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Beckham watches Galaxy beat Chivas USA 1-0Beckham watches Galaxy beat Chivas USA 1-0

Jul 12, 2009 - 6:40 AM By LUIS BUENO STATS MLS Writer

CARSON, Calif. (STATS) - With Major League Soccer's biggest star watching from a suite, the Los Angeles Galaxy defeated archrivals Chivas USA 1-0 before 23,409 at Home Depot Center on Saturday.

David Beckham watched the game alongside French national standout Zinedine Zidane, but Beckham's teammates showed their capabilities without him in the victory. Edson Buddle's 30th-minute goal was all the offense the Galaxy needed to put Chivas away.

"Now we're only going to get better," Galaxy captain Landon Donovan said, "with all these additions we've made, practicing together, playing together, getting David back."

Earlier Saturday, Beckham said Donovan was "unprofessional" for criticizing him in a soon-to-be released book without confronting him first. Beckham was back with the Galaxy after a five-month loan to Italy's AC Milan. Donovan refused comment when asked if he had spoken to Beckham earlier the day.

Los Angeles (4-3-9) won its season-high third straight game, its longest streak since reeling off six straight in 2007. With Saturday's shutout, all three victories have been identical 1-0 results.

"I don't want to go into these clich?s about defense wins championships but defending is important and I firmly believe that," Galaxy coach Bruce Arena said. "As our team fully gets into the second half of the season we're going to be a more dangerous team as well."

Chivas, which drew 0-0 with Los Angeles on April 11, has gone 0-2-3 in the SuperClasico derby between the Los Angeles-area teams since its last win Sept. 13, 2007. Even though Chivas had no shots in the first 47 minutes of the game and finished with two of their eight shots on goal, coach Preki Radosavljevic said his team was not dominated.

"At the moment, if we make one mistake we get punished for it," he said. "It's not like Galaxy had 20 shots on goal and we were defending for our lives. Not really."

Meanwhile, Beckham is set for his first practice with the Galaxy on Monday and will be available for Thursday's league game at New York. Arena said Beckham would step right into the starting lineup, no matter what condition the club is in.

"David Beckham healthy, fit, plays. If we lost three in a row or won three in a row, I don't think that matters," Arena said. "It's just finding where David is at and we'll try to assess that as best we can in this short period of time."

At the half-hour mark, rookie defender A.J. De La Garza whipped a cross in from the right side of the penalty area, and Buddle placed a header off the left post and into the back of the net.

A 14-goal scorer last season, Buddle has only three this year.

Chivas, which did not attempt a shot until the second half, had its best chance in the 84th minute when Atiba Harris' 20-yard shot missed by a few feet.

Alecko Eskandarian, who played for Chivas against the Galaxy in the season's first meeting, started for the Galaxy 10 days after he was traded between the rivals. Former Galaxy players Ante Jazic, Paulo Nagamura and Sasha Victorine all started for Chivas.

The Galaxy were without starting goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts, who was playing for Jamaica for the Gold Cup. Chivas defender Shavar Thomas also was away with the Reggae Boyz.