Play-by-play

We're minutes away from the kickoff. Beckham has been given the nod to start in central midfield tonight, which is an interesting choice by coach Bruce Arena. Mostly because Beckham rarely shines in that spot and is infinitely better when he's stationed out on the right.

Beckham and Donovan slap hands and give each other a manly hug before at the halfway line, probably just to reinforce one more time that things have indeed been patched up.

1 min: We're off. And straight away Beckham draws a needless foul by Kandji. The ball is played out wide to Lewis, who finds Eskandarian. Eskandarian carries the ball to the top of the penalty area and in acres of space with time to shoot, simply falls down. I'll give him a pass and attribute that to the slippery artificial turf.

3 mins: GOAL. Los Angeles 1-0 New York. A stunning start for the Galaxy as fans have barely had time to settle into the game. A high bouncing ball falls to Eskandarian, who flips it up over Sassano's head, turns and slams a wicked 25-yard shot into the top left-hand corner of the Red Bulls net. Stunning goal.

5 mins: First attack from the Red Bulls. Hall with a run down the right, before checking back and lofting a cross into the Galaxy box which Ricketts gathers with ease.

7 mins: Angel, who has made a habit of scoring against the Galaxy in this fixture, makes a silky run down the right and into the box, beating two Galaxy defenders and hammering a shot from an acute angle that looks headed inside Ricketts' near post, but the Galaxy keeper beats it out.

9 mins: Berhalter gets a yellow for a clumsy challenge on Kandji at midfield. A bit harsh though, since he got to the ball first and Kandji's subsequent somersault over the top was hardly his fault. From the free kick, the ball is lofted into the Galaxy box for Angel, who outleaps two Galaxy defenders and heads it goalbound but it sails just over. Angel looks very motivated tonight.

11 mins: Beckham finally gets on the ball with time, to a smattering of boos, and switches play with a beautiful 40-yard ball out to the left flank which falls perfectly at Lewis' feet. The cross from Lewis is straight at Cepero.

13 mins: The Red Bulls are looking lively at present. A nice move up the left started by Pacheco, who sends a ball into the Galaxy box to Angel's feet. He lays it off to Zimmerman out on the right, who chips the ball back in looking for Kandji, but Galaxy rookie Gonzalez nods it away.

16 mins: Both teams are bypassing central midfield right now with aimless long balls up and down the field. Not the most aesthetically pleasing stuff. The ball is finally played out wide to Red Bulls rookie Jeremy Hall, who has time and space, but sends his cross into orbit with a hefty slice that John Daly would be proud of.

19 mins: Amazing. We actually just had two short passes along the ground played in succession between Stammler and Celades. The second pass earns the Red Bulls a free kick as Kandji is fouled by Berhalter as he waited for the ball. The free kick is about 35 yards out dead center. To the surprise of many, Rojas takes the free kick and it takes a deflection off the wall wide. That made perfect sense, let the guy with all of two career goals in two years in MLS take the free kick, as opposed to one of the most prolific scorers in the league, who actually scored from a similar spot against the Galaxy a couple of years ago.

22 mins: A long booming clearance by Ricketts down the right finds Donovan breaking free. Pacheco jumped to head clear but whiffed badly, leaving Donovan open in tons of space. He drives to the edge of the box and pulls back a wicked cross which beats Cepero, but Petke makes a great interception and clears.

24 mins: The Red Bulls are playing a man down with Rojas having injured his ankle just now in a challenge with DeLaGarza. Rojas is on the sideline getting some treatment. I'd like to say that the Red Bulls will miss Rojas, but to be honest, given the way he's generally played since landing in MLS, I'll go out on a limb and say he wouldn't be missed.

27 mins: Rojas is back on and both teams are at even strength again. Beckham has a free kick just inside the halfway line out on the right. He's still getting a smattering of boos, but they sound a bit half-hearted, but the boos get louder when he opts not to send in a cross and instead slide a short pass down the right to Donovan.

29 mins: Both teams seem to have forgotten there is something called a midfield. Another long ball over the top finds Eskandarian about 50 yards offside but amazingly the linesman keeps his flag down. Eskandarian lays it off to Donovan, who cuts into the box and crosses it but it's cleared out for a corner.

30 mins: GOAL. Los Angeles 2-0 New York. The crowd have decided to boo Beckham full-on now and they give him an earful as he goes across to take the corner. It's an inswinger but cleared by the Red Bulls. Miglioranzi takes a swipe at it but miscues it to his right where it falls to Donovan. Donovan's about 25 yards out, takes a look and hammers a half-volley into Cepero's top left corner. Another stunning goal and the Red Bulls must be thinking it's not their night.

32 mins: Galaxy free kick dead center, about 30 yards out. The anticipation rises as Beckham lines up his shot. It's not one of his better efforts though and fails to clear the wall.

35 mins: The Red Bulls look devoid of ideas here and can barely retain control of the ball. A couple of passes through midfield, before Stammler sweeps the ball out to Rojas out on the left. Rojas, with time and space, lets the ball run over his foot and out of bounds. Enough said about that really.

