once in the U.S. Open Cup then once in league play. Chivas USA came into the game after their first victory of the campaign away from Carson, a 2-1 win in Chicago.
But it was the Wizards that took the lead late in the first half. A foul by Francisco Mendoza won a free kick outside the right corner of the Chivas penalty area, and Jose Burciaga Jr. whistled a free kick clean through and past Preston Burpo in the goal for the lead.
Yet the Wizards couldn't hold onto the lead. In the 83rd minute, rookie Jonathan Bornstein took a pass well outside the penalty area, beat a defender and slotted a low drive past a diving Bo Oshoniyi for the equalizer.
Chivas head coach Bob Bradley made one change to the team that defeated the Chicago Fire. Jesse Marsch was suspended and Matt Taylor came in, as his lines underwent another shuffle.
Here's Bradley's team (4-4-2): Preston Burpo - Tim Regan, Jason Hernandez, Claudio Suarez, Orlando Perez - Juan Pablo Garcia, Jonathan Bornstein, Sacha Kljestan, Francisco Mendoza - Ante Razov, Matt Taylor (Drew Helm 72). [Substitutes Not Used: Esteban Arias, Carlos Borja, Rene Corona, Brad Guzan, Carlos Llamosa, Rodrigo Lopez]
"There's a level of frustration. We had a good first 10 minutes but obviously they were sitting back and required a little bit of patience to break them down," said Bradley. "As the first half went on our final passes and our decisions were poor and as a result we lost our energy. Our second half was better in that regard, I think we had more life and it's still nice to see us push and get a goal. Obviously, there's still 10 minutes after you get the goal to try to finish them off so in that regard there's a disappointment level. We should take three points from this game and we don't, so that's something we have to keep trying to deal with."TEAM NEWS
Bornstein was once again the hero for Chivas USA, again playing a different role. Primarily the left back from the start of the season, he scored a pair of goals in a 3-3 draw in Colorado in his first start as a forward. On Saturday he played in the center of midfield in place of the suspended Jesse Marsch.
"We all know we've been a little bit thin," Bradley said. "But I think we've been creative, using Johnny in the attack. He plugs holes for us." Said Bornstein: "That's the big reason he's playing me everywhere, because we don't have that depth."
While Chivas didn't lose, it was still a third consecutive home game where they shared the points. "It's a tough game too. Kansas City has a plan of keeping a lot of numbers back, there's not much space, so the timing of breaking them down - if you look at the whole game I think we created a pretty good number of advantages," Bradley said. "Still, between at least one call and some other times where we couldn't deliver the final ball, we let them off the hook tonight."
The Red-and-White were also upset that they let the game get away early on and failed to defeat a team in Kansas City that had just one win since June 17.
"I think that we were a little bit overconfident at the beginning of the game and they took advantage of their lone chance to score," said midfielder Francisco Mendoza. "We need to improve in that regard, especially now that we are in the final phase of the season."HOUSTON DYNAMO
Houston Dynamo lost for the third time in five games, falling 3-1 to Real Salt Lake at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday evening. Dynamo now lead the Colorado Rapids by three points for second place in the Western Conference and Chivas USA by four, though they are still just four points behind FC Dallas atop the division.
LAST MATCH
Real Salt Lake had won three games for the first time in club history, while Houston Dynamo had gotten back to their winning ways in their last match, a 1-0 victory against Dallas putting an end to a five-game winless run.
Jeff Cunningham provided all the scoring for Real, setting up the first two goals before the league leader took one for himself. The first came just before the break, but not without a hint of controversy. A corner kick wasn't fully cleared, and Cunningham laid the ball off to Chris Klein at the top of the area. His shot hammered off the underside of the crossbar, straight down and back out -- the goal was given although television replays indicated the ball might not have completely crossed the line.
Cunningham again played provider in the 64th minute, maintaining possession before sliding a pass to Douglas Sequeira, whose angled shot from wide on the left found the inside of the far post and nestled into the goal.
Dynamo pulled a goal back in the 73rd minute when a Brad Davis corner kick found an unmarked Adrian Serioux for a point-blank header, but Cunningham restored the margin nine minutes later with his 14th goal on the campaign, a shot from straight out that kissed off the inside of the right post, beating Pat Onstad.
Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear made two changes to the team that defeated FC Dallas 1-0 the weekend before. With Brian Ching injured, Brian Mullan moved forward and Stuart Holden came into the midfield, while Adrian Serioux replaced the suspended Eddie Robinson in the back four.
Here's Kinnear's team (4-3-1-2): Pat Onstad - Craig Waibel (Kelly Gray 67), Ryan Cochrane, Adrian Serioux, Wade Barrett (Kevin Goldthwaite 82) - Stuart Holden (Chris Wondolowski 72), Ricardo Clark, Brad Davis - Dwayne De Rosario - Brian Mullan, Alejandro Moreno. [Substitutes Not Used: Chris Aloisi, Patrick Ianni, Julian Nash, Zach Wells]
"Well, we didn't play well obviously. I think it's unfortunate to go in 1-0 at halftime. It makes the job a little more difficult," Kinnear said. "Overall player to player as a team we didn't play well. I don't think we deserved to win the game."TEAM NEWS
Dynamo have now gone six consecutive games without getting a goal from their forwards. The last came on July 15 in a 3-2 win against the Kansas City Wizards, Brian Ching's last goal before undergoing knee surgery.
"I think after the first half, when they got the first (goal); it was a bit unlucky for us.," said defender Kevin Goldthwaite. "I think it got kind of got us down a little bit. We came out the second half trying to get back into it, didn't get the chances we needed, kind of came out unfortunate."
With Brian Ching out for a few more week after knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus and Ronald Cerritos unavailable, Brian Mullan - usually a winger - was pressed into service as a striker.
"If we would've had a little bit more killer instinct on the goal in the first half, and took advantage of the opportunities we created, it would've been maybe, maybe a different story," Kinnear said. "But you have to give them credit for playing confident and making it hard for us."
On Monday, Dynamo waived Ronald Cerritos and announced the acquisition of Paul Dalglish, the son of former Liverpool and Celtic great Kenny Dalglish.
On Wednesday, Houston Dynamo continued their dominance against FC Dallas with a 3-0 U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal win Wednesday night at the Carl Lewis Sports Complex. Eddie Robinson scored in the first half, while Alejandro Moreno and Chris Wondolowski added insurance in the second half.
Here's Kinnear's team: Pat Onstad - Eddie Robinson, Kevin Goldthwaite, Ryan Cochrane (Chris Aloisi 74), Kelly Gray, Chris Wondolowski, Brad Davis (Dwayne De Rosario 58), Alejandro Moreno, Stuart Holden, Wade Barrett (Marcus Storey 81), Adrian Serioux (Patrick Ianni 67)
