To paraphrase, or rather mangle, an old Rodney Dangerfield line, I went to the theatre last night and a soccer match broke out.

More than 34,000 fans filed into Etihad Stadium on a beautiful Tuesday night for one reason and one reason only: to watch David Beckham. Sure it was great to see Carlos Hernandez with plenty of space to operate and it was refreshing to see Danny Allsopp full of vim and vigour.

But this was not a Victory match. This was an exhibition and Beckham was both artist and painting.

The crowd oohed whenever he touched the ball and ahhed when he nearly lobbed in a goal from beyond the halfway line. They screamed like Beatlemaniacs in old black and white newsreels when he paraded around shirtless after the match and handed out high fives.

For most of the match, however, they were silent. There was no chanting from either end, which was a bit like a reggae concert without the pungent smell of ganja.

SEN radio host Mark Fine said it reminded him of the NBA All Star game, where no one goes too hard and defense takes a back seat. He was right, yet like pro basketball's showpiece, it was highly entertaining, especially the first 30 minutes.

The 2-2 result (Galaxy won on what looked like hastily-arranged penalty kicks) was probably fair, although LA scored on two Robbie Keane penalties, the first of which came on a questionable handball against Matthew Foschini. Victory had taken a 2-0 lead, thanks to Hernandez, who scored, then set up Isaka Cernak for the second.

But that was irrelevant. This was all about Becks. Melbourne was the third stop on a tour that included Indonesia and the Philippines and, in all likelihood, was Beckham's last game in a Galaxy jersey.

For Victory it was almost as if everything had been put on hold. Harry Kewell didn't play. Neither did Leigh Broxham. Hernandez, Archie Thompson and goalkeeper Ante Covic played a half. Even Mehmet Durakovic, the besieged Victory boss seemed relaxed. And why not? The big game for him is this Saturday against Adelaide.

No, this one was for the fans. The Beckham fans. Tuesday definitely had a different feel to it. The crowd was well dressed and polite. There were lots of families, no flares and very little unbridled passion.

But unlike Greg Baum in The Age, who called it "Australian soccer prostituting itself," I thought it was a great night. Nothing too serious and certainly nothing worth ranting about in a misguided piece that referred to Keane and Landon Donovan as "props."

When it was over, Beckham, naturally, was named Man of the Match.

Donovan had a bemused look on his face when he was handed the Hyundai Club Challenge Cup, which I doubt will end up next to the MLS Cup in the Galaxy trophy case.

But like everything else that Beckham has brought to Los Angeles, this will be another good memory for all involved, including 34,608 fans. Or maybe that's 34,607 if we don't include Greg Baum.