Justin Braun and Paulo Nagamura scored in the first half and Zach Thornton made three saves for his fifth shutout of the season in Chivas USA's 2-0 victory over the New England Revolution on Friday night.
Chivas USA (7-12-4) won for the second time in three games, while the Revolution (7-13-3) have lost five of six, including the final of the SuperLiga tournament.
''It's a good win for us,'' Chivas USA coach Martin Vasquez said. ''We've been against the wall for most of the season. (The players) approached this game in the way we need to approach every game from now on. We just need to continue with this urgency.''
Braun opened the scoring in the sixth minute with his ninth goal. Alan Gordon passed from the right flank to Braun, who beat defender Darrius Barnes and converted a diagonal 10-yard shot inside the left post.
''It took the air out of us,'' Revolution forward Zack Schilawski said of the goal. ''They came out and pressured us. That's what we expected to do to them.
''If we had gotten into halftime (down) 1-0, I think we would have been able to have a little more energy to go after it.''
Gordon also set up Nagamura's first goal of the season in the 36th minute. With his back to the goal, Gordon took Michael LaHoud's pass and sent the ball to Nagamura, whose 19-yard shot deflected off diving goalkeeper Matt Reis' right hand.
Nagamura last scored May 28, 2009, against Chicago. He spent the first half of the season with Mexico's UNL Tigres before Chivas USA reacquired him June 25.
