Beckham inspires Galaxy victory in first start

David Beckham treated Los Angeles Galaxy fans to a master class in his first start for the club yesterday, scoring a goal and creating another after leading the team out as captain.

The 32-year-old, hampered by an injured left ankle for the last two months, left the pitch in the 63rd minute after inspiring the Galaxy to a 2-0 win over DC United in a SuperLiga semi-final.

Beckham opened the scoring with a superb free-kick in the 27th minute to spark wild cheering from a crowd of 17,223 at the Home Depot Center.

The former England captain curved one of his trademark strikes into the top left corner of the net from 25 metres, leaving goalkeeper Troy Perkins stranded.

"I felt I was going to score as soon I got the ball in my hands," Beckham told reporters, adding that he had not practised a single free-kick since joining the team last month.

"It's the first free-kick I've taken for eight weeks so that was quite pleasing. I was quite happy with that one."

US international Landon Donovan, Galaxy's usual captain who was honoured to hand over the armband to Beckham for the match, described the free-kick as something special.

"I was so excited," he said. "We've all watched him on television and think it can't be that good. When I turned round, I thought: 'Holy Jesus, are you kidding me?' It was unbelievable."

Despite having played only 37 minutes in two fleeting appearances for the Galaxy since his signing, Beckham came back out for the second half and made an early impact.

In the 47th minute, he threaded a precise through ball for fellow midfielder Donovan who shrugged off two defenders before driving the ball low past Perkins into the right side of the net.

Beckham, who was yellow-carded in the 18th minute for a mistimed tackle on DC captain Jaime Moreno, produced one more moment of magic before he left the pitch.

In the 58th minute, he took his second free-kick of the match but his bending effort was brilliantly saved by Perkins diving to his right.