Winning streaks on the line in Calif.
Chivas USA host red-hot D.C. United at home
CHIVAS USA v D.C. UNITED
THE HOME DEPOT CENTER, Carson, Calif.
7 p.m. PT (ESPN2)
Sept. 6, 2007 (WEEK 23) / MLS Game #145
A real thrilling prospect is in store to kick off the final run-in to the MLS Cup Playoffs, as two of the hottest teams in the league face off when D.C. United travels to take on Chivas USA. D.C. United currently owns a six-game winning streak - longest in the league this year - and are tied for the best overall record in MLS. But Chivas USA has won three in a row, matching their club record, with all three wins coming by shutout, and they are unbeaten in home games this season. There is some added motivation: Chivas USA has not defeated or tied D.C. United in club history, United winning 2-1 at RFK Stadium earlier this year in their fifth meeting all-time.
REFEREE: Kevin Stott. SAR (bench): Chris Strickland; JAR (opposite): Emiliano Monje; 4th: Ramon Hernandez
MLS Career: 138 games; FC/gm: 26.8; Y/gm: 3.4; R: 36; pens: 31
Games involving Chivas USA: P9 W0 L8 T1; FC/gm: 26.8; Y/gm: 3.8; R: 2; pens: 4
Games involving United: P35 W21 L10 T4; FC/gm: 27.3; Y/gm: 3.7; R: 13; pens: 7
INJURY REPORT: CHIVAS USA - OUT: DF Carlos Llamosa (L knee ACL surgery); GK Justin Myers (L foot fracture); DOUBTFUL: DF Bobby Burling (abdominal strain) ... D.C. UNITED - OUT: FW Jamil Walker (Achilles rupture); MF Josh Gros (concussion); GK Shawn Crowe (meniscus tear)
SUSPENDED: CHV: Alex Zotinca (through Sept. 13)
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: CHV: Sacha Kljestan, Jesse Marsch, Orlando Perez ... DC: Christian Gomez
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: CHV: Maykel Galindo, Jason Hernandez ... DC: Bobby Boswell, Fred, Josh Gros, Jaime Moreno, Ben Olsen, Greg Vanney
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (5 meetings): United 5 wins, 11 goals ... Chivas USA 0 wins, 2 goals ... Ties 0
AT THE HOME DEPOT CENTER (2 meetings): Chivas USA 0 wins, 1 goal ... United 2 wins, 4 goals ... Ties 0
• This is the second of two meetings between the teams this season, the only one set for The Home Depot Center.
• In five all-time meetings, D.C. United have never lost to Chivas USA. In the first meeting this season, Chivas USA finally scored a goal at RFK Stadium. When Claudio Suarez goal scored in the second meeting a year ago, Sept. 3 at The Home Depot Center, it was Chivas USA's first ever against United and ended a 301-minute goalless streak.
• In Chivas USA's inaugural season, United won 2-0 in Carson in the club's first-ever game, then won 3-0 at RFK Stadium on Aug. 13.
• Coaches record: Preki v DC: P1 W0 L1 T0 ... Tom Soehn vs. CHV: P1 W1 L0 T0
2007 (MLS):
5/6: DC 2, CHV 1 (Gomez 48; Moreno 65 pen - Galindo 73)
• Chivas USA scored a goal in Washington, D.C. for the first time ever, but still saw D.C. United come away with two second-half goals for a 2-1 win at RFK Stadium.
• Both goalkeepers were called upon to make some fine saves in the first half, but United took the lead just three minutes after the break. Ben Olsen put in a cross from the right, Guy-Roland Kpene made a neat flick to pop the ball up behind him, and Christian Gomez lashed a volley into the corner to give D.C. the lead for the first time on the season.
• United doubled the margin in the 65th minute, when Lawson Vaughn dumped Kasali Yinka Casal in the area, and referee Kevin Stott ruled it a penalty. Jaime Moreno stepped up and hit a cheeky chip right down the center of the goal after Brad Guzan had dived, his second penalty conversion in four days.
• Chivas made for a tense 17 minutes when they scored the club's first-ever goal at RFK Stadium. Maykel Galindo took a pass on the right side of the area and skipped into the heart of the penalty area, driving an angled shot past Troy Perkins at the near post, but they couldn't find the equalizer and United won for the fifth time in five all-time meetings between the clubs.
