A brace from Chris Wondolowski was enough for San Jose Earthquakes to beat 10-man Chivas USA in their MLS Western Conference clash.
The home side started brightly but Wondolowski missed two early opportunities, as he put both of his efforts past the post when shooting from distance.
Chivas almost took the lead when Julio Morales latched onto a ball over the top and drove into the box, but Jon Busch was there to make the stop with his body.
The visitors went close again minutes later as Marco Delgado lifted the ball into the penalty area and found Erick Torres, but he could only fire his volley wide of the target.
Chivas paid for their missed opportunities as a long ball forward by Cordell Cato was headed into the path of Wondowlowksi by Victor Bernardez and the striker made no mistake in looping his header into the top corner over Dan Kennedy.
After the break, matters goes worse for the visitors when they were reduced to 10 men when Carlos Bocanegra was sent off for a bad tackle on Shea Salinas.
From the resulting free kick Kennedy did well to beat away a vicious effort from Wondolowski to keep his side in the game.
However, Wondolowski was not to be denied again and he got his second of the game in the 87th minute when he tapped home a rebound after Salinas's effort had been parried out by Kennedy.
Simon Sinclair
