Oct 8, 2006, 3:40 GMT
Kansas City, MO - Kansas City took another step towards securing the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference as Jose Burciaga Jr. converted a penalty kick in the 74th minute to lift the Wizards to a 2-1 win over Chivas USA at Arrowhead Stadium.
Jason Hernandez brought down Josh Wolffe in the 73rd minute to concede the penalty kick. Burciaga drove the ball hard to the left of keeper Brad Guzan, who got a hand to it, but could not keep it out.
After a scoreless first half, the home side got on the board in the 50th minute on Dave van den Bergh's second goal of the season, which came on a nice feed from Burciaga.
Chivas pulled level as they earned a penalty kick of their own in the 71st. Nick Garcia tripped up Jonathan Bornstein as he tried to make a pass inside the box. Claudio Suarez made no mistake as he sent keeper Bo Oshoniyi the wrong way and tucked the ball inside the left post to temporarily even the match.
Wolffe nearly put the game away in the 78th as he took a cross from the right wing and volleyed it just high of the goal, but Chivas could not muster a scoring threat the rest of the way, handing the hosts the 2-1 win.
The Wizards have been in good form lately, and are now unbeaten in their last four matches (2-0-2). Their run of solid play comes at a good time, since they will be playing for their playoff lives next week when they travel to East Rutherford, NJ for the final game of the year against the Red Bulls. KC will enter the match needing only a draw to earn the final spot, as they have a two-point edge on New York, who drew 1-1 with Colorado Saturday night.
The news was not all bad for Chivas, however, as they clinched their first- ever trip to the post-season courtesy of Real Salt Lake's 1-1 draw with Houston. Chivas is now four points clear of RSL and leads fourth- place Colorado by two points heading into its final game of the season, a home fixture with Real.
© 2006 The Sports Network
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