• Here's Soehn's team (4-3-1-2): Troy Perkins - Bryan Namoff, Facundo Erpen, Bobby Boswell, Joshua Gros - Justin Moose (Kasali Yinka Casal 46), Brian Carroll, Ben Olsen - Christian Gomez (Stephen deRoux 78) - Guy-Roland Kpene (Luciano Emilio 66), Jaime Moreno. Substitutes Not Used: Nicholas Addlery, Rod Dyachenko, Jay Nolly, John Wilson
• Here's Preki's team (4-3-3): Brad Guzan - Alex Zotinca (Laurent Merlin 82), Claudio Suarez, Lawson Vaughn, Jonathan Bornstein - Jesse Marsch, Francisco Mendoza, Paulo Nagamura - Maykel Galindo, Ante Razov, John Cunliffe (Matt Taylor 60). Substitutes Not Used: Jorge Barrera, Preston Burpo, Jason Hernandez, Erasmo Solorzano
CHIVAS USA
Chivas USA return to action after having last weekend off, riding a three-game winning streak after a 1-0 defeat of Real Salt Lake on Aug. 26 at The Home Depot Center. Chivas are currently tied for second place in the Western Conference with 36 points from 20 matches, level with FC Dallas (but with two matches in hand), but would own the second automatic playoff spot in the division on goal difference.
LAST MATCH
• Chivas USA were playing their first "home" game since July 14, winners of three of four on their swing of road games, while Real Salt Lake had followed their second win of the season with a loss the weekend before, falling to the Chicago Fire at home.
• The game's lone goal came in the 31st minute. A corner kick was just knocked back out wide, and Ante Razov latched onto it on the right. He drove in a low ball toward the near post where Jesse Marsch got in front of his marker and touched the ball past Nick Rimando for his second goal on the year.
• With the victory, Chivas USA remains the only team unbeaten at home this season, with a 7-0-1 mark in games at the Home Depot Center where they've been the home team. The RSL game began a stretch of four consecutive home games for the Red-and-White.
• Chivas USA head coach Preki made four changes to the team that defeated the Los Angeles Galaxy 3-0 four nights previous in Carson. Jonathan Bornstein and Jason Hernandez returned to the back four, in place of Shavar Thomas and the suspended Alex Zotinca. Paulo Nagamura came back into the team for Lawson Vaughn, while Ramon Nuñez replaced Maykel Galindo up top.
• Here's Preki's team (4-4-2): Brad Guzan - Jonathan Bornstein, Jason Hernandez, Claudio Suarez, Orlando Perez - Sacha Kljestan, Jesse Marsch, Paulo Nagamura, Francisco Mendoza (John Cunliffe 71) - Ramon Nunez, Ante Razov (Maykel Galindo 79). Substitutes Not Used: Preston Burpo, Jorge Flores, Rodrigo Lopez, Laurent Merlin, Shavar Thomas
TEAM NEWS
• The three successive wins have all been by shutout, and Chivas has shutouts in four of their last five games. Chivas limited Salt Lake to just one shot on goal in the entire match, and it didn't come until the 84th minute of the match.
• "It hasn't been just four solid guys. It's been a combination of players. It's really good to know that we're getting shutouts and staying compact," said Jonathan Bornstein. "Something we've been working on is defending as a group of eight with the midfield and the defense. I think it's been going very well."
• Chivas rested a couple of players and mixed things up a bit on the back line. Regular starter Shavar Thomas was given a rest, and Alex Zotinca was serving a suspension after being sent off against the LA Galaxy. Jason Hernandez stepped into the middle to cover for Thomas and Bornstein moved from the left fullback position to the right side, and the Chivas defense didn't miss a beat.
• "My hat goes off to (the defense). They make my job a lot easier when I only have to face one or two shots a game," said Brad Guzan. "Whether it's Shavar, Claudio (Suarez), Johnny (Bornstein) or Lawson (Vaughn) back there or Orlando (Perez) stepping in or Jay (Hernandez) stepping in, whoever we slide back there gets the job done. I have all the confidence in the world in those guys."
• The three-game winning streak matches the longest in club history, set May 27-June 8, 2006 as well as earlier this season. The club has also posted shutouts in three successive games once before, also last year (Sept. 13-23) and in the three-game winning streak earlier this season (May 26-June 16). The current 271-minute shutout streak is still 73 minutes shy of last year's club record.
• "The defense has been playing great but every time I talk about defense I talk about us as a unit, a whole group," said Preki. "I think everybody has been playing pretty good, and playing hard."
• The winning stretch was also impressive coming as it did over a nine-day period, beginning with the last of three successive matches away from southern California.
