HERCULEZ'S GOALS CARRY GALAXY WIN GALAXY 2, CHIVAS USA 0.

Byline: Fred J. Robledo Staff Writer

CARSON - The Galaxy's Herculez Gomez was showing off his bloody nose as he celebrated the Galaxy's 2-0 victory Saturday night over Chivas USA, its third triumph in the ``Super Classico'' series between Home Depot Center residents.

``The bloody nose came from (teammate) Alan Gordon,'' said Gomez, who checked in for Peter Vagenas in the 61st minute and scored both goals as the Galaxy (8-6-4, 28 points) snapped a six-game winless streak and pulled even on points with San Jose in the Western Conference. ``Alan's so tall, he crushed me when he hugged me. But it's all good. It felt great to get out there and make a difference.''

Gomez scored in the 64th minute and three minutes into stoppage time in front of a sellout crowd of 27,000 as the Galaxy improved to 8-0-3 this season at Home Depot Center.

Gomez, who has three goals and an assist in his past three games, might have earned himself minutes in Monday's mammoth exhibition against Real Madrid - especially with striker Landon Donovan away on U.S. national Team duty at the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

``Right now I'm just trying to enjoy this moment,'' said Gomez. ``I'll think about Real Madrid when I wake up (this morning).

``I didn't know if I would get the opportunity to get in, so I just tried to stay mentally focused if I got in, and I was in the right spots at the right time.''

It was the Galaxy's third victory over last-place Chivas USA (2-14-3, 9 points) - and by far its most difficult. Coach Steve Sampson made important substitutions at halftime, bringing on Cobi Jones and Chris Albright, who changed the momentum of the game.

``They made (Jones and Albright) a huge difference, and, obviously, Herculez made a big difference,'' Sampson said. ``A lot of credit needs to go to Herculez for his eye for the goal and energy he brought to the field.

``It was a big victory for us. We haven't won in a while (since a 1-0 triumph June 11 over Real Salt Lake). It was very important for us, and now we have a big match on Monday that we can prepare for.''

It was another painful setback for Chivas, which ended an 11-game winless streak in last week's 5-1 win over RSL. Sampson and counterpart Hans Westerhof noted Chivas' improvement.

Chivas nearly took a 1-0 lead in the 52nd minute - but Isaac Romo's goal was not allowed after Ezra Hendrickson was ruled offside on the play.

``(Chivas is) playing with a lot more energy, and their rhythm and movement off the ball is much better,'' Sampson said. ``They're a team that is growing with confidence, and is significantly better.''

Westerhof thought his team outplayed the Galaxy most of the match.

``We played well, and I know we don't have the best players in the world, but I thought we played better than the Galaxy,'' he said. ``We played on their part of the field. We had a lot of possibilities to score, but they didn't come and they scored their chances. I was happy how we took the risks, but you have to score goals to win games.''

Fred Robledo, [phone]

fred.robledo(at)sgvn.com

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Photo:

Galaxy rookie Troy Roberts, left, and Chivas USA's Antonio Martinez track the ball.

Edna T. Simpson/Daily News