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CARSON -- Landon Donovan finished a feed from Robbie Keane in the 71st minute, and the Galaxy completed arguably its best campaign, claiming its third MLS Cup championship with a 1-0 victory Sunday night over the Houston Dynamo.

Donovan, who had last scored in early September, slipped Keane's pass inside the far post as the Galaxy, dominant from the opening whistle, thrilled a crowd of 30,281, the largest to see a soccer game at Home Depot Center.

The Galaxy added the trophy, named after its owner, Philip Anschutz, to those won in 2002 and 2005 -- and to the Supporters' Shield they captured as Major League Soccer's regular-season champion.

Todd Dunivant's throw-in from the left wing led to the goal. David Beckham got his head to it, nodding it onto Keane's path heading toward Houston's goal. Keane stepped past Dynamo center back Bobby Boswell, then split Boswell and Geoff Cameron with a little ball for the streaking Donovan.

Donovan, who moved up front when Chris Birchall came on for Adam Cristman in the 57th minute, redirected the ball past goalkeeper Tally Hall and inside the the right post.

The goal was Donovan's record 20th in MLS postseason play and his fourth in an MLS Cup final -- to go with three scored in San Jose's 2001 and 2003 title-game wins.

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CARSON -- The Galaxy's attack relies so much on David Beckham's service, quite understandable given the quality of that service.

The English star has been renowned primarily for his golden right foot, which can deliver balls over distance to specified points with uncanny accuracy. Think of NFL quarterbacks throwing bombs, but doing so with their feet, and you've got Beckham.

They even named a movie after Beckham's skill set, but Houston Dynamo goalkeeper Tally Hall said heading into Sunday's MLS Cup final against L.A. at Home Depot Center that it's not necessarily the movement he puts on the ball that's so damaging.

“It's not so much the type of bend, it's the speed that he plays it in [and] that Beckham plays it in to good spots,” said Hall, who turned down the Galaxy in 2007 to play in Denmark, then joined the Dynamo in 2009. “Trust me, he could take away the bend and still put it in a good spot. ...

“All his crosses and passes are hit with confidence, so they've got to where they're supposed to go in a hurry. You take away one second of flight time, that doesn't sound like a lot, but, for me, that could be the difference between coming [out to grab or punch the ball] or staying on my line. He's the best in the world at that.”

Houston coach Dominic Kinnear agrees with the assessment. He was asked about Beckham's “limited” skill set, that Beckham's delivery always is right-footed, and he's not particularly fast, so why is it so hard to stop hm?

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CARSON -- The Houston Dynamo are chirping about how they can, and will, win Major League Soccer's championship without Brad Davis, the expected league MVP, who will sit out the Nov. 20 title game at Home Depot Center because of a torn quadriceps muscle.

The Galaxy aren't sure Davis won't be in orange.

“I think that until he's not playing, until he's not on the field in the final, we're still thinking he's going to play, most likely,” said Galaxy defender/assistant coach Gregg Berhalter. “I would have to personally check him to believe that he's not going to give it everything he's got to play in that game. So we'll see.”

Davis says he's done after tearing his right quadriceps in Houston's victory at Sporting Kansas City in Sunday's Eastern Conference final, and his absence alters how the Dynamo approach nearly everything. He's the primary distributor, delivering on-target crosses and penetrating through balls, the player around whom the attack revolves.

“It hurts losing him,” Dynamo goalkeeper Tally Hall told The Houston Chronicle. “But at the same time, I feel like we have a deep team. We have a team of dangerous players, and I think we've proven that even without Brad.”

But losing Davis is “huge,” said Galaxy center back Omar Gonzalez.

“He has a great left foot, and he puts the ball where he wants it ...,” MLS's Defender of the Year said. “He's probably been their best player, and they're going to miss him. It sucks that he won't play in this game, because it'll make for a better game, but I'm sure they'll have someone serving in balls that are just as good. If someone puts in a decent cross, they have guys who can get on the end of it.”

Said Berhalter: “They're a very organized team, they're a very physical team, they know exactly what they want to do and how they're going to do it. They never give up, and they're very determined. We don't take them lightly at all. We think they're experienced, they're well-organized and they fight for everything. It's going to be a very difficult game. It's not going to be easy.”

