Toronto Fc

It was supposed to be the sendoff game for Galaxy forwards Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle before they leave to join the U.S. team as it prepares for the World Cup. Posters were handed out. Handmade signs decorated the stadium. One said: "Buddle Scores Again," with the letters U, S and A picked out in red. But Buddle didn't score. Neither did Donovan. Neither did the Galaxy. Toronto FC came into Saturday night's Major League Soccer game at the Home Depot Center unimpressed by the fact that Buddle leads the league in goals and that Donovan leads it in assists.

CHIVAS USA TONIGHT VS COLORADO RAPIDS When: 7:30. Where: Home Depot Center. Records: Season opener for both teams. Record vs Rapids (2009 ): 1-1 Update: Former Chivas USA coach Preki, now coaching Toronto FC, on Thursday made Chivas USA's task against the Rapids a little tougher by trading U.S. national team defender Marvell Wynne, the top pick in the 2006 MLS draft, to Colorado in exchange for midfielder Nick LaBrocca. The Rapids also feature U.S. national team forward Connor Casey.

Whatever it was that got into David Beckham on Saturday night, the Galaxy needs to find it, bottle it and give it to him in regular doses. Beckham was everywhere, turning in 90 minutes of nonstop running in one of the most energetic and rewarding performances of his three-season spell in Major League Soccer. Productive too. Beckham scored one goal, created another and, but for bad luck, might have scored three as the Galaxy defeated Toronto FC, 2-0, at the Home Depot Center to solidify its MLS playoff chances.

AT DC UNITED When : 4:30 PDT. Where : RFK Stadium, Washington. On the air : TV: FSC, FSE (7 p.m.); Radio: 1150, 1330. Records : Galaxy 8-4-10, United 6-5-10. Record vs. United : 0-0-1. Update : The Galaxy and DC United have each tied 10 matches this season, perhaps indicating the way this one will go. The Galaxy is coming off a 2-0 victory Wednesday over the Fire in Chicago, where it played its most complete game of the year, dominating both sides of the ball.

TORONTO -- Daniel Paladini and Jonathan Bornstein scored to rally Chivas USA to a 3-1 victory over Toronto FC on Saturday. Ante Razov had a goal and two assists for Chivas USA (8-9-6), which was missing nine players -- two to international play, five to injuries and two to yellow cards. Tyler Rosenlund scored for Toronto (7-11-5), which was also missing nine regulars -- including eight to international duty -- and has just one win in its last 10 games. Rosenlund gave Toronto a 1-0 lead in the 30th minute, receiving a beautiful pass across the goal box from Rohan Ricketts and putting a shot past Chivas goalie Zach Thornton.

What do the national soccer teams of the U.S., Canada, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago and Wales have in common this week? Answer: Every one of them has a player from Toronto FC on its roster. Normally, that is the sort of recognition that Major League Soccer clubs crave. All the top clubs in the world consist almost entirely of national team players. But because MLS has spent 13 years going its own way and scheduling league games when it knows they will conflict with international matches, and that the best players will therefore be unavailable, the fans are being robbed.

They held a track meet at the Home Depot Center on Saturday night but called it a soccer game. Chivas USA and Toronto FC ran flat-out for 90 minutes -- even though there was nary a gold medal in sight -- and at the end the home team edged the visitors at the wire. Barely. In the fourth and final minute of stoppage time, one of the players who had run the least -- Toronto goalkeeper Greg Sutton -- accidentally allowed the game to slip literally through his fingers as Chivas won, 2-1, on a rare goal by Atiba Harris.

TORONTO -- Second-half goals by defender Julius James and forward Jeff Cunningham carried Toronto FC to a 2-0 victory over the Galaxy on Saturday, which played without midfielder David Beckham. Both teams had depleted rosters because of injuries and international callups, most notably England's Beckham. After only one shot on goal in the first half, a Sean Franklin foul on Cunningham set up the game's first goal in the 49th minute.