36 mins: Beckham gathers the ball in central midfield and slides it to Eskandarian. Eskandarian takes a couple of steps and tries his luck, hitting a vicious long-range effort which dips, but sails over the crossbar.

37 mins: Finally, a bit of life from the Red Bulls. The rookie Hall picks the ball up wide and embarks on a winding run past two Galaxy defenders into the box, before slipping a delightful through ball past Gonzalez that so nearly finds Kandji wide open in the 6-yard box.

39 mins: The camera pans to a shot of some Red Bulls fans who look very, very confused. I can only assume they're trying to figure out if they should boo Beckham or boo their own team.

41 mins: Stammler picks up the ball about 35 yards out and unleashes a fierce left-foot shot that Rickett does well to parry. The ricochet falls to Rojas just outside the 6-yard box and surely he can't miss, but believe it or not, Rojas does. He blasts it straight at Ricketts when a simple tap to either side of the Galaxy goalie would have done the trick. Angel looks exceedingly frustrated and no wonder, he was right there too but Rojas waved him off.

44 mins: GOAL. Los Angeles 3-0 New York. Another long punt upfield by Ricketts finds Donovan, as Pacheco continues to play matador defense. How is it that Pacheco looks so good when he plays for El Salvador but so bad when he plays for the Red Bulls? Donovan curls in a deep cross to the far end of the box where Lewis meets it with a first-time volley. Cracking goal.

HALFTIME: Los Angeles 3-0 New York. Well, just when Red Bulls fans thought it couldn't get any worse, it just did. Juan Carlos Osorio's side just gave up three goals in a single half to a team that was barely averaging more than a goal a game entering tonight's matchup. It's been a fairly drab match, but one that's been punctuated by three stunning strikes, all of which resulted in a Galaxy goal.

The crowd is pretty sparse for a Beckham affair, possibly around 25,000 or so, which is weak in comparison to past matchups against the Red Bulls (the 2007 matchup drew 66,000 or so). It's yet another indication that the Beckham 'magic' is surely on the downturn for MLS.

45 mins: The second half is under way. The only question is whether or not the Galaxy go for the jugular and try to score more goals, or whether they're content to sit on their three-goal lead and go into snooze mode. Given that Arena was fired by the Red Bulls organization, I'd say Arena would unleash the hounds of hell this half if he could.

47 mins: Two Beckham set pieces in quick succession amount to nothing. First a free kick out on the left, and then a follow-up corner. His set-piece delivery this evening hasn't been the sharpest.

49 mins: Celades sends Rojas clear on the edge of the Galaxy box with a delicate chip, and the Venezuelan responds with a powerful shot that is parried wide for a corner by Ricketts.

52 mins: An uneventful couple of minutes as the Galaxy start to knock it around like a training session. Donovan took off on another spirited run past Pacheco, who has been beaten like a drum tonight, but his attempted give-and-go with Buddle failed, when Buddle decided to try to whip it across to Eskandarian instead.

54 mins: Beckham misplaces a pass by chipping it straight into Zimmerman's chest from about 5 yards away. Meanwhile, the crowd appears to have given up trying to boo him, although for that last effort, they probably should have.

58 mins: It's rather surprising to me that Osorio has yet to make a sub. How much more evidence does he need to see that his present configuration has yet to jell on the field. One could say the Red Bulls flat-out suck, but I believe in constructive criticism.

60 mins: Apparently the Red Bulls are trying to sign a star-name center back like Marco Materazzi to shore up the defense. I'm not sure just how much benefit that'll be. Call me a cynic, but I'd argue that nothing short of a bearded old man carrying a dusty tome, holy walking stick and the ability to part the Red Sea could help this squad right now.

62 mins: Sometime in the last few minutes, speedy Dane Richards came on for Celades. His pace should give the Red Bulls a decent option down the right.

67 mins: If you're wondering about the infrequency of updates the last few minutes, it's because there has been absolutely nothing worth writing about. But in short summary, it's been pass, misplaced pass, interception, tackle, pass, turnover, misplaced pass.

68 mins: Something finally happens! Buddle rips a shot from just outside the box, which tests Cepero and draws a good save from the Red Bulls goalkeeper.

69 mins: And that'll be the end of Beckham's night. He's subbed off for T&T international Chris Birchall. Beckham goes off to the sound of boos and some smattering of projectiles aimed in his general direction. Beckham's had a very quiet night and hasn't really impressed.

72 mins: A couple of half chances for both teams back-to-back. First Ricketts does his best David James impersonation with a mad rush of blood to the head and races out of his box to try and clear a ball. He miskicks and only DeLaGarza's intervention prevents Richards from latching onto the loose ball with Ricketts stranded. Then, heading straight down to the other end, Birchall tees up Eskandarian to try his luck again with another shot that Cepero gets down to block.

74 mins: A couple of strategic subs, Eskandarian comes off for Mike Magee, while Zimmerman comes off for Sinisa Ubiparipovic.

78 mins: The last roll of the dice for Osorio who brings on John Wolyniec for Kandji. Pointless since this game was over at halftime, although the Red Bulls certainly haven't helped themselves with a second half that's been oddly lethargic considering they trail by three goals.

