Landon Donovan volleyed home a goal in the 60th minutes off an assist from David Beckham to help the Los Angeles Galaxy beat Honduras club Motagua 2-0 in Tuesday's opener of CONCACAF Champions League group play.
Adam Cristman scored on a sliding finish in the 13th minute for Los Angeles, which got to skip the preliminary round for winning the MLS Supporters' Shield last season.
"It's crucial," Donovan said. "We talked about it all week. Tonight was the first step in the right direction."
The Galaxy were eliminated in the preliminary round by the Puerto Rico Islanders a year ago.
On the first goal, Juninho started the sequence with a through ball into the box. A.J. DeLaGarza used one touch to cross it through the box to a charging Cristman, who finished into the empty net.
Beckham set up the Galaxy's second goal, playing in a ball from the right wing that sailed to the far post and landed at Donovan's feet, where he played it after one bounce.
The Galaxy won the Champions Cup in 2000 under the tournament's old format, which has since adopted a group stage.
"This competition is going to be difficult," Galaxy coach Bruce Arena said. "There are five more tough games in group play. Every game, every goal, every minute is going to require our upmost concentration."
Costa Rica's LD Alajuelense and Monarcas Morelia of Mexico make up the rest of Group A. Each team will play the other once at home and once on the road.
