Chivas USA 2 Columbus Crew 1

Chivas USA now sit atop the Western Conference – and MLS – tied with Seattle as the only 3-0 teams in the league, setting up a potentially pivotal early-season encounter with the Sounders April 18 at Home Depot Center.

The SuperClasico next Saturday is up next though, but Chivas USA will go into the game full of confidence while the Galaxy are reeling after their poor performance Saturday against Colorado.

While both the Crew and Chivas USA had several attacking opportunities, Chivas USA never looked overly troubled against the MLS champions, who played with 10 men after Andy Iro’s straight red in the 54th minute and slid to 0-2-2.

Chivas USA is steadily improving and demonstrated some nice possession play and tidy approach work this afternoon and look vastly superior to their intra-stadium rivals.

The Crew never looked like winning after Andy Iro was sent off in the 54th minute and Chivas USA fully deserved the result.

More later.