David Beckham ended up a loser in his first full Major League Soccer match, despite setting up three goals in the Los Angeles Galaxy's 5-4 loss to the New York Red Bulls.

Beckham, who played all 90 minutes, helped attract a record crowd of 66,237 for a league match at Giants Stadium, where the average attendance for Red Bulls games is around 11,500.

Former Aston Villa striker Juan Pablo Angel gave the hosts the lead with a low free kick but Beckham twice set up Carlos Pavon, who headed home from a corner and then a free kick as the Galaxy went 2-1 ahead.

Former United States international striker Clint Mathis levelled the score on the stroke of half-time with a sweet volley and New York's 17-year-old forward Jozy Altidore grabbed a second-half brace for a 4-2 lead.

Los Angeles levelled the game through Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle, who drove home after a Beckham corner was headed onto the bar.

But with two minutes left, Angel netted his second from a tight angle after goalkeeper Joe Cannon could only parry a stinging Mathis shot.

Beckham, wearing the captain's armband, had made his first start for LA last Wednesday in a SuperLiga semi-final having been limited to substitute appearances because of his injured left ankle.

But he said he was optimistic about playing for England in a friendly against Germany at Wembley on Wednesday before planning an immediate return to the US and hopes to play in Thursday's match against Galaxy's local rivals Chivas USA.

Beckham commented: "I've got to see how it is on Sunday. It's swollen up at the moment but that was always going to happen. I'm traveling to London on Sunday morning to meet up with the team and hopefully I'll be playing some sort of role on Wednesday.

"The manager and the coaching staff kept asking me if I wanted to come off. But I'm quite a stubborn person on and off the field. When we were winning I didn't want to come off and when we were losing I didn't want to come off."

Beckham had initially been reluctant to play on the artificial turf used at Giants Stadium.

He added: "My ankle took a pounding obviously, I'm not used to this surface but it wasn't bad. There were a couple of instances where I rolled over on my ankle but at the end of the day we have to play on this surface. My ankle is more swollen than it was before the game but I'm sure it will be fine for Wednesday."

Beckham's coach, Frank Yallop, was pleased with the performance.

He said: "It was one hell of a game, but I'm obviously disappointed that we couldn't get at least a point out of the game.

"He (Beckham) was a huge influence...I thought David was outstanding tonight, he is truly world class."

Red Bulls coach Bruce Arena commented: "Beckham delivers a great ball...you can see what a difference he makes to the LA team."

Sporting Life / Reuters