CHIVAS USA vs. SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES
THE HOME DEPOT CENTER, Carson, Calif.
July 5, 2008 | 7:30 p.m. PT (FSC/FSE)
WEEK # 15 | GAME # 105
Chivas USA play the fourth of five consecutive league games at The Home Depot Center, when they play host to the San Jose Earthquakes for this first time this season. Chivas have rebounded from back-to-back shutout losses with a win and a draw in their last two games, though at midweek they lost to second-tier opposition in the U.S. Open Cup. The Earthquakes are concluding a four-game road run on Victoria Street, having bookended a loss to D.C. United with a pair of scoreless draws, their winless streak now at a season-long four games.
REFEREE: Terry Vaughn. SAR (bench): Chris Strickland; JAR (opposite): Paul Scott; 4th: Yader Reyes MLS Career: 93 games; FC/gm: 30.0; Y/gm: 3.8; R: 29; pens: 28
INJURY REPORT: CHIVAS USA - OUT: FW Alecko Eskandarian (sports hernia surgery); FW Maykel Galindo (sports hernia surgery); DF Alex Zotinca (R knee ACL surgery); DOUBTFUL: MF Raphael Wicky (R calf strain); QUESTIONABLE: DF Lawson Vaughn (L ankle tendonitis) ... SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES - OUT: FW Gavin Glinton (R adductor strain); FW Peguero Jean Philippe (R knee internal derangement); DOUBTFUL: DF Ryan Cochrane (L ankle sprain); FW Jovan Kirovski (R ankle sprain); QUESTIONABLE: FW Adam Smarte (L knee contusion)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: CHV: Paulo Nagamura ... SJ: Ramiro Corrales, Eric Denton, Nick Garcia
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: CHV: Jonathan Bornstein, Maykel Galindo; Atiba Harris, Jesse Marsch Shavar Thomas ... SJ: Ryan Cochrane, Jason Hernandez, James Riley
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (4 meetings): Chivas USA 0 wins, 5 goals ... Earthquakes 2 wins, 9 goals ... Ties 2
AT THE HOME DEPOT CENTER (2 meetings): Chivas USA 0 wins, 2 goals ... Earthquakes 1 wins, 3 goals ... Ties 1
• This is the first of three meetings between the clubs this season, the first of two on Victoria Street. They will next meet in Carson, on Aug. 23, then will face off on Oct. 11 in the first ever meeting at Buck Shaw Stadium.
LAST YEAR (MLS):
Did not meet
• When the Earthquakes were last in the league, in Chivas USA's inaugural season, the then-expansion club did not win any of the four meetings.
• After draws in the first two meetings, the Quakes took the second two, once at each home ground.
• The 3-3 draw between the clubs on April 9 at Spartan Stadium, though, was the first point registered by Chivas USA and their first goals second, in the second game of their history.
• Coaches record: Preki v SJ: first game ... Frank Yallop vs. CHV: P7 W2 L3 D2
CHIVAS USA
Chivas USA conceded an early goal but came back to level terms before the half, settling for a 1-1 draw with the New York Red Bulls last Saturday at The Home Depot Center. Chivas now have 18 points from 14 matches, sitting in fourth place in the Western Conference, a point behind Houston and Real Salt Lake and three behind the division-leading LA Galaxy to open the week.
LAST MATCH
• Chivas USA had put an end to their two-game losing streak the weekend before, while the Red Bulls had won for the first time in three weeks at home.
• The visitors took the lead after 26 minutes. A free kick was won well out from the right corner of the area, and Dave van den Bergh flighted in a curling service. As Kevin Goldthwaite flashed through the box, he missed making a connection, but it wrong-footed Chivas 'keeper Brad Guzan enough so the ball sailed through and inside the left-hand post for his fourth goal.
• But the Red Bulls gifted the equalizer deep into first-half stoppage time. A square pass across the Red Bulls backline rolled behind center back Jeff Parke, and Ante Razov swooped in to snatch it, hitting a first-time shot from the top of the box past goalkeeper Jon Conway and the leveller.
• Chivas USA head coach Preki made two changes to the team that defeated the Chicago Fire 2-0 at home the previous weekend. Paulo Nagamura was suspended and Raphael Wicky was missing through injury, as Jim Curtin came into central defense and Jonathan Bornstein returned to the starting lineup.
• Here's Preki's team (4-4-2): Brad Guzan - Bobby Burling, Claudio Suarez, Jim Curtin (Atiba Harris 46), Francisco Mendoza -Sacha Kljestan, Carey Talley, Jesse Marsch, Jonathan Bornstein (Jorge Flores 68) - Justin Braun (Anthony Hamilton 88), Ante Razov. Substitutes Not Used: Dan Kennedy, Daniel Paladini, Keith Savage, Shavar Thomas
• "Yeah, we got a point and we didn't lose the game," Preki said. "We went a goal down in the first half and that we didn't play very well and we created nothing first half offensively and we went into halftime 1-1. They make a mistake and we scored a goal and actually I felt they scored a lucky goal too and that sums up the half."
