Photo by David Bernal/ISIphotos.com

BY ADAM SERRANO

CARSON, CALIF – Desperate to keep their slim playoff dreams alive, Chivas USA defeated the New England Revolution 2-0 on Friday night with goals by Justin Braun and Paulo Nagamura. 

The victory catapulted Chivas past the Houston Dynamo and out of the cellar in the Western Conference for the first time since May 15th. With the club now seven points out from a potential playoff spot and four of their last seven games at the Home Depot Center, optimism reigns supreme with the Rojiblancos. 

"It was a solid team effort, offensively and defensively we were all solid," said head coach Martin Vasquez. "This was a great win for us that comes at a very good moment and a great time." 

The playoffs may be the larger story, but tonight belonged to the forward partnership of Alan Gordon and Justin Braun. Despite playing their first match together as an attacking tandem, the pair constantly hassled the Revolution defense with their superior work rate. Acquired on August 5th from the LA Galaxy, Gordon played a role in creating each of the Rojiblancos' goals.

Chivas struck early in the 6th minute when Gordon played in a beautiful ball that allowed a streaking Braun to chip in a shot passed goalkeeper Matt Reis. The goal was the burly forward's 9th of the season. Gordon would provide the final pass again, just thirty minutes later when a soft touch from Gordon fed a streaking Nagamura whose shot from the top of the box put Chivas up 2-0.  After the match, Gordon had nothing but positive things to say about his successful partnership with Braun.

"We worked well together, Justin has a lot of energy and he's a busy guy up there," said Gordon. "I can use my experience and put balls into place for him because he's going to get on the end of them."

The loss was a heartbreaking one for a New England club that had been riding high after an impressive victory over the Seattle Sounders last weekend. Throughout the match, the Revolution struggled to find any attacking rhythm when faced against a faster Chivas USA side that dominated possession. 
 
Midfield dynamo Shalrie Joseph provided energy to the Revolution in the second half as they began to create more drives towards net, but in the end it was a case of too little too late for New England. For head coach Steve Nichol, the last few matches will prove the meddle of a Revolution club that may miss the playoffs for the first time in eight years. 

"We need to see what we're made of," said Nichol. "We can either get together or we can just pack it in and we do not want to be packing it in."

Chivas USA continues their home stand against a revitalized Kansas City Wizards team next week while New England will remain on the road and visit the Colorado Rapids. While Chivas may be riding high after a victory, their goal scoring leader Braun admits that before the impossible dream is realized, the club must find the consistency that has often eluded them.

"Consistency has been a problem for us, we need to learn how to build from each win and take the positives from it and go into next week and get the three points there as well," said Braun. "We need to win every game especially those at home."