The Seattle Sounders broke their two-match losing streak with a 1-0 victory over the New York Red Bulls at Lumen Field.
Jordan Morris scored what turned out to be the eventual match-winning goal, beating Carlos Coronel in the top left corner to arrest an eight-match scoreless run.
The Sounders played the final quarter of an hour with ten men as Joao Paulo picked up his second yellow card of the contest and was sent off.
New York lost for the first time in four matches under interim manager Troy Lesesne ahead of a two-match swing against the two Florida clubs.a
Story of the match
Seattle had the first chance of the match after five minutes as a cross by Nicolas Lodeiro found the head of Morris, but he shot over the crossbar.
Stefan Frei wasn't too busy in the first half, but he did stop Cameron Harper after the midfielder's shot took a deflection.
On 23 minutes, the combination of Leo Chu and Morris produced the only goal of the match as Albert Rusnak got control of the ball, passed for Chu in the corner and Morris one-timed his cross past Coronel.
Six minutes later, the Sounders looked to double their advantage as a searing run through the midfield by Joao Paulo released Dylan Teves but no one could get on the end of his ball in the box.
The hosts kept the pressure up and six minutes before halftime, they threatened again. A corner-kick wasn't dealt with by the New york defense, but after a second corner the danger was averted.
A minute into the second half, Alex Roldan cut the ball back for Lodeiro, but his strike from 12 yards away flew into the Brougham End.
Rusnak then played a dangerous ball that the Red Bulls defense tried to catch up to, but after the ball was placed on his feet, Heber shot across the face of goal.
Frei was then tested when he had to drop to his knees and save near the left post on a header by Elias Manoel from the top of the six-yard box.
On 62 minutes, a lovely ball put Chu through and Heber let the Brazilian's cross go through to Teves, but it could only curl behind the winger's run.
Manoel got behind the Seattle defense following a lovely through ball by Cristian Casseres Jr. and his shot from 15 yards out was stopped magnificently by Frei, who stuck his left arm out to deny him.
With quarter of an hour to go, the Sounders were forced to play shorthanded as Paulo was sent off for picking up his second yellow of the match.
Man of the match: Stefan Frei
He was called on often to make saves ranging from simple to spectacular and answered every challenge the Red Bulls threw at him to post his league-leading eighth shutout of the season.