Los Angeles turned in a professional 2-1 victory against Seattle on Sunday night to seal a place in the Western Conference Final.

The Galaxy will play against Dallas in a knockout match at the Home Depot Center next week. The winner of that game will be in Toronto for MLS Cup Final on November 21.

David Beckham was the star of the match. His service led to both Los Angeles goals – a pair of set-piece headers – courtesy of former Toronto forward Edson Buddle and fellow American defender Omar Gonzalez eight minutes apart in the first half.

Steve Zakuani scored a consolation goal for Seattle four minutes from regulation time, but that only cut the aggregate score to 3-1 in LA’s favour over two legs.

When asked what led to the convincing performance from Los Angeles, seemingly the only consistent team in MLS Cup Playoffs thus far, Beckham alluded to the “character” of his teammates. He elaborated that LA has learned from watching other top teams this week – New York, Salt Lake and Columbus – dropping chances at home on way to bowing out of postseason.

“I think what we showed today was professionalism,” said Beckham after a controlled performance turned in by this year’s league champions, now on the path to a second title to be contested in Toronto.

Beckham returned this season from an ACL injury he suffered while on loan to AC Milan earlier this year. The former England captain seems to have regained form and is ready to help LA finish the business from last season, when the Galaxy lost in MLS Cup Final to Salt Lake.

As for the famous Beckham service, the Galaxy midfielder said of his teammates, “if I put them in the right place, I know players are going to get there.” 

Buddle and Gonzalez certainly did that Sunday night, drawing a "fearless" label from their goal provider. Now Beckham and company must repeat this formula against a stubborn Dallas team that have all the tools to provide LA with a cracking challenge at Carson next week.

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