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CARSON -- A new formation -- or, rather, an old one revisited -- and a spectacular night from Justin Braun has put Chivas USA in postseason position. No kidding.

Braun's second hat trick of the season, on three superbly taken goals, delivered a comprehensive 3-0 triumph Saturday night over the Houston Dynamo, vaulting the Goats (6-7-8) into sixth place in Major League Soccer's Western Conference -- and into 10th overall, good enough to snag the last playoff berth if the season stopped now.

That would mean more in a couple of months, but head coach Robin Fraser, who altered his alignment, changed a couple of assignments and welcomed back from injury a pivotal performer, wasn't complaining.

“More than anything right now, it means we're within striking range,” he said after Chivas pushed its unbeaten streak to five games. “Certainly, we want to make sure we're always in striking range.”

Braun, taking to heart some lessons on how to be more precise in the final third, scored in the 31st, 40th and 86th minutes, benefiting mightily from Fraser's alterations. He came into the game with just four goals -- three of them in the May 15 victory at New York -- but finished as the club's No. 2 all-time goal scorer.

His third of the night was his 19th as a Goat, one more than Maykel Galindo tallied in his time in red and white and 11 off Ante Razov's club record.

“It's cool to get another hat trick,” Braun said. “I kind of went through a dry spell there, but it's nice to get that weight off my shoulders. But the most important thing is that the team came out, we played well collectively and got three points tonight, which we needed.”

The Goats notched their third shutout of the last four games and might have scored more. Michael Lahoud -- back in midfield, on the right flank, with Zarek Valentin back at right back -- forced a diving save from Dynamo goalkeeper Tally Hall in the 14th minute.

Valentin was back on the right because Ante Jazic was back from a calf injury -- and he was outstanding on the flank, setting up the first and third goals with outstanding balls from the left.

Fraser went back to a 4-1-4-1 alignment, as he used in preseason and at season's start, pairing Nick LaBrocca and Blair Gavin atop a midfield triangle with Simon Elliott underneath. It made a possession side more possessive.

“We felt like when we possess really well, we are most dangerous,” Fraser said. “Our midfield certainly has had moments where they have been very, very good in possession, so it was just a thought to go back to that and try to regain more possession.

“We're a little bit more mature and a little further ahead than we were at the beginning of the season [and] we felt very strongly that this group of midfielders would be able to take some possession and turn it into dangerous opportunities. Certainly nice when you get it right.”

A quick look at Chivas' victory:

BEST PLAYER: How do you not go with Braun? He scored three very fine goals, caused problems for the Dynamo defense from start to finish, and showed great discipline in his runs and positioning as he went for goal.

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CARSON -- Chris Birchall has no illusions about the shot. It wasn't on target, it wasn't close. As Landon Donovan noted after the Galaxy's 1-0 victory Wednesday night over the Houston Dynamo: “I thought that was going to be a throw-in.”

Birchall's blast in the final minute of the first half wasn't close to being on target, but it couldn't have sailed away any better for L.A. It caught Dynamo midfielder Lovel Palmer on the upper arm, in the box, and Donovan converted the resulting penalty kick to send the Western Conference-leading Galaxy (7-2-5) to its third straight victory and fifth in a row without a loss.

Birchall also teamed with right back Sean Franklin to limit Brad Davis' ability to send in crosses from the left flank, preventing Houston from creating much of anything -- and absolutely nothing until the final 10 minutes.

“Bruce [Arena]'s game plan was to try to stop Davis getting on the ball,” Birchall said. “He's probably their key player -- he likes to get crosses in from wherever he is and set up the play.

“[Arena] told me and Sean to try to double up on him, try to not give him space on the ball. Same to other side [against Colin Clark]. I think we did it the good majority of the game.”

Birchall and Michael Stephens, who were “rotated” into the lineup in favor of absent David Beckham and Mike Magee, were outstanding defensively, and Stephens did a lot of nice work in attack, mostly in support of Donovan, who was stationed right behind the strikers. Birchall was on the right flank, where Donovan has been since Beckham was shifted to the middle.

But Birchall's greatest contribution was the wayward shot that found Palmer in the middle of the Dynamo box.

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