The former US national team forward and Everton loanee came out of retirement earlier this month to re-join his old club on a deal for the rest of the 2016 MLS season.
Landon Donovan bagged his first goal since coming out of retirement on Sunday night, scoring just two minutes after entering as a second-half substitute to earn the LA Galaxy a 2-2 draw at Sporting Kansas City.
Alan Gordon gave the Galaxy an early lead at Children’s Mercy Park after getting onto the end of an Emmanuel Boateng cross in the seventh minute, but Sporting KC equalised five minutes after the break when Dom Dwyer teed up Jacob Peterson for the in-form winger to head home from close range.
Dwyer then gave the hosts the lead in the 69th minute with the 50th regular season goal of his MLS career, before Donovan made a near-instant impact following his 74th-minute introduction.
The 34-year-old forward, who re-joined the Galaxy earlier this month after originally hanging up his boots following their 2014 MLS Cup triumph, had been on the pitch for less than 120 seconds before he took a pass from Robbie Rogers on the edge of the box and placed a low, left-footed shot into the bottom corner to make it 2-2.
He’s baaaaaaack. #SKCvLA https://t.co/HhmEuCUKeV
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) September 18, 2016
The strike was the US national team legend’s 145th regular season goal – extending his lead atop the league’s all-time scoring charts – and ultimately proved enough to earn Bruce Arena’s men a share of the points despite them managing just four total shots over the 90 minutes compared to KC’s 21.
“I think you could even figure out that that was pretty good,” head coach Arena told LAGalaxy.com after the match when asked about Donovan’s impact off the bench. “Landon’s experience was beneficial at the end of that game. He gave us 20 good minutes.
“We’re going to try to go 20 to 30 and keep building. But you see just his composure, allowing us to keep the ball when we weren’t able to do for about 80 minutes, so that part was good.”
Donovan, who made the first appearance of his comeback as a late substitute in the previous weekend’s 4-2 home win over Orlando City SC, added: “Ten years ago, I would have been really excited for me. I told you guys and my family when I came back that I want to help this team. And I felt like last week I was useless on the field and I don’t like that feeling.
“This was a game that needed a play and when I talked to Bruce weeks ago, he said we need you to come in and make a few plays that count. So I was happy after the effort that they all put in that I was able to help them get something out of it.”
Sunday’s results leaves the Galaxy in second spot in the Western Conference on 48 points – four behind first-placed FC Dallas with four regular season games left
They have only lost a league-low four of their 30 matches in the process and, with two of their remaining fixtures coming against Dallas, they certainly remain serious contenders to beat the Texas outfit to the Supporters’ Shield title.
“When you look at the season, this team has given away a lot of points at the end of games,” Donovan told LAGalaxy.com. “But, we’re the only team that has only lost four games and I don’t think anyone is all that close. Maybe a couple of teams that have five or six losses.
“So, in the end you do want to win, but to come back in a game like this, in a situation like this, in a stadium like this against this team is a pretty special result and I think it could look a lot like that in the playoffs. So we have to be able to come to a place like this and get something out of it.”
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