Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy owed some fans some offensive fireworks after they were missing in action on the Fourth of July against the Seattle Sounders.

On the flip side, here I was, thinking that David Beckham was going to come off the bench. Turns out, Arena was desperate to find somebody who could deliver the aforementioned pyrotechnics. Even through injury, the man with the set piece slot machine for a leg can still hit the occasional jackpot or two.

In the 58th minute, Beckham delivered a set piece from the southwest end that found Landon Donovan for his ninth of the season. Seven minutes later, after Cristian Nazarit became the Chicken Thief for equalizing in the 62nd minute of play, a bending corner from the Riot Squad end eluded Chicago Fire Sean Johnson in the 65th minute.

The former Man United ace doused the flames and Frank Klopas's Fire single-handedly, 2-1, at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

It was a shame that the likes of Mike Magee was AWOL on Saturday. That forced Paolo Cardozo into the flames. A little baptism by fill-in-the-blank. No pun intended. Cardozo didn't impress me tonight. Every ball that came in his direction was easily cut out by a Fire defender, or the young Argentine didn't do a good job holding on to it.

Now, there is the matter of the Wednesday night U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal against the Seattle Sounders at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila. You can bet that Cardozo will play a big, big role in the Galaxy's quest for payback from last year.

If the G's expect to return the favor up north, the young Argentine needs to do a better job holding on to the ball and create some legit chances.

Cardozo didn't look too comfortable, and by the time he was subbed, the fatigued naturally got to him. The personal jury inside my head is still out on Miguel Lopez because he played in relief. Lopez and Adam Cristman will need to get involved and dominate, win possession and get involved in the buildup.

Again, if this was a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals audition, I would do my best Simon Cowell and say, "You lot will get hammered by the Sounders because you did not play like the contenders you are capable of becoming."

And don't get me started on Juan Pablo Angel. Listen, you are paid dinero to convert the chances you get and create in open space. You waste the bucks of your fans when you don't finish. Angel should have at least buried one past the end line.

If I could offer a prayer to the football gods, I am hoping that this will be Angel's last season playing soccer for any club.

Enjoy your retirement, help develop the game as a coach. Teach your kids to be like their old man and make it big. But for the love of all things Galaxy blue and gold (and Punjab), do not come back for another year if you cannot score, period. Your fans deserve better.

Wake up, JP, and smell the coffee. And I'm not talking about the type from Kona, either.

The good news here is that Josh Saunders was not in the middle of any sort of scuffle that saw him sent off. In an interesting twist/piece of closure, the backup keeper to Donovan Ricketts could only watch the fisticuffs ensure on the Chicago bench.

The irony here is that a set of boxing matches were taking place next door at the tennis stadium. Sure, Elton John was right when saying that "Saturday Night's All Right for Fighting," but I wonder if he meant it in this fashion.

In any case, this was a literal brain explosion by Josip Mikulic for getting into the fray, throwing a punch, and getting sent off without playing a single minute on Saturday. Josip, this is MLS, not UFC. You're in the wrong sport to try to get your 15 seconds of fame; you know better, son.

If this does not elicit a large fine and a more-than-one-game suspension from Der Kommissar Don Garber and his less-than-FIFA-level-corrupt rulemakers that be at the MLS offices in New York City, it would be a shameful disgrace.

That just added salt to what had been a subpar night and an even more subpar season for the Chicago Fire, who probably are going to find it tough to even have an outside shot at qualifying for the MLS Cup Playoffs.

I'm close to writing this team off, to be honest with all of you wonderful readers. Actually, I'll do it right now. Signed, sealed, delivered. If they somehow get back into contention, the world has ended before my very eyes. Or at least turned on its head, like Japan at the FIFA Women's World Cup hours earlier.

In the meantime, the Los Angeles Galaxy march on with a couple of big ones. You all know that Seattle have had the Galaxy's number last year in Tukwila. Can they do it again? Or is a little payback in order?

Kickoff between the Sounders and Galaxy at Starfire is scheduled for Wednesday, July 13 at 7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET. A live audio feed can be heard on LAGalaxy.com and a live video feed can be seen on SoundersFC.com.

On Saturday, the Galaxy take on Real Madrid in a friendly. Kickoff at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is scheduled for 7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET. A live blog of that match will be brought to you on Bleacher Report.

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