Music: {allcanada} WHITECAPS COME APART AT HANDS OF GALAXY

Following his team's 4-0 win over Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday, L.A. Galaxy coach Bruce Arena had some good things to say about his Canadian opposition. The former MLS Coach of the Year believes the Whitecaps are a good team and feels they should have a better record from their performances this season. But those words will have been little encouragement to Whitecaps fans who watched their team fall to its biggest defeat since arriving in Major League Soccer.

In the final half hour of Saturday's match, the Whitecaps were taken apart by the league's best team, and given a master class by arguably the league's best player Landon Donovan, negating the positive feeling that had been created around Empire Field as the home side competed toe-to-toe with the Galaxy in a free flowing game over the course of the first hour's play.

For 60 minutes, the attacking formation, which included Davide Chiumiento playing just behind the front two of Eric Hassli and Mistapha Jarju, seemed to work. The Whitecaps created a number of chances on goal and played some attractive soccer in front of their record MLS attendance of 27,500. Salinas followed up his two-assist game in San Jose with another positive performance on the wing. He also tracked back when needed. Gershon Koffie was effective and showed plenty of potential in the holding midfield role.

However, as the game wore on, the Whitecaps became increasingly more vulnerable on the counter attack, and once the breakthrough arrived, Los Angeles showed their class and took complete control. Unfortunately for the Whitecaps, the last quarter of the game looked like men against boys, with the Galaxy's dominance aided by poor defending. It was alarming how quickly the 'Caps confidence seemed to drain away.

Just moments after Shea Salinas' shot against the post at the other end of the pitch, a slip by Michael Boxall allowed the Galaxy to open the scoring. For a team yet to lose when scoring the first goal, it was a situation the Galaxy took full advantage of. The handball in the area by Jordan Harvey soon after was inexplicable, and the defending on the third and fourth goals was non-existent. The 4-0 result was harsh on the Whitecaps and not reflective of the overall game, but it was a stark lesson about the big differences between teams competing at the top of the standings, and those at the bottom.

This weekend, the Whitecaps face a much different challenge as the Chicago Fire arrive at Empire for a meeting between the two teams who occupy last place in the Western and Eastern standings. With the Fire having won just twice all year, anything less than a Vancouver win would be a major disappointment.

At the other end of the standings, Arena has little to worry about after watching his Galaxy team add another three points in their quest for a second successive Supporters Shield as the best team in the MLS regular season, and he will have been delighted to see another compelling display from Donovan. The American's two goals took his tally for the season to 11 and tied him with New York's Thierry Henry at the top of the league's goal scoring standings. That total is even more impressive considering Donovan has only played 15 league games this season due to injuries and international duty.

While fans of other clubs berate Donovan at every chance they get, his value to his team is unmatched, even in a line-up that usually includes David Beckham. Donovan leads by example, as shown by his decision to skip the bright lights and big stage of the MLS All-Star game on Wednesday in order to ensure he had fully recovered from a calf strain in time for the trip to Vancouver.

He could very easily have opted to put himself first and play against Manchester United in New York, putting his place in the squad for his team's trip north of the border in jeopardy. Instead, Donovan chose to put his team first and ended up producing a Man of the Match performance as the Galaxy extended their unbeaten run to 14 matches, one short of tying their club record.

Donovan's influence on the game from wide areas in midfield is extremely impressive, finding space to create opportunities, but also cutting inside to central positions. After scoring two against Vancouver, he then provided the cross for Sean Franklin to add the third goal. Donovan continues to make a compelling case for another MLS MVP award. He is an inspiration for his team, and Major League Soccer is lucky to have him.