another letdown."

The Galaxy's Landon Donovan said that making massive changes or firing coach Frank Yallop, whose job has been rumored to be in jeopardy, will not help the team.

"I think we have to be careful, in my opinion," Donovan said. "There's a lot of very good players here and if you have a fire sale, you're gong to be further in the hole. That includes Frank."

An announced sellout crowd of 27,000, based on tickets sold, attended the Galaxy's first home game since the team announced that David Beckham would miss at least six weeks because of a sprained right knee.

About 400 fans sat on a grassy berm at the Home Depot Center's north end but patches of empty seats could be seen throughout the stadium.

Beckham, who injured the knee in the first half of Wednesday night's SuperLiga final, watched the game with his sons from a luxury suite.

Findley, who entered the game in the 58th minute, tied the score in the 67th minute. Findley secured Andy Williams' through ball, beat defender Mike Randolph and converted from 18 yards inside the right post.

"It's a great feeling," said Findley, who scored four goals for Real Salt Lake after the Galaxy traded him June 21. "I wanted to show (the Galaxy) what I was really capable of doing, if I'm given the chance."

In the 71st minute, Pope scored his first goal in two years. After goalkeeper Steve Cronin deflected Alecko Eskandarian's 21-yard free kick, Pope converted the rebound on his second attempt from eight yards.

"Esky took the same free kick (earlier) and the goalkeeper knocked it wide in the same spot, so a lot of us were favoring that side," Pope said. "When he hit it, the goalkeeper couldn't hold it and there were three or four of us sitting right there waiting for it."

Defender Troy Roberts blocked Pope's first attempt but Pope secured the rebound and used his right foot to poke the ball across the goal mouth and inside the left post.

Goalkeeper Nick Rimando stopped the potential tying goal in the 80th minute. Rimando leaped to deflect Alan Gordon's 7-yard header off Landon Donovan's free kick with his right hand.

Gordon gave the Galaxy a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute with a 12-yard header. Donovan had a chance to convert a penalty kick in the 50th minute but Rimando dived to his left and used his right hand to deflect the shot.

The Galaxy played with 10 men after Roberts received his second yellow card in the 78th minute.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APTV-09-01-07 2359MDT

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