• "I thought we had plenty of chances to close the game early but we'll take it the way it is. It's been a hard week for us -- three games, three difficult opponents and obviously nine points," Preki said.
• Now sitting firmly in a playoff position, the D.C. United game is the second of five consecutive matches at The Home Depot Center. Of Chivas USA's final 11 matches, eight are home games.
• "We know we haven't been getting much respect from out in the soccer world. We haven't been mentioned in the discussions between the first and second place teams," said Bornstein. "It's all been Houston and Dallas. We've been coming up the charts. Now we're catching up in points because we're making up those games we had tucked away."
D.C. UNITED
D.C. United went to FC Dallas and came away with an impressive 4-0 victory, extending their winning streak to six games -- longest in MLS this season -- and giving them 42 points on the season. That pulled them level with the idle New England Revolution atop the Eastern Conference and the overall standings in the race for the MLS Supporters' Shield, but United also have a game in hand.
LAST MATCH
• D.C. United hadn't lost since July 22, a 1-0 defeat by the New York Red Bulls, while FC Dallas was returning to action after seeing their six-game unbeaten run put to an end by Houston two weeks previous.
• When the teams first met this season, D.C. United held a three-goal lead after 50 minutes at home before the Hoops came storming back to claim a share of a 3-3 draw. There would be no such comeback this time.
• It took Ben Olsen just four minutes to put United into the lead. Clyde Simms stepped in front of a clearance and headed to Olsen some 25 yards from goal, and he ripped a drive that beat Dario Sala inside the right-hand post.
• Olsen doubled United's lead in stoppage time just before the break. A Marc Burch cross found Luciano Emilio at the far post, and Sala covered his ground well to stop his point-blank effort. But Olsen was there to punch home the rebound for his second multiple-goal game on the season.
• United put the game away with two goals in the opening five minutes of the second half. In the 47th minute, a cross was half-cleared, only to Christian Gomez just outside the top of the area, and he lashed home a quick shot for the 3-0 lead.
• Then three minutes later Gomez found Fred on the left side of the area. The Brazilian skipped across the top of the box before driving home a low shot past Sala inside his left-hand post, sealing FCD's worst-ever defeat in their Frisco home.
• "Sometimes when a team gets time off, it's hard to come back," Soehn said. "Dallas had a little time off and that took away from the crispness that they had. Sometimes it's a harder thing to overcome. We caught them on a day when they weren't that sharp."
TEAM NEWS
• It was the third consecutive game D.C. United has scored goals in the opening eight minutes of the match. Olsen scored the opener in the 3-1 win against New York after just six minutes of play, then Fred scored the only goal in the win away to Toronto FC in the eighth minute.
• "We have a habit lately of getting an early goal and it's a lot easier to play when you get one early," said Soehn. "We had a feeling they might be a little flat for having time off and made sure that in the first 15 minutes, we wanted to set the tempo of the game. I thought we did a good job of that."
• With the two goals, Olsen now has two multiple-goal games this season. He had a hat trick in a 4-2 win against the New York Red Bulls on July 10 at RFK Stadium.
• "Benny has added a lot of offense this year," Soehn said. "We put him back in the spot where he originally started and he understands how to play that role well. He catches a lot of defenders on the back side. The shots he takes and the chances he creates are from being a veteran."
• Olsen had scored the opener against New York on Aug. 22, but then sat out United's win against Toronto FC last weekend. He came off for Domenic Mediate in the 62nd minute. Like Olsen, Luciano Emilio did not play against TFC, also resting an injury. He started against FCD, but with the four-goal bulge, he wasn't given a chance to regain the MLS scoring lead on a night when New York's Juan Pablo Angel and Kansas City's Eddie Johnson each scored their 14th goals, tying the Brazilian.
• "He (Emilio) looked good," Soehn said. "Once we had the lead, it was important to save him for the next game. He had a bit of a muscle strain and we want to make sure we rest him. He trained all week and we were just being cautious."
• On their way to winning the Supporters' Shield a season ago, United had a season-high six-game winning streak, from June 21 to July 15. The club record is 11, set in 1999, which included three wins by shootout.
• "It feels really good to be playing like this," Burch said. "All over the field, people are finishing up front, people in the back are stopping goals and the midfield is keeping possession. Troy (Perkins) is keeping the ball out of the net and everything is going well right now."
• Said Soehn: "We're playing with a pretty good mentality right now whether we're home or away. We're moving the ball around and are pretty opportunistic. When we get our chances, we're dangerous and it's not just one guy. It's several guys."
