San Jose Earthquakes secured a vital home win over Seattle Sounders as Chris Wondolowski scored the only goal of the game.
In a quiet first half, Wondolowski came close to breaking the deadlock as he latched onto Shea Salinas's free kick but his header went just wide of the target with Michael Gspurning beaten.
The striker made no mistake minutes later when he picked up the ball on the edge of the penalty area and hit it on the half-volley into the bottom corner of the net.
After the break, the Earthquakes were denied a second by an excellent save from Gspurning, who tipped Wondolowski's shot that deflected off Salinas over the bar.
Salinas almost got the hosts their second goal but he was the latest San Jose player to be denied by Gspurning, who made a good reaction save to tip the ball past the post.
Seattle were nearly level out of nothing when Mauro Rosales hit the ball from distance and Jon Busch was forced into making a good stop but he could only parry the effort as far as David Estrada; however. the keeper was up swiftly to make another save.
This was enough to secure the points for the home side as they held out for the win.
Simon Sinclair
