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Galaxy remains in playoff chase with draw vs. Red Bulls

Oct 19, 2007 - 7:19 AM CARSON, California (Ticker) -- In a game marked by a return and the end of an era, the Los Angeles Galaxy played the New York Red Bulls to a 1-1 draw on Thursday, dealing a small blow to their chances of making the playoffs.

The match marked the return of midfielder David Beckham, who entered the game as the last substitute in the 68th minute for Peter Vagenas after a 10-game absence.

"With the limited time that Beckham was in the game, he did about as much as we could expect from him," Galaxy coach Frank Yallop said. "He's just not at match-fitness quite yet."

The English superstar took five corner kicks but did not otherwise significantly factor into the action for the Galaxy, who saw their five-match winning streak end.

The contest also marked the last regular season home game in the career of Cobi Jones, who played his entire 12-year career with Los Angeles, scoring 70 goals and recording 91 assists in 304 games.

Leaving no doubt that this was his final home game, Jones reflected on his time with the Galaxy and the beginning of MLS.

"When you're young, you think everything will go on forever and never end," Jones said. "At (the beginning), I was just playing for the fun of it. We really didn't even know if the league was going to make it. It's good to see that things have changed and see the results of what has happened in the last 12 years. I think we've been mostly successful and have started something that will last for a long time."

A pregame ceremony in his honor clearly left Jones emotional.

"It was very touching," Jones said. "It was great to see some of the guys from previous teams. There was a lot of kind words from a variety of players throughout my career."

The one point Los Angeles received in Thursday's draw pulls it even with the Columbus Crew (8-11-10), two points behind Colorado (9-12-8) and three points back of Kansas City (10-12-7) and Chicago (9-10-10).

A loss would have eliminated the Galaxy (9-13-7). Even though the Galaxy ran their unbeaten streak to seven games, they will need to defeat Chicago on Sunday and get some help from the teams in front of them in the playoff chase if they hope to complete their amazing late-season rally.

"If we had won tonight, I would feel a whole lot better about it," Yallop said. "We still have to go to Chicago and win and that's not an easy task. To think that we would be in this situation eight weeks ago would have been crazy. We've done really well just to get to this point."

Los Angeles grabbed a short-lived lead in the 15th minute when Landon Donovan drove to the left corner of the net, fired a perfect pass over the head of New York goalkeeper Jon Conway that found a charging Troy Roberts, who placed a header just inside the right post.

On the ensuing Red Bull possession, Dave van den Bergh and Jozy Altidore pulled a strikingly similar score only seconds later. The 21-year-old forward drove down the left side of the field and lofted a pass into the middle to Altidore, who headed the ball past Galaxy goalkeeper Joe Cannon to knot the match at 1-1.

New York (12-11-7) has already secured a playoff berth and will meet New England in the Eastern Conference semifinals.