Kansas City, Mo. ? Gavin Clinton, a second-half sub for Cobi Jones, scored on a header deep in the penalty area and led the Los Angeles Galaxy to a 1-0 victory over the Kansas City Wizards on Thursday night.

In the 80th minute, Clinton took a long pass up from teammate Mike Randolph and redirected the ball with his head from five yards into the right corner of the net and past a fallen Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman for his third goal of the season.

The victory was the first for the Galaxy on the road since Aug. 6, 2006, improved their record to 6-13-6 with 24 points and kept alive their chances at making the MLS playoffs.

The Wizards, meanwhile, fell for the fourth time in six games, slipped to 10-11-6 and, with 36 points remained in precarious position for the playoffs.

The Wizards spent much of the first half knocking the ball around the Los Angeles penalty area, but had just one shot on goal.

Los Angeles’ David Beckham was in Britain attending to his father, who suffered a heart attack Wednesday, and did not attend the game.