TEAM NEWS
• Chivas USA had nine shots and seven on goal but the offense did not produce many scoring chances.
• "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."
• The club had to deal with more lineup changes as Paulo Nagamura was suspended due after receiving a red card against Chicago. 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 and 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."
• After being shutout in back-to-back matches, Chivas felt they were back on track with the 2-0 win against the Fire. But once again, they could only manage a single goal.
• "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. If we score some goals ... we need to be able to get up early."
• Then on Tuesday, Chivas once again crashed out of the U.S. Open Cup at the first hurdle, losing 2-0 to the USL First Division Seattle Sounders in Tukwila, Wash. A year ago, Chivas lost 3-1 to Seattle at the same stage. Taylor Graham headed home a corner kick in the 43rd minute, then Sebastian LeToux beat Brad Guzan to a long punt downfield in the 80th minute to nod the ball into an empty goal and seal the victory.
• Here's Preki's team: Brad Guzan; Jonathan Bornstein, Jim Curtin, Shavar Thomas, Daniel Paladini; Sacha Kljestan (Keith Savage 83), Paulo Nagamura, Kraig Chiles (Jesse Marsch 65); Jorge Flores (Anthony Hamilton 73), Justin Braun (Francisco Mendoza 60), Atiba Harris.
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES
The San Jose Earthquakes saw their winless streak reach four games, playing to a scoreless draw with the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park on Saturday night. The Earthquakes still sit at the bottom of the Western Conference, with 12 points from 14 matches, four points behind the Colorado Rapids yet just nine points out of first place.
LAST MATCH
• Both teams were looking to get out of ruts. The Fire had lost three in a row and been shut out in their last two games, while the Earthquakes had lost the first two games of their four-game road swing and were winless in three in a row.
• There were few chances for either team, but the Quakes had the better ones, especially over the final 45 minutes. Ramiro Corrales saw a freekick from straight out from goal glance off the top of the bar and away in the 52nd minute, then four minutes from the end, John Cunliffe saw a low shot hit the base of the post and come out into the goalmouth. Although Kei Kamara was first to it, he was not able to get his second-chance effort on frame.
• The Fire owned a 4-1 advantage in shots on goal, and Earthquakes 'keeper Joe Cannon was called upon to make two stellar stops after the break, including a good diving effort on a Justin Mapp angled shot from the left.
• Earthquakes head coach Frank Yallop made three changes to the team that lost 3-1 to D.C. United the previous Sunday. Jason Hernandez and Nick Garcia came back into the back four, for the suspended James Riley and the injured Ryan Cochrane. Kei Kamara came back into the team from international duty, in place of John Cunliffe.
• Here's Yallop's team: (4-4-2): Joe Cannon - Jason Hernandez (Shea Salinas 83), Nick Garcia, Kelly Gray, Eric Denton - Ronnie O'Brien, Ramiro Corrales, Ned Grabavoy (John Cunliffe 62), Ivan Guerrero - Ryan Johnson, Kei Kamara. Substitutes Not Used: Dan Benton, Ryan Cochrane, Matt Hatzke, Amir Lowery, Jamil Roberts
TEAM NEWS
• While the Quakes were able to create six attempts at goal after the break, none were on frame - though two did hit the woodwork.
• "I thought we created some real good chances," Yallop said. "It felt that our final pass or finish was not good. We really did not make the 'keeper make a save, and if we had done that, we would have scored a goal tonight. I think to come here and play like we did was terrific. I felt we deserved a point, if not the win."
• Kei Kamara returned to the lineup after missing five San Jose matches to international duty with Sierra Leone, and played the entire match.
• "To come away with a point, it is OK, but we had chances and we have to stick one in the back of the net so we can come away with three points," Kamara said. "We had chances, chances we have been complaining we have not been getting in front of the goal." Said Yallop: "He played good, but he had two great chances to score. He was a little rusty with us, but he was dangerous all night. That chance in the 86th, you've got to hit the target there."
• The Earthquakes, 3-8-3 overall, have scored only one goal in their last four league games, going 0-2-2 in that period. The Chivas match will round out a four-game road swing where they have posted two scoreless draws around a loss to D.C. United.
• "For us being a strong road team is important. We have actually been one of the better road teams in the league this year and we need to keep that going," Nick Garcia said. "Next week we play at Chivas and we need another good result before we hit a big stretch of home games."
• The four-game winless streak matches the longest of the year for the Quakes. After losing three and tying one from April 17-May 17, the Quakes then won two of their next three.
• "Our record indicates that we have not been as consistent as we need to be this year," Cannon said. "We have not been finishing our chances, but we need to keep working at that and it will come."
