MLS: Mike Magee, Landon Donovan, LA Galaxy slay Red Bull New York 2-1

I suppose I am going to have to put up with this playoff football for at least a couple more matches. After all, this featured columnist will be covering MLS Cup later this month on Bleacher Report.

And it looks like soccer fans in the City of Angels are going to experience some more playoff football on Sunday, after a fourth-minute goal by the New York Red Bulls' Luke Rodgers was overturned in a 2-1 win for Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy.

“Certainly a difficult game tonight. It was very physical, obviously, spotting—it’s not the right word, they earned it— falling behind a goal and the series literally being even three minutes in at our place," Arena told reporters following the match. "To show the kind of character they did to get back in the game in the first half and having a pretty good second half.  Perfect. Obviously a good win and now we focus on getting our team ready for Sunday.”

The fourth-minute goal from Rodgers was the wake-up call that the Galaxy needed, which allowed them to settle down and take care of business midway through the first half.

“I think that it just took us 10, 15 minutes to settle," midfielder Chris Birchall said, who took over for the suspended Juninho on Thursday. "I think that we’ll go through tomorrow what we could have done better in the first 10, 15 minutes. They did get chances but after that we got our confidence, started creating chances and after that we were a lot more settled and a solid team.”

"Obviously we didn’t get off to a very good start, shot ourselves in the foot a little bit in the first five minutes and were a little sloppy with the ball and they scored a good goal," said forward Robbie Keane. "We had to work hard to come back in the game and we showed that in abundance today."

Mike Magee's 42nd minute equalizer off a David Beckham corner and a penalty from Landon Donovan in the 75th minute sealed the deal for LA, who defeated Hans Backe's Red Bulls to book their place in the Western Conference Finals against Real Salt Lake on Sunday, Nov. 6.

However, the Galaxy had a number of chances to slam the door shut early, but the waves of attack died quickly due to bad finishing, or lazy passes that were telegraphed by the Red Bulls' back line.

Chad Barrett, in particular, never had a good touch all night and struggled to do his share in building up the offensive sequences the Galaxy were creating. Furthermore, Donovan's only relevant contribution was that penalty, and nothing else. As for Keane, he was also rusty with his finishing.

And that's the issue with Los Angeles after Thursday's match. You're in the playoffs, and you are still coming up rusty. That is never a good sign when it comes down to taking on a sound opponent that you helped secure a CONCACAF Champions League berth for in RSL. It is a kiss of death.

The biggest workhorse defensively was Omar Gonzalez. We've seen this from him all season: his tall frame allows him to intercept passes from opposing midfielders and in the process start up counterattacking sequences. Gonzalez, who was named the team's defensive MVP this year, may have won this game, more than anything.

Offensively, David Beckham was the hero. This is somebody who is in the final year of his contract, and in spite of back issues and what-have-you, continued to bust his you-know-what to help his club. He even fancied a volley on embattled Red Bulls keeper Frank Rost in the ninth minute, but just missed.

“He’s gotten beat up both games but I thought he was terrific again," Donovan said of Beckham. "I thought that he and Birchall did a great job, obviously initially with the first goal we are all at fault for being a little out of position, but after that I thought they were terrific in midfield. David’s service once again was great and the effort by him was fantastic.

"I’ve seen that guy go through a lot and I think they would have had to carry him off the field, I don’t think he was coming off and that shows a lot about his character.”

Clearly Birchall filled in for Juninho quite nicely. Once again, it's not to say that the Galaxy have had to deal with Juninho out of the starting lineup. It's happened in match day three of the CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage against Morelia. But this result proves that Monarcas is indeed better than New York.

“Chris Birchall was an absolute beast," Magee said. "I think it took him and all of us in the midfield about 10 minutes to get our bearings, but as you can see he had (Thierry) Henry and about four other guys buzzing around in the middle of the field. He did an amazing job doing it by himself. You can’t say enough good things about what Birchy did tonight.”

Now, Rodgers himself did not do any favors by not only being the Chicken Thief, but also starting up yet another scuffle that drew him a yellow card from match referee Hilario Grajeda. The boos were going to come on him with every touch of the ball. However, Rodgers did not win lose this game for New York.

That honor belongs to Roy Miller. A Costa Rican circus entertainer who moonlights as a footballer for the New York Red Bulls. A silly foul on David Beckham in the 74th minute literally sealed the deal for LA, with Donovan reading the last rites.

Up next for the Galaxy is a match with Real Salt Lake, a replay of the 2009 MLS Cup Final. But is there a revenge factor to all of this? According to Beckham, the answer is no.

“There is no revenge about any games that we play in," Beckham said. "But, of course, we want to beat them. As simple as that. They are a very good team, they have a very good manager, that is passionate about the game, and we know it’s going to be a difficult game. But, the advantage is, we’re at home and we’ll have out fans behind us. But we know we are going to be in a game.”

Kickoff between the Los Angeles Galaxy and Real Salt Lake is scheduled for 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET and will be televised by ESPN and ESPN Deportes.