Beckham plays through pain, and the Galaxy defeat New York Red Bulls 2-1 to advance to the Western Conference Final against Real Salt Lake.

Tensions were high coming into Thursday night's second leg of the MLS Western Conference semi-final as the New York Red Bulls entered their matchup with the Los Angeles Galaxy down a goal, and down a man.  

New York was without defender and Mexican national team captain Rafael Marquez, who had his one-game suspension following Sunday's 1-0 first-leg victory by the Galaxy extended to three games Thursday by the MLS disciplinary committee for what they termed "violent and aggressive conduct" during an altercation with the Galaxy's Adam Cristman and Landon Donovan.

Despite the setback, the Red Bulls jumped to an early lead in the fourth minute when forward Luke Rodgers took advantage of poor Galaxy marking and found space in the L.A. penalty area. Red Bulls forward Thierry Henry, who was playing in a deeper, more creative role than usual, sent a perfectly weighted through ball between the Galaxy defense, which Rodgers ran onto and slotted home from ten yards out, beating goalkeeper Josh Saunders.

Rodgers was yellow-carded following the goal for exchanging pleasantries with Galaxy players as he made his way back to center circle.

Midfielder David Beckham tried to fire the Galaxy level five minutes later when he surged forward on a counter attack, but he fired just over the bar from outside the Red Bulls' box.

Minutes later, the Galaxy once again lost track of Henry in the middle of their defensive third. Henry passed to an open Joel Lindpere on the left side of the penalty area.  Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez was able to react quickly, however, and blocked Lindpere's shot.

New York was hit with a blow in the 17th minute when key midfielder Teemu Tainio suffered a hamstring injury, and had to be replaced by Stephane Auvray.

Galaxy forward Robbie Keane (seen left) spurned a glorious opportunity two minutes later when he weaved his way through the right flank of the Red Bulls' defense from 15 yards out, and struck the post with a shot past goalkeeper Frank Rost.  

Galaxy fans endured a tense few moments in the 33rd minute when Beckham laid on the ground in pain after challenging New York’s Dane Richards on a header near midfield. Beckham was helped off the field clutching his back, which has been a nagging injury concern.

The legendary Englishman walked it off though, and returned to the pitch accompanied by an uproarious cheer from the sellout crowd of 20,000 in attendance, minus a small contingent of New York supporters.

With seven minutes to go in the half, Keane was once again denied an equalizer when a long-range shot by Chris Birchall bounced out of Rost's clutches, and fell to the Irish striker. Rost recovered quickly though, and saved Keane's point-blank follow-up.

The Galaxy continued to pressure the visitors, and were rewarded in the 42nd minute when midfielder Mike Magee headed home a Beckham corner to tie the game at one all.

The goal allowed the Galaxy to claim a 2-1 aggregate lead going into halftime.

In the second half, Galaxy midfielder and captain Landon Donovan (seen right) made a great hustle play in the 54th minute when he rushed back on defense to block a Dane Richards cross in front of goal that Luke Rodgers was waiting to tap home.

The Red Bulls' strong counter-attacking continued in the 57th minute when Rodgers broke free down the right side. However, he failed to tie things up, and could only find the side netting with his left-footed shot.

Henry saw yellow in the 62nd minute after tripping up Omar Gonzalez from behind.  It was the Frenchman's second yellow card of the playoffs, which meant he would have to sit out the Red Bulls’ next match if they advanced.

By this point, the Galaxy's possession game, led by Beckham and Chris Birchall in midfield, was wearing down the undermanned Red Bulls, and head coach Hans Backe needed a spark. Backe brought on the speedy Juan Agudelo for Dax McCarty in the 64th minute.

Unfortunately for Agudelo and his teammates, the Galaxy put the nail in New York's coffin nine minutes later. The Galaxy were awarded a penalty in the 73rd minute when Red Bulls defender Roy Miller fouled the ever-present Beckham from behind at the top of the box.  

It was a silly foul from Miller since Beckham was 20 yards out with his back facing the goal. Donovan calmly converted the spot kick to give the Galaxy a 2-1 lead on the night, and a two-goal advantage overall.

Henry did his best to take advantage of a Galaxy foul in the 83rd minute, but his free kick from 30 yards out curled over the bar. The former Arsenal and Barcelona superstar will have to wait another year to get a crack at his first MLS Cup trophy.

Instead, the resilient Beckham have the chance to claim his first league trophy with the Galaxy.  But first, they will have to get past Real Salt Lake in their Western Conference final showdown this Sunday at the Home Depot Center, where the Galaxy remain undefeated this season.

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POSTGAME QUOTES

After the match, Landon Donovan spoke about Henry's first-half performance: "Henry came into the midfield and made it difficult.  He was finding little spots in the midfield and we were kind of pulled apart."

But Donovan was pleased with the way his team responded to going a goal down. "Once we were better with the ball...we started creating chances," Donovan said. "They're a team that likes to have the ball and dictate the tempo, but conversely, when another team controls the pace and the tempo they struggle."

Donovan also praised Beckham’s ability to play through pain.

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

Beckham spoke about the injury after the game.

"I think I just headed the ball wrong," the Englishman said. "It was just a spasm in my lower back."

Beckham said he wasn’t expecting Miller's challenge that resulted in the Galaxy penalty: "I was surprised when I found his boot around my ear."

He also shrugged off recent rumors of a move to French club Paris St.-Germain this summer, saying "People have talked about my future for about 10 years. When I first moved to Madrid I think I was going to Chelsea about five or six times."

Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena described the challenge faced by his team: "Certainly a difficult game tonight... New York was dangerous. Once again I thought Henry was spectacular."

When asked if Beckham will be ready to play his third game in a week, Arena was confident that "If anyone can do it, it's David."

Goal-scorer Mike Magee admitted he got some extra satisfaction out of scoring against his former team.

"Once the whistle blew it was nice that New York was going home and I’m continuing on," Magee said.

Magee admitted that last year's Galaxy team was overconfident going into their Western Conference final against FC Dallas, which they lost 3-0.

"We were talking about rings, and we thought that it was going to be handed to us," he said. "Something else was handed to us."

However, Magee added that the team was determined not to let history repeat itself: "We have a majority of the same guys back, and that’s not going to happen again...We have a goal to win an MLS Cup."

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Reach Omar via email, or on Twitter at @omarshamout.