Donovan double leads L.A. past Fire

Jul 5, 2007, 5:20 GMT

Carson, CA - Landon Donovan made his return to the Los Angeles Galaxy a successful one as he scored two goals - both on penalty kicks - to lead his side past the Chicago Fire 2-0 Wednesday night. Donovan, the team's captain, missed the past several games with his participation with the U.S. national Team in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The win, which was just L.A.'s second win in its last eight fixtures, improved the club to 3-5-3.

The game's first goal occurred in the 16th minute after midfielder Kyle Martino was taken down in the penalty area. Donovan's hard shot on the ensuing penalty went right at goalkeeper Jon Busch, who couldn't keep the ball out of the net.

The second goal was scored three minutes from time when Martino was taken down in the box again. Donovan made no mistake for his fourth goal of the season to seal the victory.

Chicago's lone bright spot in the game was Busch, who made six saves in the game to give him team a chance, even though it generated almost zero offense. The fire had only two total shots in the game, with zero on net while the Galaxy fired 14 total shots.

The loss is the Fire's third in the past four games and drops the club into the Eastern Conference basement. The club will have a chance to climb out of the bottom of the table when it hosts Toronto FC on Saturday while the Galaxy host Kansas City the same night.

© 2007 The Sports Network