The road to Seattle ... Galaxy finds a way

Unless you staid up well past the bewitching hour, you didn’t see the Galaxy’s 2-0 win over Houston in the Western Conference final. (One that was delayed by some gremlins in the grid, as the lights went out twice, prompting a pair of 18-minute delays. Booo!)

Otherwise, it was a fantastic match, one that puts Landon Donovan and David Beckham in next Sunday’s MLS Cup final. There was no scoring over the 90 minutes Friday, but plenty of action just the same You can read all about Gregg Berhalter’s opening goal in extra time and Landon Donovan’s penalty kick that provided the final margin.

Here are a few things you might not read in the recaps and box score.

■ Berhalter was an absolute beast all night even before supplying the huge goal, committed in the tackle, pretty much unbeatable in the air and always communicating along the league's most organized back line.

■ Houston owned the game's last 30 minutes and was denied a goal that should have been allowed to stand. Andrew Hainault headed in a corner kick, but referee Terry Vaughn spotted a foul. Or so he thought. What he spotted was Brian Ching falling and knocking down A.J. DeLaGarza. What he apparently didn't see was that Ching was falling because he was knocked down.

Conspiracy? MLS scheming to get the Galaxy into the MLS Cup final? Nah.

I know some folks down in South Texas may believe so, but it was just something that Vaughn missed. In fairness, it would have been tough to spot inside the normal scrum of a corner kick.

■ Ricardo Clark was also an absolute beast, the best player on the field outside of Berhalter, perhaps. But Clark also had two critically bad moments. It was his foul about 35 yards out that led to the Galaxy's opening goal. And it was Clark who tripped Alan Gordon inside the penalty area as the Galaxy put the game out of reach on Donovan's spot shot.

■ Donovan will be going for his fourth MLS Cup next week. People still beat up the guy, and I will never understand it. What else can the guy do?

■ Beckham had a good match. Not great. But good. He was active and, although he did fade over the last 30 minutes of the match, he did have some reserve to tap into in the 30-minute extra time.

■ Having said all that, remember that he's about to go play in the MLS Cup final on the artificial turf of Qwest Field. And Becks does not "heart" the artificial turf. He can't seem to hit those signature free kicks as well, and just generally deplores the stuff.