Conference leaders Chivas, Fire collide
West frontrunners Chivas play host to East standard-bearer Chicago
THE HOME DEPOT CENTER, Carson, Calif.
May 28, 2009 (WEEK 11) / MLS Game #77
7:45 p.m. PT (ESPN2/Deportes)
For one of the few times in MLS history, two conference leaders in sole possession of first place in their respective divisions will meet when the Chicago Fire travel to The Home Depot Center to take on Chivas USA in an ESPN2 Primetime matchup. The Fire are the league's last remaining undefeated team, their 10-game run to start the season two shy of the MLS record. Chivas USA have lost just once in their 11 games this year; it's also a meeting of the league's top attack in Chicago (17 goals scored) and the top defense in Chivas (six goals conceded).
REFEREE: Terry Vaughn. SAR (bench): Fabio Tovar; JAR (opposite): Emiliano Monje; 4th: Baldomero Toledo
MLS Career: 108 games; FC/gm: 29.1; Y/gm: 3.8; R: 34; pens: 31
INJURY REPORT: CHIVAS USA -- OUT: DF Bobby Burling (sports hernia surgery); DF Ante Jazic (concussion); GK Dan Kennedy (R knee sprain); FW Ante Razov (R ankle surgery); DF Lawson Vaughn (L ankle surgery); QUESTIONABLE: FW Justin Braun (concussion); MF Sacha Kljestan (L ankle sprain); DF Claudio Suárez (L calf strain) ... CHICAGO FIRE - OUT: DF Daniel Woolard (R ankle sprain)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: none
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: CHI: Bakary Soumare ... CHV: Atiba Harris, Eduardo Lillingston; Jesse Marsch, Mariano Trujillo
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (8 meetings): Chivas USA 4 wins, 9 goals ... Fire 3 wins, 9 goals ... Ties 1AT CHIVAS USA (4 meetings): Chivas USA 2 wins, 4 goals ... Fire 1 win, 2 goals ... Ties 1
RETURN MATCH: 10/22: Chivas USA at Chicago Fire, 7 p.m. CT
LAST YEAR (MLS):
6/19: CHV 2, CHI 0 (Kljestan 26; Braun 32)
8/2: CHI 1, CHV 0 (Nyarko 16)
• The teams split their season series last year, each winning on the other's home ground, the Fire victory at Toyota Park ending a five-game winless streak against Chivas USA.
• After winning the two meetings in Chivas USA's inaugural season, the Fire lost four of the next five meetings from 2006-08.
• Goals have been hard to come by over the last seven meetings between the teams. Chivas USA have scored just seven over that time, while the Fire have scored four. Four of the seven games have ended in 1-0 scorelines, each winning team winning two.
• Coaches record: Denis Hamlett vs. CHV: P2 W1 L1 D0 ... Preki v CHI: P4 W2 L2 D0
CHIVAS USA
Chivas USA played to a draw for the second consecutive week, as their undefeated streak reached five games, leveling 1-1 with the Kansas City Wizards on Saturday night at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. Chivas is still the MLS overall leader and tops in the Western Conference with 24 points from 11 matches, still eight points ahead of Seattle Sounders FC.LAST MATCH
• Chivas USA had a three-game winning streak come to an end the week before when D.C. United scored twice late for a 2-2 draw, while the Wizards put an end to a three-game winless run with a 2-0 win at Real Salt Lake.
• After a tight, cagey first half, the game burst into life after the break. The Wizards took the lead in the 56th minute when Claudio Lopez swung in a masterful free kick from the right side, inside the near post from some 25 yards, for his fourth goal on the season and second directly from a free kick in three weeks.
• Chivas pulled level eight minutes later. A freekick wasn't completely cleared and Sasha Victorine stabbed it forward to Eduardo Lillingston on the edge of the 6-yard box, who turned and knocked it home. For Victorine, it was the second goal he's been involved in in as many games against his former club, while Lillingston scored for the second time in as many weeks and the third time on the campaign.
• Four minutes later, Wizards forward Josh Wolff was sent off after a skirmish with Chivas USA defender Mariano Trujillo following a foul outside the Chivas area. The home side were left two players down for the final seven minutes when midfielder Santiago Hirsig was sent off for a second bookable offense, but Chivas could not capitalize.
• Chivas USA head coach Preki made two changes to the team that played to a 2-2 draw with D.C. United at home the weekend before. Sacha Kljestan returned from suspension and Chukwudi Chijindu returned to the starting lineup with Justin Braun and Eduardo Lillingston going to the substitutes' bench.
• Here's Preki's team (4-4-2): Zach Thornton - Mariano Trujillo, Carey Talley, Shavar Thomas (Bojan Stepanovic 84), Jonathan Bornstein - Sacha Kljestan (Sasha Victorine 46), Jesse Marsch, Paulo Nagamura, Atiba Harris - Maykel Galindo, Chukwudi Chijindu (Eduardo Lillingston 58). Substitutes Not Used: Justin Braun, Jim Curtin, Gerson Mayen, Lance Parker
• "We played a really good first half. We were all over them and felt it was only a matter of time we were going to score a goal," said Chivas USA head coach Preki. "But I'll give [Wizards goalkeeper] Kevin Hartman a lot of credit. In the key moments, we weren't as clinical in the final third."
TEAM NEWS
• The Lopez goal was just the third time all season Chivas USA have trailed. But the Lillingston goal just eight minutes leveled the score, meaning the Red-and-White have been behind for a total of just 87 minutes all season.
