Ante Razov and Francisco Palencia scored goals and Brad Guzan came up with a save on a late penalty kick to help Chivas USA beat Houston 2-1 in a Western Conference semifinal match on Sunday.

Razov scored in the 45th minute while Palencia doubled Chivas lead in the 68th minute. Houston's Brian Ching scored in the 75th minute. Guzan, though, kept Houston from drawing level after stopping Toronto-native Dwayne De Rosario's penalty kick in the 86th minute.

Chivas will take a one-goal lead into the decisive match, scheduled for Oct. 29 at Houston's Robertson Stadium.

Razov scored Chivas first-ever playoff goal in the 45th minute on a free kick. Houston's Adrian Serioux, who also hails from Toronto, fouled Francisco Palencia just outside of the penalty area and Chivas was awarded a free kick.

Juan Pablo Garcia and Razov stood over the ball. Garcia ran toward the ball, but left it for Razov who curled the ball inside the right post. It was the 11th career playoff goal in his 38th career post-season game. The goal moved him into fifth place on the all-time playoff goal-scoring chart.

Razov won an MLS Cup title with Chicago in 1998 and moved on to Columbus and the MetroStars before joining Chivas USA in the pre-season. Razov led Chivas in goals this year with 14.

Palencia scored his first MLS playoff goal in the 68th minute when he knocked in a free kick from Sacha Kljestan.

Ching, though, sliced into Chivas lead in the 75th minute when he scored on a close-range shot after splitting a pair of Chivas defenders.

Houston was on the verge of tying the game in the 86th minute when it was awarded a penalty kick that was taken by De Rosario, who is an MVP finalist for the second year in a row. Hernandez was whistled for a foul on Ching inside the area. De Rosario took the shot but Guzan guessed correctly and dived to his left and stopped the ball from going in.