Even though there's still a Western Conference regular season title -- and possibly even a Supporters' Shield -- to win, Chivas USA demonstrated the depth of their talented roster in a 3-2 win against Real Salt Lake.
Ante Razov and Maykel Galindo have 23 goals between them. But Chivas USA head coach Preki chose not to include either one in the traveling party to Salt Lake, and instead started John Cunliffe and Laurent Merlin as his strikers.
In only his third start for the Red-and-White, Cunliffe led the way for Chivas with a pair of goals, the third goal coming from a 35-yard missile launched off the boot of Paulo Nagamura.
"We have a deep squad this year," said Preki. "These young guys have been waiting for an opportunity, tonight they got it. They got three goals -- you can't ask for more than that."
As one of those young guys that Preki was talking about, Cunliffe opened the scoring by stepping in front of RSL goalkeeper Chris Seitz and tapping in from close range. After Salt Lake equalized, Cunliffe put Chivas back top by outracing Salt Lake defender Ritchie Kotschau and then beating Seitz inside the near post.
And, although Cunliffe had a career night he was quick to shift the credit to his teammates.
"I got two goals ... that were two chances set up by other players on the team," said Cunliffe. "[On the second goal] when the ball broke to Sacha I just pulled off my defender. Sacha played a through ball, and once I took a touch the 'keeper wasn't covering his near post at all. As soon as I took the touch, I knew I was going to go near post and I put it on target."
The young striker is quick to point out that the success that Chivas have been experiencing has been due to the contributions of everyone on the squad -- whether their role is prominent or minor. Each player understands that the talent is there, no matter who is on the field.
"We're confident with the players we have in our 18-man roster," said Cunliffe. "Obviously, when everyone is fit, Maykel and Ante are the stars but, I think the way the team plays develops a solidarity. We've got a lot of depth in our squad right now."
Rain fell steadily as the temperature dropped leading up to kickoff. Add an artificial surface to the equation and a Real Salt Lake side playing for nothing but pride and there was the makings of a scrappy, gritty match.
"This is our first bad weather game, actually," said Jesse Marsch. "We like to be a good passing team, but in games like this it's not all about pretty soccer. It's just about digging in at times, winning tackles, winning second balls and not losing bad balls in the back. We did that pretty well and we were able to get some goals and that always helps out."
The victory could not have been assured another stellar outing from Chivas goalkeeper Brad Guzan.
"Brad played a really good game," said Preki. "He made a couple of really great saves early on, and he was, for me, man of the game."
Of the six saves that he made, many of them were challenging and a few of the spectacular variety. And, some, said Guzan, also came with a hefty dose of luck.
"Yeah, it's not the most favorable conditions for a goalie," said Guzan. "I was able to come up with a couple of saves. The deflection in the first half ... that ends up somewhere else, maybe they're up 1-0 before we are. It was just one of those nights. In the second half, it hits the crossbar and falls right back down to me so, sometimes it's better to be lucky than good."
Scott McAllister is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
