Juninho scored for the second time in two games, helping the Los Angeles Galaxy forge a 1-1 tie in their rain-soaked home opener against the New England Revolution on Sunday.
Juninho's goal in the 39th minute knotted the score after the Galaxy (1-0-1) had a pair of first-half goals called back.
Shalrie Joseph scored the lone goal less than three minutes in for the Revolution (0-0-1), who were playing their season opener.
The Galaxy finally broke through six minutes before the half after a string of unsuccessful chances. Revolution defender A.J. Soares sent a halfhearted clearance that Juninho intercepted steps outside the box, firing a perfectly placed shot to the upper corner of the goal that Matt Reis had little chance of stopping.
Los Angeles thought it had netted the game winner in stoppage time when Juan Pablo Angel finished a cross in front of the net, only to have it waved off by as he was ruled offside.
Joseph got the scoring started early to stun the fired-up Galaxy crowd. Following a deflect off a corner kick, Marko Perovic sent a cross from the right wing as Joseph rose above the defense and finished with a header past goalie Josh Saunders.
Despite the early letdown, the Galaxy were persistent on the attack, setting up a pair of potential that goals that were disallowed.
In the 16th minute, David Beckham sent in free kick that Reis bobbled in heavy traffic, sending the ball to the turf and allowing Juninho to tap it home. But referees ruled that Mike Magee had made contact with Reis and disallowed it.
Magee thought he had a goal of his own minutes later, but an offside call negated a second potential-tying goal.
