Carson, CA (Sports Network) - The Los Angeles Galaxy jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Colorado, then withstood a late push to top the Rapids 3-2 in Major League Soccer action at The Home Depot Center on Saturday night.

Alvaro Pires and Ely Allen scored their first MLS goals for L.A. and veteran Edson Buddle added his fifth of the season to pace the attack.

Pires got the game's first goal after a David Beckham free kick into the Rapids' penalty area deflected off a couple players. Pires then blasted it home to give the Galaxy a quick 1-0 lead just four minutes in.

Just after the half-hour mark the Galaxy went up 2-0 when defender Abel Xavier played a long ball to Buddle, who ran under the ball on the right side of the Rapids' area. He took a touch and fired a sharp angle shot into the far post side netting.

L.A.'s Alan Gordan and Colorado's Facundo Erpen received red cards just before the break, meaning the team's played 10-v-10 the entire second half.

Allen took advantage of the extra space on the pitch in the 50th minute when he collected a pass from Peter Vagenas and broke in on Rapids' goalkeeper Preston Burpo alone before slotting a shot into the net to make it 3-0.

The Galaxy relaxed the rest of the way, giving Colorado a chance to crawl back into the game when Colin Clark and Herculez Gomez made it 3-2 with eight minutes to play, but it was too little too late as the Galaxy moved to first in the Western Conference table, two points up on the second-place Rapids after 11 fixtures.

The Galaxy (5-4-2) will aim to extend their lead when they travel to take on the San Jose Earthquakes next Saturday while Colorado (5-6) travels to Toronto FC the same day for its next league fixture.