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Second-half explosion fuels Chivas USA past D.C. United

May 18, 2008 - 6:21 AM CARSON, California (Ticker) -- Midfielders Jesse Marsch and Sacha Kljestan scored three minutes apart as Chivas USA scored three unanswered goals in its 3-1 triumph over D.C. United on Saturday.

Jorge Flores tallied in the 82nd minute to cap the three-goal second-half explosion for Chivas USA (2-4-2).

Midfielder Marcelo Gallardo scored the lone goal in the 30th minute for D.C. United (2-6-0), which has lost five of its last six contests.

With his team trailing by a goal in the 73rd minute, Marsch followed the play in which goalkeeper Zachary Wells made a diving stop on Atiba Harris. With both players sprawled on the grass, Marsch alertly tapped the ball into the vacant net to level the contest.

"I think we needed a break like that - the ball just sorta fell at my feet and that started everything," Marsch said. "I can't say enough about Atiba Harris tonight. He was there on all three goals. He was big tonight - we needed a effort like that to change our momentum."

Three minutes later, Kljestan accepted a brilliant feed from Harris and beat Wells from approximately 12 yards out to give Chivas USA a 2-1 advantage.

The 18-year-old Flores capped the scoring six minutes later by converting a centering feed from Harris and beating Wells from inside the penalty area.

"We just kept pushing them and pushing them and they broke down - and that's when I knew this would be a good night for us," Harris said.

"I felt from the first moment of the second half, we were more aggressive," Chivas coach Preki said. "We kept them in their half and I felt that at any moment we could score. I thought Harris did a great job for us on all three goals."

In the first half, Gallardo deftly sidestepped a defender at the top of the box before quickly unleashing a left-footed blast past diving goalkeeper Brad Guzan to the upper left corner of the net.

Chivas USA nearly tied it in the 35th minute as midfielder Daniel Paladini chipped a lead pass to Ante Razov, who promptly headed the ball past Wells and into the net. Razov, however, was ruled offside as D.C. United held on to its one-goal advantage.

For D.C. United coach Tom Soehn, the tale of two halves seem to be strikingly noticeable.

"It's very emotionally draining to go into the second half with the lead and walk away with this scoreline," Soehn said. "We worked really hard all week to make sure that we're hard to play against, and then after the first goal, we through caution to the wind and started taking chances and this is the result."