Chivas missing spark up top
Red-and-White blame slump on lack of scoring opportunites
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Chivas slipped to a distressing 1-4-2 record in their last seven league matches with the result. The Red-and-White have scored just five goals in their last seven contests, compared to double that many in the seven matches before that.
"It was a pretty tight game," said Chivas USA head coach Preki. "I thought we defended pretty well, but we weren't able to create enough good opportunities to score a goal. That's the worrying fact for us. It's not that we give up a lot of goals, it's that at the moment we don't score enough."
Edson Buddle put the Galaxy ahead in the 30th minute when he headed an A.J. DeLaGarza cross past Zach Thornton and into the lower right corner of the net. Chivas USA pushed back hard, attacking with numbers and passing well through the midfield, but failed to find an equalizer.
"I think we need to be more opportunistic," said Chukwudi Chijindu. "We do a good job of building, but we're lacking creativity in the final third of the field. We need to take more chances and be a little more unpredictable."
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Chivas USA were lifted by the return of Sacha Kljestan and Jonathan Bornstein, both of whom were playing in their first match back after playing with the U.S. national team at the FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa. Kljestan had a tough go of it, struggling all night to find space in the midfield. He was replaced by Chijindu in the 68th minute.
Bornstein played a solid 90 minutes in defense, first in the middle with Carey Talley and then at his normal left back position when Bobby Burling was brought on.
"Bornstein did a pretty good job for us," said Preki. "He was active, he defended well in the middle, and he gave us some energy when we pushed him wide."
Bornstein was largely responsible for dealing with former Chivas USA teammate Alecko Eskandarian, who was traded to Los Angeles just a week before Saturday's game.
"It was how I expected it to be," said Bornstein of defending Eskandarian. "He always buzzes around the field and tries to get as many through-balls as possible. I tried to just cut him out of the play as much as I could."
Bornstein was aided in the defensive effort by Bobby Burling, who replaced Ante Jazic in the 59th minute to get his first minutes of the season. The tall center back had been on the DL since undergoing sports hernia surgery on March 5 of this year, but was removed from the list on Friday in time to be eligible for Saturday's game.
"It felt good to get out there and run around a little," said Burling. "I was just trying to bring some energy to the field. It's kind of tough to make an impact from the defense when we're down 1-0, but I tried to do whatever I could to help the team."
Burling joined Chivas USA in April 2007, and was a major part of the team's success in the 2008 season. The Colorado native started 18 games and helped the Red-and-White to second place in the Western Conference.
"I thought Burling was good tonight," said Preki. "He gave us aerial presence over Edson Buddle. We had difficulty dealing with Buddle, but I thought we did a better job once Bobby came in."
Chivas USA maintains the second-best defense in the league, allowing just 13 goals in 16 games, but must find a way to generate better offense if they are going to get back on track. It's a challenge they're happy to accept.
"We're still in a good spot," said Preki. "We knew we'd be in a slump some time. It's only the middle of the season. If we finish the season the way we started it, we'll be fine. We just need to regroup and continue to believe in ourselves."
Chivas USA's next chance to break out of their slump is July 19, when the team travels to Massachusetts to battle the New England Revolution.
"The only way we get through this is by sticking together," said Chijindu. "We just need to work hard and try to fix the problem. Sooner or later, the ball is going to start bouncing our way again."
Jeffrey King is a contributor to MLSnet.com
