Stars welcome Galaxy´s return to form

Experienced LA Galaxy pair David Beckham and Robbie Keane say the team is back to its best, following a mid-season MLS slump.

The defending MLS Cup winners have not dominated this season’s Western Conference, but moved back up to third in the standings with a 2-0 win over Vancouver on Saturday.

Beckham made sure of the win with a trademark second-half free-kick, his seventh of the campaign.

“I knew if I put it in the corner, the ‘keeper wasn’t getting there – simple as that, I think I hit it well,” he said.

“One of their players kept going back and forth, back and forth, but I knew once I hit it and I knew I caught it well that it was going in.”

The former England international says the team will now make the most of a break in the fixture schedule for World Cup qualification.

“Obviously, it’s always good to get a rest, but we’ve been on a roll,” he added.

“Either way it wouldn’t have mattered to us.

“I think that we’ve played well over the last couple of months and we’ve done well and worked hard to get ourselves in a better position in the league, but now we’ll get a rest and we’ll come back and we’ll be fresh.”

Keane, meanwhile, believes the team is back to playing its best football.

The 32-year-old, who will feature in Ireland’s opening World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan, set up both of Galaxy’s goals at the Home Depot Center.

“Maybe in the last month or so, or maybe the last couple of months we’re back to where we were last year,” he said.

“We’re hard to beat. We’re playing well as a team, we’re scoring goals and we’re winning games.

“Winning is a habit, you know, so the more games you win, the more confidence that you get.”

Galaxy returns to league action on September 14 when they host bottom side the Colorado Rapids.