82 mins: Rojas with a long winding run which looks promising at first as he beats two Galaxy defenders, but right after finishing the hard work, he messes things up with a stray pass straight to Lewis. He had Richards open in space, but let himself down with the final pass.

84 mins: Chris Klein on for Eddie Lewis.

85 mins: Penalty for the Red Bulls. Ricketts misjudges a corner and it goes over his head to Angel, who's wide open at the far post and volleys it goalbound but it's blocked by Gonzalez, albeit with his arm. The ref has no hesitation in awarding the penalty even though Wolyniec bundled the rebound over the line.

86 mins: GOAL. Los Angeles 3-1 New York. Angel grabs a consolation goal for the Red Bulls with a calmly taken penalty which sends Ricketts the wrong way.

89 mins: Red Bulls have a free kick out on the left. Rojas sends it deep into the box and it's cleared, but then hammered back into the box where a Red Bulls player flicks it on and it's handballed by Gonzalez again. Penalty given!

90 mins: Angel's penalty is saved by Ricketts. The Red Bulls striker opted for the opposite corner to his last penalty and this time Ricketts guesses correctly and dives low to his left to save. Decent save but it wasn't a well-struck penalty from Angel.

FULLTIME: Los Angeles 3-1 New York. So nearly a fast and furious ending, but Angel's miss meant that the last couple of minutes of injury time tapered out. In any case, a Red Bulls comeback would have been totally undeserving given what had transpired in regulation time. For Los Angeles, the score was more spectacular than the performance, but the Galaxy were never in trouble and ran out comfortable winners.

Lineups

The starting lineups have been announced as follows:

Los Angeles:

GK: Donovan Ricketts

D: A.J. DeLaGarza, Omar Gonzalez, Gregg Berhalter, Todd Dunivant

M: Landon Donovan, Stefani Miglioranzi, David Beckham, Eddie Lewis

F: Edson Buddle, Alecko Eskandarian

New York:

GK: Danny Cepero

D: Jeremy Hall, Mike Petke, Luke Sassano, Alfredo Pacheco

M: Nick Zimmerman, Seth Stammler, Albert Celades, Jorge Rojas

F: Juan Pablo Angel, Macoumba Kandji

Pregame banter

Some things in life are inextricably drawn to each other -- for example, a moth to a candle, or Eddy Curry to a box of Krispy Kremes. Thus, the U.S. media (scratch that -- world media) is inevitably obsessed about anything involving the English heartthrob export with iconic hairstyles, who has a habit of falling in and out of love with his latest affair of the heart, before callously moving onto new pastures at a whim. So while everyone else gets the more interesting assignment of focusing on Robert Pattinson dumping Kristen Stewart, I, on the other hand, am forced to make do with the definitely-not-stingy David Beckham.

Beckham's MLS season debut takes place tonight in the shape of a game on the road against the New York Red Bulls, and I've been tasked with bringing you the play-by-play of the game when it starts at 8 p.m. ET.

MLS fans will no doubt remember when these two teams met back in August 2007. The resulting 5-4 epic was one of the most entertaining shootouts in league history. Unfortunately for fans of exhilarating offensive soccer and wayward-comedy defending, tonight's clash is unlikely to feature the same kind of offensive pyrotechnics.

For a start, the Galaxy have become a far tidier defensive unit under coach Bruce Arena (coincidentally the Red Bulls' coach that night), while the Red Bulls have become simply pitiful. Back in 2007, the Red Bulls featured the explosive talents of both Juan Pablo Angel and Jozy Altidore, with sharp service out wide from Dave van den Bergh.

In contrast, the Red Bulls' roster now contains the likes of a frustrated Angel, USL refugee Macoumba Kandji (whose main claim to fame is a vague physical resemblance to Chelsea's Didier Drogba) and the aimless-dashes-up-a-blind-alley skills of ultimate one-trick pony, Khano Smith.

Not only that, but it seems that Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio has failed to bottle the excitement of last year's in-no-way-fluke run to the MLS Cup final. Even more sadly, Osorio has ditched his innovative 9-0-1 formation (responsible for said fluky run) used in those playoffs in favor of more conventional formations which have resulted in this year's abomination -- a shocking 2 wins in 19 games and a negative-15 goal differential.

As for the Galaxy, they too have undergone radical changes since that fateful night. For a start, with Beckham off on his jaunt in Italy, the team's defense has improved with the addition of young studs like Omar Gonzalez and the veteran leadership of players like Gregg Berhalter. More importantly, the team has really come together and bonded into a tight, professional unit that keeps things in-house and drama-free.

However, all eyes will be focused on the broken-but-supposedly-mended bromance that is Beckham and Landon Donovan. Tonight, we'll see if the two really have resolved their rift. Will they pass the ball to each other? Will they overcompensate with exaggerated celebrations and declarations of love if either scores? And will a positive result enable cynical observers to forget the rather disturbing fact that since Beckham joined the Galaxy on July 1, 2007, the team's record is actually 7-14-9 (W-L-T) with him and 13-11-13 without him?

I'll be back at 7:45 p.m. ET with the play-by-play.