those guys are dangerous guys, especially when you've got a guy like Blanco pulling the strings for your team. You know they're going to create chances and we did a good job of shutting that down."
• Against Real Salt Lake, rookie Justin Braun had suffered through a number of missed opportunities, coming on as a halftime sub in the 1-0 loss. But put back into the starting lineup, he scored the second goal against Chicago, his second of the season, and first scored by a Chivas forward since May 11.
• "After the game I just kind of threw it away. It happens," Braun said. "A lot of the older guys told me to not worry about it, to just keep moving, keep playing my game so I just kind of came in today with that completely out of my mind and just tried to do my best to help my team get the three points."
• After Nagamura was sent off just before halftime, Preki didn't significantly alter his team's shape, still keeping on two forwards in Razov and Braun as well as the same back four. Jonathan Bornstein came in for his second consecutive outing after missing five games to injury. The system didn't really change until Jorge Flores came on as a late substitute.
• "After the second goal I thought we kind of slowed down a little bit. Which is, a lot of times, a natural thing, because you are now 2-0 up and they are pushing a couple of guys forward and now we've got to deal with quite a few things. And then the red card came, so that was just a few seconds before halftime," Preki said. "So we have to go in our locker room, and we had a good game plan of how we're going to play in the second half, and I thought everything we asked of them at halftime they came on the field and executed pretty good.
• The best chances at the end came from Chivas. "We just wanted to stay compact, not really open up and give them any chances," Braun said. "We still wanted to press a little bit, and take our opportunities forward, but we just didn't want to give anything up."
NEW YORK RED BULLS
The New York Red Bulls put a halt to their brief two-game winless skid, getting the only goal of the game for a victory against FC Dallas on Saturday evening at Giants Stadium. The Red Bulls have 19 points from 13 matches, sitting in a three-way tie for fourth place in the Eastern Conference, level with the Chicago Fire and D.C. United, two points behind Toronto FC.
LAST MATCH
• The Red Bulls had just one win in their last six games as they tried to overcome key injuries. It was the first game in charge for Hyndman, taking over after Marco Ferruzzi led the Hoops to a 2-2-1 mark as interim head coach.
• The game's lone goal came in the 16th minute. Sinisa Ubiparipovic served up a corner kick from the left and Kevin Goldthwaite steamed in alone at the back post to head home from close range for his second goal on the year.
• For the first time all season, Red Bulls head coach Juan Carlos Osorio maintained the same starting XI in back-to-back games, though it did come with a slight tactical shift.
• Here's Osorio's team (4-2-3-1): Jon Conway - Hunter Freeman, Andrew Boyens, Kevin Goldthwaite (Jeff Parke 24), Dave van den Bergh - Seth Stammler, Carlos Mendes - Sinisa Ubiparipovic, Mike Magee (Luke Sassano 79), Dane Richards - Oscar Echeverry (John Wolyniec 62). Substitutes Not Used: Danleigh Borman, Chris Leitch, Chris Megaloudis, Zach Thornton
• "We didn't want to drop off and send the wrong message. We kept moving forward, we kept playing fútbol and we could've scored more goals. I think the team played really well today," Osorio said. " ... That was good to see that we could keep the ball well. The team is growing in confidence and we played from the back into the middle. Hopefully, we can continue and build on that."
TEAM NEWS
• It was a third consecutive match without Juan Pablo Angel, a fourth consecutive match without Jozy Altidore, and fifth in a row without Claudio Reyna.
• "This is a great opportunity for some of the players to say 'I can be a leader on this team' and there were some signs of a couple today," Osorio said. "I hope they relish that challenge. There's no secrets in football. This is what we have, forget about whoever is not here because we can't count on those players for the time being."
• One player who did step up against Dallas was midfielder Sinisa Ubiparipovic. The second-year player started the first four matches of the season, then went seven games out of the first team before starting the last two.
• "This is not luck. This is all pure work," Osorio said. "We have been working a lot trying to convince him that when he plays effective football, meaning no back heels, no outside flicks, just play simple football, inside passes, he can compete and play at this level."
• Another standout for the Red Bulls was Carlos Mendes, who was given the difficult task of negating FC Dallas' stellar center midfield tandem of Juan Toja and Andre Rocha, as he was tasked to do four nights earlier against New England's Steve Ralston.
• "I was excited for the challenge," Mendes said. "I played midfield in college, so it's been about six or seven years since I played in the midfield."
• However, an already shorthanded Red Bulls team got even thinner before the game was a half-hour old when Goldthwaite hobbled off the field with what was initially diagnosed as two strained hamstrings. Goldthwaite said playing three games in a span of eight days took its toll on his legs.
• "This whole week it's kind of been an issue where I've been getting it worked on, the high hamstring in both legs," Goldthwaite said, adding his injury came after a 30-yard run with Cooper. "I don't think they're strained right now. Rick (Guter, Red Bulls trainer) was checking me out and said the stretching ability I have right now is all right."
• On Wednesday, the Red Bulls played the first half of a rare Chivas doubleheader when they defeated Mexican powerhouse Chivas de Guadalajara 1-0 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. The game's lone goal came in the first half when Sinisa Ubiparipovic made a darting run down the right flank, avoided a Chivas defender and cut the ball back into the box from the end line for Oscar Echeverry to slot home.
• "In the first half I think we did enough to probably increase the scoreline and I think in the end, great individual performances, great commitment, great effort from the guys playing against a top opponent," Osorio said. "I'm very pleased with the result and the performance."
• Here's Osorio's team: Zach Thornton -- Hunter Freeman (Chris Leitch 46); Carlos Mendes (Luke Sassano 46); Seth Stammler (sent off 43); Sinisa Ubiparipovic (Gordon Kljestan 46); Dave van den Bergh (Mike Magee 46); John Gilkerson (Ricky Schramm 88); Dane Richards (Danleigh Borman 35 / David Roth 66); Oscar Echeverry (John Wolyniec 46 / Chris Megaloudis 82); Andrew Boyens; Jeff Parke. Substitutes not used: Jon Conway (GK); Caleb Patterson-Sewell (GK)