• "We find ourselves down on a simple play," said Preki. "Claudio Lopez has the quality that he can hurt you in those moments, and he certainly did. We could have easily thrown the towel [in]."
• With the expulsions of Wolff and Hirsig, Chivas USA have now seen their opponents have six players sent off this season, most in the league.
• "We were two men up, and we didn't move the ball as well as we could have. We should have done a better job when we were playing 10 against eight. Kansas City stayed organized and disciplined and played well tonight, and they made it difficult for us," Preki said. "We might have changed the rhythm."
• Sacha Kljestan was forced off at halftime with an injured ankle, replaced by Victorine - who once again popped up against his former club with the assist on the equalizer. Victorine scored the game-winning goal against the Wizards after his trade to Chivas USA from Kansas City last year; it came after he scored for Kansas City in the first meeting between the clubs earlier in the year.
• "It's OK. I just rolled it a little," said Kljestan. "[It's] a recurring problem I've had this season, but I'll be OK. I got a little kick from behind and just tweaked it."
• This is the third time that Cuauhtémoc Blanco has visited Chivas USA as a member of the Chicago Fire. Blanco spent the majority of his career in Mexico with Club América - Chivas de Guadalajara's arch-rival. In his first appearance, in 2007, Blanco scored the Fire's lone goal in a 1-1 draw; a year ago, Chivas USA claimed a 2-0 win in his second visit.
• "It's definitely a special occasion," said fullback Mariano Trujillo, in his first year with Chivas USA. "It's a great chance for everyone ... to see some great Mexican players on both teams." Added Eduardo Lillingston, also in his first season: "It's an enticing game. These are two of the best teams in the league, each with some big-name players. [It's] going to be a great match."
CHICAGO FIRE
The Chicago Fire extended their season-opening undefeated streak to 10 games with a 1-0 victory against the New York Red Bulls on Sunday afternoon at Giants Stadium. The Fire now have 18 points from 10 matches and took over sole possession of the top spot in the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of D.C. United and Toronto FC and six behind MLS overall leader Chivas USA.LAST MATCH
• The Fire had put an end to a single-season record of five consecutive draws with a victory against Toronto the week before, while the Red Bulls extended their unbeaten streak to a modest two games with a tie against San Jose after going a man down.
• The game's lone goal came just before the stroke of halftime. A long Jon Busch clearance was met in a heading duel by Brian McBride, and the Fire's Logan Pause stepped forward to head the deflection goalward. Chris Rolfe snuck in behind the Red Bulls backline, chested down the ball and hooked a shot inside the left post for his third goal on the season and second in as many games.
• The win extended Juan Carlos Osorio's winless streak against his former club, with the Fire now having defeated New York in all five meetings since he moved from Chicago to the Red Bulls.
• Fire head coach Denis Hamlett made two changes to the team that defeated Toronto FC 2-0 on the road the weekend before. Gonzalo Segares returned from injury and replaced Brandon Prideaux at left back, while Chris Rolfe came back in for Patrick Nyarko up top.
• Here's Hamlett's team (4-3-1-2): Jon Busch - Tim Ward, Wilman Conde, Bakary Soumare, Gonzalo Segares - Marco Pappa (Mike Banner 79), Logan Pause, John Thorrington - Cuauhtemoc Blanco - Chris Rolfe (Patrick Nyarko 86), Brian McBride. Substitutes Not Used: C.J. Brown, Andrew Dykstra, Baggio Husidic, Justin Mapp, Austin Washington
• "I'm excited we got three points on the road. Our guys got a goal and it was nice we could win a 1-0 game. We had some big saves by our goalkeeper. All throughout the back group all the way up to the front guys, they did the extra stuff to make sure we got out of here with the three points," Hamlett said.
TEAM NEWS
• After coming off the bench for the first seven matches of the season, Chris Rolfe has started two of the last three, returning to the lineup against New York after another substitute performance in Toronto. Rolfe has celebrated with goals each of the last two weeks.
• "He has been in great form. The last three-and-a-half to four weeks, he's been pretty good. He's been a good pro and dealt with situations that are not easy," said Hamlett. "He's come in and helped us as a reserve and I felt the time was right and he stepped on the field and when he gets it on the goal, he's probably one of the better finishers in our league. He has great composure and a quick release and he was able to do that."
• Jon Busch made a season-high 10 saves in preserving the shutout in New York, his third on the campaign. The 10 saves were a single-game high in the league this season.
• "It's my time to step up. Each week, someone has to step up and today, I guess it was my day. My job is to make saves and catch crosses and I did my job. I don't think it was spectacular, it's my job. That's what I get paid to do, so I did it," Busch said.
• The Fire had seen their opponents come back from deficits to snatch a result on three occasions during the season, so for Hamlett it was vital to see out the victory against the Red Bulls.
• "At halftime I thought our guys had a good mentality that we could win the game 1-0," he said. "It's important that you win these types of games. I think it goes back to having a group of guys that have been together for a while and there's a sense of trust and understanding and belief that you can get things done."
• The Fire's 10-game undefeated streak is two games shy of the league record of 12, set by the Los Angeles Galaxy in 1996 (12-0 during the shootout era, with two draws at the end of 90 minutes) and the Kansas City Wizards in 2000 (10-0-2).
• "We don't talk about being undefeated," said Hamlett. "We just talk about just going out and doing things and improving from our last game to become better." Added Rolfe: "Nobody's brought (the streak) up, and I think that's the best way to do it."
