Beckham's Galaxy slump in opener

David Beckham made a losing start to his second season in Major League Soccer when his Los Angeles Galaxy were crushed 4-0 by the Colorado Rapids on Saturday.

Beckham played a full 90 minutes in the Galaxy's season opener but was unable to prevent the home side from completing a resounding victory.

Terry Cooke opened scoring for Colorado after 10 minutes, with Christian Gomez adding a penalty on the hour. Omar Cummings and Colin Clarke completed the rout in the second half.

Beckham, in his first game since reaching 100 international caps for England on Wednesday, played in a variety of different positions as head coach Ruud Gullit tried in vain to find a successful formation.

Tempers were frayed in the final minutes with the Galaxy's Abel Xavier and Colorado's Ciaran O'Brien both sent off for foul play.