CARSON, Calif. - Chivas USA's big guns came through Sunday, but it was one of the young guys who helped preserve the victory.
Ante Razov, the third-leading goal scorer in Major League Soccer history, and two-time World Cup veteran Francisco Palencia scored on either side of halftime, but it was goalkeeper Brad Guzan's save of a Dwayne De Rosario's penalty kick in the 86th minute that lifted Chivas to a 2-1 win against Houston Dynamo at The Home Depot Center.
Chivas now takes a one-goal lead into the second leg of the Western Conference Semifinal Series. A win or a draw against Dynamo next Sunday evening at Robertson Stadium and Chivas will advance to the conference championship.
"It's good to go down there with a lead," Chivas coach Bob Bradley said. "We've worked hard to get to this point and we've got to keep it going into next week."
That Chivas are not in a must-win position entering the second leg is credit to Guzan. With Houston pushing forward in search of an equalizer, Ching and De Rosario nearly combined for it. Jason Hernandez fouled Ching inside the penalty area in the 85th minute. De Rosario then stepped up to take the spot kick.
After Houston was awarded the penalty kick, Guzan said he tried to concentrate on the play. He walked over to the right post, closed his eyes and stood quietly before taking his spot on the goal line.
"It's just a little routine I do," Guzan said. "It was just one of those things that you just go with your gut feeling because players are able to change it up all the time so you just go with it."
Guzan played the first six games of the season but was benched after leading the club to just one win over that span. He took over on Sept. 9 after several shaky outings by Preston Burpo.
"It felt good to know the adversity that I've been through this year and last year," Guzan said. "It was good to be able to contribute to a big win for us."
Guzan was one of several Chivas players who had not seen playoff action before. Jonathan Bornstein, who started on the left of midfield, as well as Francisco Mendoza and Lawson Vaughn, had never played in a match of this caliber before.
It was up to Palencia and Razov and the other experienced players to help guide the club.
"A lot of the guys on this team are new to the playoffs," midfielder Jesse Marsch said. "Obviously it was important for some of the guys who have been around a little bit and been a part of this to kind of help the mentality of this team going into the playoffs."
Both Marsch and Palencia came back from injury to help Chivas to the win. Marsch suffered a concussion a week ago and did not train until Saturday. He joked that drinking five cups of coffee a day helped him overcome his injury.
Palencia, meanwhile, sprained his knee on Sept. 13. He used crutches for about one week and appeared lost for the season. Nevertheless, he was walking pain-free and eventually returned to training sooner than expected. Just this week, he rejoined the team for a full training session for the first time since before the injury.
"It was exciting to come back into the team and with the guys and practiced the whole week," Palencia said. "I was looking forward to playing this game because I had that (dream) of playing in the playoffs. Today, I wanted to play hard and play for the team and use my experience to help all these guys."
Bradley gave credit to both players for prevailing over their respective injuries to rejoin the team in time for the playoffs.
"Paco deserves so much credit for the way he's worked to rehab his knee. He worked hard, held the ball. I thought he was really mobile," he said. "Jesse is still a guy in the center of the field that does a lot of little things that make us better. In the end, I don't think there was going to be a way to keep him off the field."
Palencia said he was ecstatic over the win.
"Houston was one of the hardest teams (we played) this year," Palencia said. "I think we are doing a really good job. We're like a family and we worked real hard and I'm very happy."
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
