Real Salt Lake down Galaxy for MLS Cup crown

Real Salt Lake stunned David Beckham and the Los Angeles Galaxy, winning the Major League Soccer title 5-4 on penalties after the MLS CUP championship match ended 1-1 after extra time.

The defeat foiled Beckham’s bid to earn a title in a third national league, after his English Premiership triumphs with Manchester United and a Spanish League title with Real Madrid.

Robbie Russell scored in the seventh round of penalty kicks to seal the win after Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando made two saves in the shootout and Galaxy’s MLS Most Valuable Player Landon Donovan missed over the crossbar.

After Rimando smothered Edson Buddle’s shot, Russell beat the Galaxy’s substitute goalkeeper Josh Saunders.

“I just went with my gut,” Saunders said. “There’s not much I can do.”

As Real Salt Lake players celebrated, Beckham embraced Donovan, telling him “great season”.

“It’s Russian roulette,” Beckham said of the shootout. “It’s not a nice way to go out. It’s just the way it is.”

Mike Magee gave Galaxy the lead in the 40th minute, firing home a cross from Donovan who had been fed by Beckham. Robbie Findley equalized in the 63rd.

It was the second straight shootout victory for Salt Lake, who beat Chicago 5-4 on penalties last week in the Eastern Conference title match to reach the final.

Beckham’s successful effort opened the shootout as the first four shots were on target.

Jovan Kirovski’s shot was saved by Rimando, but Saunders followed by stopping the effort of Salt Lake captain Kyle Beckerman.

Donovan, the usually sure-footed penalty taker for both the Galaxy and the United States, sailed his attempt over the crossbar.

“I just put it in the air,” Donvoan said. “You know, it’s probably partially due to tired legs and not concentrating in that moment.”

It was a disappointing finish for the Galaxy, who came in as the overwhelming favorites despite the fact that Beckham was playing with a bone bruise in his right ankle.

The Galaxy’s stars meshed seamlessly to create the opening goal as Beckham found himself with space at midfield and brought the ball forward and passed to a sprinting Donovan, whose cross found Magee unmarked.

Findley, who was rattled in a collision with starting Galaxy keeper Donovan Ricketts early in the second half, benefitted from a lucky bounce to get the equalizer as a deflected ball landed at his feet and he slid a left-footed shot past Ricketts.

Several minutes later, Ricketts departed with a right hand injury and Saunders came on in his place.

By the end of the scoreless extra time, both teams looked exhausted, but Rimando was able to continue his strong form in shootouts.

He had made three saves in the penalty shootout against Chicago in the Eastern Conference final, and his performance Sunday was good enough to earn Most Valuable Player honors for the match.

“It’s nice to say we’re the best team in the league,” said Real Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis, whose team were the last to book a playoff berth and didn’t even finish the regular season with a winning record. “My honest opinion is we deserved to win that game.”

Salt Lake became the second eighth-seeded team to win the MLS title – after the Galaxy did it in 2005.

The Galaxy, meanwhile remain in search of their third MLS crown, to go with their titles in 2002 and 2005.

Beckham has vowed to join them for another campaign, although he heads back to Italy on another loan to AC Milan next month and then hopes to have a role for England in the World Cup finals in South Africa.