Ante Razov and Shalrie Joseph exchanged second-half goals as Chivas USA and the New England Revolution tied 1-1 in the final SuperLiga Group B match for both at Titan Stadium on Sunday.
The result puts New England through as group winners while Chivas USA needs a Pachuca loss, in the night's second Group B encounter at Pizza Hut Park, to advance as well.
Chivas USA had to make do without Paulo Nagamura as well as head coach Preki. Nagamura was suspended on yellow-card accumulation while Preki is in Serbia tending to a family emergency.
New England's Steve Ralston picked up a yellow card in the 17th minute for a foul on Jesse Marsch.
Kheli Dube had a breakaway in the 19th minute after Shalrie Joseph sent the ball over the Chivas defense but Dube had problems controlling the ball in the penalty area and the ball rolled across the end line.
Ante Razov was the first to test Revolution 'keeper Matt Reis. In the 31st minute, Sacha Kljestan ripped a long-range shot that deflected off a Revs defender. The ball fell to Razov who had an off-balance shot attempt but sent it straight to Reis.
Marsch ripped a 20-yard shot on goal in the 42nd minute but Reis did well to dive and parry the ball away.
Immediately after the break, New England's Sainey Nyassi fired a shot on goal from inside the penalty area but Chivas USA's Dan Kennedy was in perfect position to make the save.
Kljestan sent Razov through into the penalty area in the 51st minute but Razov could not get a clean shot off on goal. His first attempt went straight to Reis, who made the save but left the rebound right to Razov. However, the forward could not control the ball and sent it over the end line.
Minutes later, Razov had another chance from Kljestan but Razov ripped a volley wide of goal.
Razov, though, finally broke through for Chivas USA. Daniel Paladini sent a through ball to Razov, who broke free past the defense. Razov fired a shot on goal from 15 yards out but Reis made the save. However, Reis could only slow the ball down as Razov controlled the rebound and knocked the ball into an empty net.
Razov has now scored a goal in six consecutive games. He scored in three consecutive league matches and has now scored in every SuperLiga game for Chivas USA.
With less than a quarter hour remaining, though, the Revolution got the equalizer. Ralston sent a corner kick to the front of the goal and Joseph rose for the header. He placed it under Kennedy but Paladini could not clear the ball off the goal line.
Chivas USA made several late changes as Shavar Thomas, Lawson Vaughn and Jorge Flores finished the match on the game in favor of Bobby Burling, Atiba Harris and Paladini.
The match was played at Titan Stadium on the campus of California State University, Fullerton. Chivas USA played a friendly there in March, beating Real Espana 4-1. New England is also no stranger to the site as well as the Revs played the 2001 U.S. Open Cup final against the Los Angeles Galaxy there, a match that finished 2-1 in favor of the Galaxy.
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
