Goals from Chris Wondolowski and Shea Salinas secured a 2-0 victory for the San Jose Earthquakes over 10-man Columbus Crew in the MLS.
The home side started the match strongly and could have taken the lead when Marvell Wynne cut inside on his left foot, but his strike went just wide of the post.
The Crew hit back with an opening of their own as Ethan Finlay fired a strike towards the bottom corner, but David Bingham was on hand to make the save.
Columbus were reduced to 10 men when Mohammed Saeid was shown his second yellow card for a poor challenge on Salinas.
The Earthquakes nearly went ahead when Matias Perez Garcia raided forward to the edge of the box, but he could only shoot straight at Steve Clark.
In the second half, San Jose took the lead when Wondolowski found space in the box and buried his strike past Clark.
The home side doubled their advantage as Salinas collected the ball on the edge of the box and drove his strike into the top corner.
Three points for the Earthquakes are enough for them to move above the Houston Dynamo back into fourth place in the Western Conference.
Simon Sinclair
