The San Jose Earthquakes defeated the Seattle Sounders 3-2 in their MLS clash at CenturyLink Field, despite playing the majority of the second half with 10 men.
The Sounders took the lead in the first minute of the game as Tyrone Mears blasted the ball at David Bingham, who could only parry into Clint Dempsey's path, and the forward made no mistake from close range.
San Jose nearly hit back as Chris Wondolowski powered an effort from distance that smacked off the crossbar and almost crossed the line, but Chad Marshall was on hand to clear the ball away.
The Earthquakes did get their equaliser in the 14th minute when Wondlowski collected a cross from the right and calmly brought the ball under control before beating Stefan Frei with his strike.
Matias Perez Garcia could have handed the visitors the lead just before the break when he beat two defenders and raided forward inside the box, but he curled his effort past the post.
In the second half, Wondolowski notched his second goal of the game as he pounced on a loose ball inside the Seattle penalty area and lifted the ball over a helpless Frei.
However, San Jose were reduced to 10 men minutes later when Victor Bernardez was shown a straight red card for a poor challenge on Micheal Azira.
The Sounders immediately went on the attack and Dempsey was denied a second goal when he saw his header from Marco Pappa's cross saved by Bingham, who produced another fine stop to deny Leo Gonzalez's powerful strike from distance.
Despite their numerical disadvantage, the Earthquakes extended their lead when Innocent Emeghara broke down the left before cutting back onto his right foot to bend an effort past Frei into the bottom corner.
Seattle pushed for a response and got a goal back in the 84th minute when Andy Rose fired the ball across the face of goal, where it was tapped home by Obafemi Martins.
The Sounders came close to an equaliser when Pappa drilled an effort at goal from distance, but Bingham was there to beat the ball away. The keeper then made another fine stop to deny Cristian Roldan for a tight angle as San Jose clinched the three points.
Simon Sinclair
