Carson, CA (Sports Network) - The Los Angeles Galaxy got two late goals from star attacker Landon Donovan to earn a 2-1 win over D.C. United in Major League Soccer action at The Home Depot Center on Saturday night.
United (5-17-3), the last-placed team in the league's overall table, looked like it as going to walk out of L.A. with an improbable victory after Andy Najar gave the visitors a 1-0 advantage at the hour mark, but two goals from Donovan in the final nine minutes ensured the home side it would earn the full three points.
L.A. (15-5-5) sits atop the league's overall table with 50 points with five games left to play in the regular season.
Seventeen-year-old Najar scored his fourth goal of the season when he knocked home a loose ball in the Galaxy penalty area after Santino Quaranta and Branko Boskovic played a one-two that was stuffed by the defense. But the ball slid right to Najar, and he deposited it into the right corner of the net.
The Galaxy pulled level in the 81st minute when a long ball squeezed between D.C. central defenders Dejan Jakovic and Clyde Simms. Donovan rushed in behind them to clean up, burst around goalkeeper Matt Pickens, and slipped the ball into the open net.
Five minutes later Donovan scored his seventh of the season and second of the game when he headed a Tristan Bowen cross from the right side back across the grain and over Pickens from the left side of the box.
The Galaxy now gear up for a star-studded clash with the New York Red Bulls on Friday night, while United hosts the Houston Dynamo next Saturday in its next MLS fixture.