[NAMES&NUMBERS/VIDEO] David Beckham led the Los Angeles Galaxy's comeback in Salt Lake. D.C. United got stung by former players in Colorado. Columbus continued its strong start. Chivas USA and Houston served up an ugly scoreless tie. San Jose's goal drought continued. And Chicago pounded New England once again.
DAVID BECKHAM, who missed last season's game in Salt Lake with an injury, didn't disappoint in his first outing at Rice-Eccles Stadium, which drew 25,500 fans for Saturday's game. RSL was up 2-0 by the 18th minute on goals by Argentine Fabian Espindola and Scotsman Kenny Deuchar (both set up by Argentine Javier Morales). But later in the first half, Beckham's bending shot from outside the right corner of penalty area flew inside the far left post – the same location at which 30-yard free kick would hit the net four minutes later. Beckham, who went scoreless in five MLS games last season while notching two assists, has three goals and four assists in six appearances this season. VIDEO
GUILLERMO BARROS SCHELOTTO. Columbus' Argentine playmaker is tied with Beckham and Morales for the league lead in assists after setting up, with a free kick, the Crew's first goal, by Adam Moffat, in a 2-1 win over Kansas City. Robbie Rogers scored his third goal of the season for the Crew before Claudio Lopez converted a penalty kick. The win gives Columbus, which missed the playoffs the last three seasons, a lead-leading five wins. At 5-1-0, the Crew is two points ahead of Chicago (4-1-1) atop the East Conference standings. VIDEO
14. Number of passes strung together by the Fire before Chris Rolfe fired home from 16 yards to open the scoring in Chicago's 3-0 win over New England. VIDEO
STEVE NICOL. After his team's loss to Chicago, the New England coach told the Boston Globe: "We were consistent. Consistently bad. We were second in every department. … We were dead above the neck. Now we have to figure out why."
7. Goals the Chicago Fire has scored in its two meetings with New England this season: Saturday's 3-0 win on goals by Rolfe, John Thorrington and Stephen King and a 4-0 win April 3.
ZEROES. The reborn San Jose Earthquakes failed to score in their second home "opener." The Quakes played FC Dallas to a 0-0 tie in their first game at Santa Clara's Buck Shaw Stadium Saturday in front of a standing-room-only crowd of 10,515, three weeks after a 1-0 loss to Chicago in Oakland. The Quakes have scored only twice in their first six games.
9. Referee Jozef Batko showed eight yellow cards and one red during Chivas USA's scoreless tie at Houston in the season's biggest flurry of cards so far. Chivas USA defender Claudio Suarez got the red for a foul that denied Brian Mullan a clear scoring chance. Also having a bad day was Chivas USA's Lawson Vaughn, who suffered a broken nose and a gash on his right cheek after being struck in the face as the Dynamo's Dwayne De Rosario's attempted a bicycle kick. The tie ended Chivas USA's three-game losing streak. Defending champ Houston remains winless in 2008 at 0-2-4. VIDEO
CHRISTIAN GOMEZ shone for Colorado against his old club, D.C. United, in a 2-0 win. Gomez played for United in 2004-07, helped it win the 2004 title, and was named league MVP in 2006. He moved to Colorado after failing to agree to terms with D.C. United, which replaced him with fellow Argentine Marcelo Gallardo. On Sunday, Gomez assisted on the Rapids' first goal when he sent a pinpoint pass to Jacob Peterson. Nineteen minutes later, Gomez kept possession near the goal area before serving Terry Cooke, whose cross was headed home by Facundo Erpen, a former D.C. United defender. VIDEO
10. D.C. United's loss to Colorado on Sunday means it hasn't won away from home in MLS or tournament road trips in 10 games since a Sept. 1 win over FC Dallas last year. This season in MLS play, D.C. United has lost all four of its road games while getting outscored 10-1. For its part, Colorado now has seven wins and two ties in its last nine home games against D.C. United.