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Landon Donovan has repeatedly downplayed the notion that he's a top-flight goal- scorer. David Beckham isn't buying it.
Donovan scored twice in under 3 minutes, Beckham had a goal off a free kick, and Los Angeles beat Sporting Kansas City 4-1 on Saturday night.
''When Landon said a couple of weeks ago that he's not a goal-scorer, I don't know what he's talking about,'' Beckham said. ''His game is about scoring goals. His scoring goals is great for our club.''
Donovan converted a penalty kick in the 44th minute and added his MLS-high seventh goal in the 46st.
''Landon is doing a great job,'' Galaxy coach Bruce Arena said. ''He does whatever we need to be better as a team and be successful on the night. And he's taken on the responsibility of scoring goals again.''
Juan Pablo Angel scored in the 64st minute and Beckham got on the board in closing minutes with his first of the season from 30 yards out to help the Galaxy (5-2-5) remain unbeaten at home (3-0-2).
Los Angeles leads the league with 20 points, but has also played a league-high 12 games.
Sporting (1-5-1) squandered a first-half lead to lose for the fourth straight game. Kansas City was unable to execute its game plan of slowing the Galaxy's two stars, and is now winless in the past six games.
''(Donovan)'s a game-changer,'' Kansas City coach Peter Vermes said. ''We talked about both of those players prior to this game, knowing full well what they bring. And both of them were very good tonight.''
Donovan was responsible for the first two goals, giving him a personal stretch of seven straight Galaxy goals, spanning the last four contests.
With 110 career goals, Donovan moved him into sole possession of fourth place on the MLS' scoring list. Ante Razov is third with 114.
''I'm at a point in my career where I'm not motivated solely by scoring, I'm motivated by winning,'' Donovan said.
Sporting took the lead in the 39th minute on Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez's own goal. It would be one of the few positive chances Kansas City was able to muster.
Beckham was taken down in the box with an aggressive tackle by Roger Espinoza minutes later, leading to a penalty. Donovan calmly beat goalkeeper Eric Kronberg to even the score heading into halftime.
Beckham stayed down on the field for a few moments following the hit to his upper thigh, saying after the game that his leg was sore but it was merely a charley horse.
The Galaxy were back at it coming out of the break. Following a throw-in, Chad Barrett fed Donovan with a one-touch for the first of his two assists. Donovan buried the ball with the outside of his foot for the 2-1 lead.
''We wanted to really dictate the tempo of the game in the second half, take them out of their comfort zone and put them under pressure,'' Donovan said. ''We put them under a lot of pressure, and the goals came.''
Angel scored his second of the season just three minutes after coming on as a substitute. Beckham would follow with a world-class free kick, bending the ball over a wave of defenders into the upper-left corner.
''There's about one person in the world who can do that,'' Donovan said. ''And he did that tonight.''
Galaxy goalie Josh Saunders got the start in place of Donovan Ricketts, who was scratched from the lineup because of an illness. Saunders saved all three shots he faced.
