offense.
Chivas USA dropped FCD 2-0 to snap the Hoops' three-match winning streak and cut the conference leader's hold on first place to just one point. The loss was FCD's fourth on the season, each of which has come by way of a shutout.
"We had a lot of the ball, a lot of possession, and what was missing was our play in the last third of the field," said FCD head coach Steve Morrow. "We didn't get enough from our forwards today and it's disappointing."
FCD's offense sputtered all night and only was able to muster three shots on goal. Maykel Galindo and Ante Razov provided the offense for Chivas, each finding the back of the net in the second half.
Making matters worse was the absence of striker Carlos Ruiz, who was serving a one-match suspension for yellow card accumulation.
Morrow, however, did not attribute his side's offensive misfires to the Guatemalan's suspension.
"We've won our last three games and played well and created a lot of chances and two of those games were without Carlos," he said. "I don't really think (his absence) was a factor today."
Instead, Morrow attributed the ineffectiveness to a breakdown between the midfield and forwards.
"We didn't look enough to the front and the front players did not show for the ball enough."
Starting in Ruiz's place was Abe Thompson, who played fewer than 10 minutes in FCD's last match against Real Salt Lake.
"You can't fault our effort, but we just didn't move the ball and possess it as well as we would've liked and as well as we normally do, so it's disappointing," said Thompson.
The lone scoring opportunities for FCD came from Kenny Cooper. Cooper, however, was unable to make much with his effort.
"We didn't do good enough offensively as a team," he said. "I had some good chances but didn't put them away tonight. I wasn't good enough."
With this loss, FCD enter a tough stretch of matches without several key players. Three players will miss at least next week's visit to Houston with international duty as Carlos Ruiz, Chris Gbandi and Dominic Oduro have all been called up by their respective national teams for upcoming matches.
"We've got a lot of strength in depth and we have other players who can come in and cover those positions," said Morrow.
Changing lineups has been something FCD have had to deal with all season long. Despite the challenge, though, FCD have found success.
"We had a lot of injuries and suspensions early on in the season and we haven't had a game yet where we've had everybody available, which has been unlucky for us," said Morrow. "Still, we're in a very good position. We're top of our conference and we had a great chance tonight to put ourselves top of the whole standings but we didn't quite give enough."
One person who will not be missing time due to international duty - at least in the foreseeable future - is Cooper, who was passed over by the U.S. national team for the Gold Cup but is in the mix for Copa America.
"It's disappointing for (Kenny) but it's good for us and we're glad to have him," said Morrow of Cooper.
Cooper has not let national team aspirations sway his focus.
"My focus is to do well with FC Dallas," he said. "Hopefully the national team opportunities will come after that."
Danny Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
