The Houston Dynamo sent captain DaMarcus Beasley off with a win in his final game as a professional, rallying twice to defeat the LA Galaxy 4-2 at BBVA Stadium.
Beasley, who capped off a legendary 20-year career which saw him lift 17 trophies for club and country, become the only American man to play in four FIFA World Cups, and the only American to appear in the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League, played 89 minutes before being subbed off to a standing ovation from the 21,777 fans in attendance.
The Galaxy took the lead in the ninth minute as midfielder Sebastian Lletget found forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic at the edge of the box. The Swedish forward dribbled away from goal to create space and then chipped a shot from the top of the penalty area that floated over Dynamo goalkeeper Tyler Deric and dipped under the bar at the far post for the first goal of the game.
The Dynamo equalized seconds before the end of the first half. Forward Alberth Elis hit the post, but the rebound fell to forward Christian Ramirez, who beat the Galaxy goalkeeper to the ball and slammed it home for his eighth goal of the season.
Los Angeles retook the lead in the 54th minute after forward Uriel Antuna found forward Cristian Pavon unmarked inside the box. The Argentine beat Deric at the far post for his third goal of the season.
Elis equalized for Houston in the 62nd minute off a cross from defender Kiki Struna. The Honduran international brought the ball down with his chest and finished on the volley for his ninth goal of the year.
Elis and Ramirez took over in the final 10 minutes of the contest, with Elis delivering a pair of assists to put the game away and Ramirez netting the game-winning goal.
The game-winner came when Elis beat his man around the right side and, after a nifty hesitation move on the end line to let the defender slide by, played a centering pass to Ramirez on the ground at the penalty spot. Ramirez’s right-footed shot caught Galaxy goalkeeper David Bingham going the wrong way and floated into the back of the net.
Midfielder Memo Rodriguez put the game on ice in the fourth minute of stoppage time, with Elis once again providing the service. Elis drove to the end line once more, drawing multiple Galaxy defenders, before playing the ball across the face of goal to give Rodriguez an easy tap-in finish to make it 4-2.
With the win, the Dynamo end the year at 12-18-4 overall and 10-3-4 at BBVA Stadium. The win also gave interim head coach Davy Arnaud a record of 3-5-1 and 3-0-1 at home.
