CARSON, Calif. - Offense was at a premium for Chivas USA on Saturday against the New York Red Bulls.
After all, Red Bulls defender Kevin Goldthwaite was responsible for the hosts' best scoring opportunity of the evening.
Ante Razov scored following a Goldthwaite gaffe deep in first-half stoppage time, as Chivas USA settled for a 1-1 draw against visiting New York on Saturday at Home Depot Center.
"Yeah, we got a point and we didn't lose the game," Chivas USA coach Preki said. "We went a goal down in the first half and we didn't play very well and we created nothing first half offensively, and we went into halftime 1-1. Overall I don't think we created enough opportunities here tonight to give ourselves a real good chance of winning this game. At the end, 1-1 may be a fair result."
Chivas USA had nine shots and seven on goal but the offense did not produce many scoring chances. Possession seemed to fall apart in the final third as the passing was not crisp and the runs were not effective.
While at the beginning of the season the club seemed to suffer from misfortune, now the club might just be suffering from a season-long offensive slump.
"I feel like good teams in those situations would have just taken over and now would have been one goal, another goal and maybe even a fourth goal," Chivas USA midfielder Jesse Marsch said about the early stages of the first half. "In the beginning of the year it felt like we weren't getting enough breaks but now it feels like we can't get our rhythm going, we can't put many passes together, we can't dominate many games. We're just not very sharp."
Chivas USA had a pair of scoring chances early in the second half. Razov struck a free kick on goal that forced New York goalkeeper Jon Conway to make a diving save. Moments later, Justin Braun tested Conway, this time from close range, but Conway turned Braun away as well.
"We got lucky to get that goal at the end of the half and got a little unlucky not to get another in the second half. What's frustrating is not being able to pull away," Chivas USA midfielder Jonathan Bornstein said. "Everyone has to be able to be on the same page."
For the rest of the second half, though, Chivas USA's offense was futile. The club did not attempt a shot in the final half hour as the attack let the club down time and again.
"I don't think we actually played anywhere near good enough," Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan said. "We've got to do a better job of moving the ball and getting in front of the goal and getting more scoring chances."
The club had to deal with more lineup changes as Paulo Nagamura was suspended due to a red card he picked up June 19 against Chicago. Raphael Wicky, a natural replacement for Nagamura, was ruled out due to injury.
"Every week something seems to happen so we have to shuffle the lineup, play people in different spots. We had Wicky last week and he goes down and he was unavailable tonight, so we have to go somewhere else. Nagamura is suspended so we have to bring in someone else again. Like I said that's been the case for us all year," Preki said. "The way it's going right now, we can't whine about it. Even with the guys we put on the field, we should have a good chance of winning the game."
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
