This tie is a crowd-pleaser

Revolution knot Beckham's Galaxy

FOXBOROUGH - David Beckham may have been the star who attracted the largest regular-season single-game crowd for a Revolution match at Gillette Stadium, but last night's game became the main event.

The Revolution came back from a 2-1 deficit, scoring in the 71st minute to earn a 2-2 draw with the Los Angeles Galaxy in front of 39,256.

A constant flicker of camera flashes sparkled throughout the stadium as Beckham played his first game at Gillette Stadium in his second MLS season. He traveled with the team to Foxborough last year but was injured and didn't play.

Wherever the Galaxy go, fans come out to watch, and Beckham said he continues to be surprised but grateful.

"[Last night] was a special night," Beckham said. "A couple of players were mentioning it's a great atmosphere to play in. It's a great sporting arena, and it's nice to play in front of so many fans. So thank you to them for turning out and I hope they do it every time we play here. It makes you feel good and makes you want to play better."

The fans were treated to an action-packed game that included strategy adjustments by the Revolution, a return to goal by Matt Reis, and two impressive scores by Galaxy forward Landon Donovan.

Defender Michael Parkhurst set up the tying goal in the second half, moving forward and sliding a pass to Shalrie Joseph, who broke free along the right side before firing past Galaxy goalkeeper Josh Wicks and inside the near post.

Wicks, who replaced starter Steve Cronin at the start of the second half, made his first MLS appearance. Cronin may have broken his finger in a collision with Taylor Twellman on a Revolution goal in the first half, according to Galaxy coach Bruce Arena.

In the final 15 minutes, the Revolution (11-6-5) appeared confident and created several chances but were unable to take the lead. In the 84th minute, defender Gabriel Badilla, in his Revolution debut, put a shot on goal that Wicks stopped. A minute later, Khano Smith took a shot that sailed high.

The Revolution, who fell out of first place after Columbus beat Dallas last night, were satisfied with the result after traveling to Toronto and Trinidad for games last Saturday and Tuesday.

"We have to be [happy with a tie]," Revolution coach Steve Nicol said. "Clearly you could see the difference in one team that's been [traveling] 6,000 miles last week and one team that has been rested. You could see the sharpness in their play that we didn't have. So we should be happy."

Reis returned to the starting lineup and stopped four shots after missing two MLS starts with an adductor strain.

Despite several chances by the Galaxy, the Revolution were the first to score.

The Revolution took the lead in the 22d minute. Smith lifted a pass from the left wing that caught Cronin leaning toward his left. Twellman headed it home and was hit in the face as Cronin attempted to make the save. Twellman, who received five stitches on his right cheek, left the game for a couple minutes before returning.

It was the 96th regular-season goal of the 28-year old forward's career and his fifth in eight games this season.

The Revolution came out in a 4-4-1-1 formation with Joseph playing more of a forward role. Nicol changed the setup to a 4-4-2, replacing midfielder Pat Phelan with Sainey Nyassi in the 33d minute, because the Galaxy were getting several opportunities.

But not long after the substitution, the Galaxy were on the attack. Midfielder Peter Vagenas lofted a pass to the left wing, where Donovan gained control and connected on the shot to the near post that got beyond a diving Reis to tie the score at 1 in the 34th minute.

The Galaxy pulled ahead in the 55th. Eddie Lewis sent in a ball to Donovan, who split defenders Parkhurst and Badilla, broke free, and easily rolled the ball into the right side of the net.

The Galaxy (6-9-7) remained winless in 10 games (0-5-5).

Monique Walker can be reached at mwalker@globe.com