SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Chivas USA are winless no more.
Mariano Trujillo scored in the 85th minute to give the Goats their first victory of 2011, a 2-1 decision against a shocked San Jose Earthquakes side.
Trujillo slammed home an open rebound from three yards after Jon Busch made a reaching save with his right hand on the initial shot from Justin Braun, who beat two Quakes defenders down the right wing to put the play in motion.
Both Trujillo and Braun were second-half substitutions from coach Robin Fraser, who was rewarded with his first victory at the Goats’ helm.
Chivas (1-2-3) ended a victory drought that stretched back eight matches — including the final three games of 2010 — and are now unbeaten in their last four. The result also marked the first time this season an MLS team has rallied for a win after falling a goal behind.
Alejandro Moreno’s first-half injury-time goal sent the teams into halftime knotted at 1-1. Chris Wondolowski had given the Quakes their first home lead of the year by scoring in the 16th minute.
Despite the early edge, the Quakes did not respond with the kind of effort coach Frank Yallop had wanted after a 3-0 drubbing in New York last week. San Jose (1-3-2), who struggled to maximize their points at Buck Shaw Stadium last season, are now winless there (0-2-2) in four matches this year and also winless in their last four overall.
Chivas keeper Dan Kennedy came into the match tied for the league lead with a 0.33 GAA and riding a two-match shutout streak, but he couldn’t keep Wondolowski off the board.
The 2010 Golden Boot winner gave the Quakes the lead when he gently plopped a short header over Kennedy’s head from an acute angle near the end line.
The play was set up by Ramiro Corrales, who corralled a free corner kick on the right side and delivered a looping cross to Khari Stephenson near the penalty spot. Stephenson’s header found a wide-open Wondolowski, who had slipped away from Chivas’ defense during all the post-corner excitement.
Quakes keeper Jon Busch did his best to make the advantage stand at halftime, coming up with spectacular reaction saves to fend off headers from Nick LaBrocca in the 29th minute and Moreno in the 38th.
Busch was left watching, however, as Heath Pearce delivered a seemingly innocuous 35-yard free kick during first-half injury time. Moreno rose from a crowd at 11 yards and appeared to get just enough of a header to tuck the ball neatly inside the far post.
San Jose called fruitlessly for a penalty in the 52nd minute when Scott Sealy, starting for the first time this year, appeared to get taken down by Zarek Valentin.
Busch again came up big six minutes later when he used his left leg to knock away an open shot from 14 yards by Marcos Mondaini, who had been set free by a searching ball from LaBrocca.
Steven Lenhart, the Quakes’ biggest offseason acquisition, made his San Jose debut in the 80th minute. He had missed San Jose’s first five matches due to arthroscopic knee surgery and the death of his father, Gary.
Chivas USA 2 @ San Jose Earthquakes 1
Buck Shaw Stadium
Attendance: 10,525
Scoring Summary:
SJ -- Chris Wondolowski 3 (Khari Stephenson 1, Ramiro Corrales 1) 16
CHV -- Alejandro Moreno 2 (Heath Pearce 1) 46+
CHV -- Mariano Trujillo 1 (unassisted) 85
Chivas USA -- Dan Kennedy, Zarek Valentin, Andrew Boyens, Heath Pearce, Ante Jazic, Ben Zemanski (Mariano Trujillo 61), Simon Elliott, Nick LaBrocca, Jorge Flores (Michael Umana 88), Marcos Mondaini (Justin Braun 60), Alejandro Moreno.
Substitutes Not Used: Victor Estupinan, Gerson Mayen, Francisco Mendoza, Zach Thornton.
San Jose Earthquakes -- Jon Busch, Chris Leitch, Jason Hernandez, Brandon McDonald, Ramiro Corrales, Khari Stephenson (Anthony Ampaipitakwong 55), Sam Cronin, Simon Dawkins (Steven Lenhart 80), Chris Wondolowski, Bobby Convey, Scott Sealy (Ryan Johnson 64).
Substitutes Not Used: Bobby Burling, Ike Opara, Brad Ring, Andrew Weber.
Misconduct Summary:
SJ -- Sam Cronin (caution; Reckless Tackle) 20
Referee: Jair Marrufo
Referee's Assistants: -C.J. Morgante; Corey Rockwell
4th Official: Fotis Bazakos
Time of Game: 1:51
