LA Galaxy withstood a second-half barrage to win El Trafico, claiming a dramatic 2-1 win over LAFC on Saturday at Dignity Health Sports Park.
Two goals in the opening half hour seemingly had the Galaxy on their way to a comfortable win, but the outcome arguably belied the overall performance, with LAFC on the wrong end of three disallowed goals.
Carlos Vela was ruled offside twice along with Latif Blessing, whose late equaliser was chalked off in the eighth minute of injury time, after Cristian Arango pulled one back in the 79th minute.
Samuel Grandsir assisted twice for the Galaxy, with his first a pinpoint cross at the back post for Javier Hernandez, who cunningly drifted off Mamadou Fall's shoulder in 13th minute.
A second from Sega Coulibaly ultimately proved sufficient, as the Galaxy moved to four wins and one defeat in games where they scored the opening goal in the MLS this season.
The win puts them a point off LAFC in the Western Conference and tied for second with Real Salt Lake, who failed to move to top spot with a 2-2 draw to Toronto.
Philadelphia Union remained top of the Eastern Conference, meanwhile, after their 1-0 win over Columbus Crew.
Union took the lead in only the second minute and in calamitous circumstances, with Crew keeper Eloy Room mishandling a cross into the box, before the ball trickled into his own net.
Jim Curtin's side was content to absorb pressure as the Crew spent the rest of the match trying to break them down, and failed to create anything of substance.
Orlando City moved to second in the East with a 1-0 win over a ten-man Chicago Fire, leapfrogging New York Red Bulls, who lost 2-1 at home to Montreal.
In the other early game on the East Coast, a Leonardo Campana hat-trick gave Inter Miami their first win of the season, in a 3-2 victory over New England Revolution.
In the later games on Saturday, Nashville defeated Sporting KC 2-1, while Houston Dynamo fought from a 2-1 deficit to defeat San Jose Earthquakes 4-3.
Goals from Brandon Servania and Jesus Ferreira on either side of the interval handed Dallas an eventual 3-1 win over Colorado Rapids.