first adding about 17 minutes to the halftime break, then for some 42 minutes at the 70-minute mark. And after the second delay, still down a man and a goal, the Rapids came out flying.
• They found the equalizer just six minutes after the resumption. Terry Cooke found Conor Casey on the right, and he slid a square pass to Colin Clark across the edge of the area. Clark's first touch split a pair of Chivas defenders and he raced to collect the ball deep in the area, chipping it over the on-rushing Brad Guzan.
• Here's Clavijo's team (4-3-1-2): Bouna Coundoul - Tony Sanneh, Ugo Ihemelu, Mike Petke (Stephen Keel 23), Facundo Erpen - Terry Cooke, Pablo Mastroeni, Colin Clark - Jovan Kirovski (Jose Cancela 79) - Mehdi Ballouchy (Jacob Peterson 54), Conor Casey. Substitutes Not Used: Omar Cummings, Jordan Harvey, Daniel Osorno, Zach Thornton
• Here's Preki's team (4-4-2): Brad Guzan - Lawson Vaughn (Anthony Hamilton 79), Jason Hernandez, Shavar Thomas, Jonathan Bornstein - Sacha Kljestan, Jesse Marsch, Paulo Nagamura, Francisco Mendoza - Laurent Merlin (Maykel Galindo 68), Ramon Nunez (Alex Zotinca 63). Substitutes Not Used: Preston Burpo, John Cunliffe, Orlando Perez, Claudio Suarez
CHIVAS USA
Chivas USA extended their unbeaten streak to 11 games, yet suffered a potentially greater loss, playing to a scoreless draw with FC Dallas on MLS Primetime Thursday at Pizza Hut Park. Chivas USA have 52 points with two matches remaining, two points behind D.C. United for the Supporters' Shield yet four points ahead of Houston Dynamo for the Western Conference regular season title, which would assure home-field advantage for any potential conference championship game.
LAST MATCH
• Chivas USA had not lost since a July 29 defeat by the Kansas City Wizards at Arrowhead Stadium, while FC Dallas had put an end to a four-game winless run and secured their place in the MLS Cup Playoffs with a 3-1 win at Columbus the weekend before.
• Neither goalkeeper was called upon to do much in a tight midfield struggle. FC Dallas goalkeeper Ray Burse made his only save of the contest in the 16th minute on a shot by Sacha Kljestan. He was beaten once, in the 76th minute when Francisco Mendoza was sent in alone with a great through ball from Kljestan, but the linesman's flag went up for offside.
• Chivas goalkeeper Brad Guzan was marginally busier, making five saves on the night, and he was also beaten in the final minute as Arturo Alvarez cut through the box from the right and lashed a quick shot toward the near post. But the ball came back off the face of the woodwork to secure the draw.
• FC Dallas played the final nine minutes a man down after Bobby Rhine was sent off with a straight red card by referee Brian Hall after the two had a verbal confrontation at midfield when Alvarez was booked.
• Chivas USA head coach Preki made just one change to the team that defeated Real Salt Lake 3-2 at Rice-Eccles Stadium the Saturday before, bringing in Jason Hernandez into central defense to give Claudio Suarez the night off, electing to again have Ante Razov and Maykel Galindo come off the bench.
• Here's Preki's team (4-4-2): Brad Guzan - Alex Zotinca, Jason Hernandez, Shavar Thomas, Jonathan Bornstein - Sacha Kljestan, Jesse Marsch (Lawson Vaughn 61), Paulo Nagamura, Francisco Mendoza - Laurent Merlin (Maykel Galindo 68), John Cunliffe (Ante Razov 65). Substitutes Not Used: Preston Burpo, Jorge Flores, Orlando Perez, Claudio Suarez
• "It was a defensive struggle. I felt neither team created a lot. They had one or two opportunities and we had one or two opportunities as well. Nobody was able to break the other side down, and sometimes it works like that," Preki said. "We still have two games to go and we are still in it for the first spot in our division. We still have two games left to play."
TEAM NEWS
• But while it wasn't a defeat on the scoreboard, there was potentially a much more significant loss when Ante Razov injured his left knee in the 70th minute while clearing an FCD free kick. Razov will undergo an MRI examination upon the team's return to the Los Angeles area, but Preki said the striker could be out 4-6 weeks.
• "We lost Ante (Razov) right away when he tweaked his knee," Preki said. "... We've got to move on and hopefully, he gets better fast."
• Said Razov: "I turned and I heard a pop. You feel some things sometimes and, I don't know, it just wasn't good. I wasn't able to move around on the field, but we didn't have any subs so I had to stay on. I'm hoping for the best but I don't think I've been injured before like this one."
• Razov is second on Chivas USA with 11 goals to Maykel Galindo, and has eight assists. He's also second on the MLS all-time goalscoring roll with 109 career goals, three behind D.C. United's Jaime Moreno.
• "I've never had a serious knee injury. This one feels like the MCL got hit pretty good, but we'll see with the MRI. We'll schedule a time to do it ASAP and just see what happens," Razov said. " ... It was a free kick they had from the outside. I was defending our near post and I just reached for it and pulled back into my foot. It was one of those that you catch on the inside of your foot, which happens a million times, and sometimes it hurts and you shake it off. This time it was a little bit different."
• The last time Chivas USA were kept off the scoresheet was on their first trip to Pizza Hut Park, a 2-0 loss to FC Dallas on July 4. In the 14 games, Chivas had scored more than one goal in 10 of those 14 games.
• "There's not much we have to tweak," Kljestan said. "We have to get a little more fine-tuned in front of goal. We had a couple of chances tonight that we didn't put away and that obviously haunted us. In the past, when we have had our chances, we put them away."
• Still, even with the draw, Chivas USA can assure themselves of home-field advantage in a potential Western Conference Championship match with a victory Sunday against Colorado. Chivas are unbeaten in home games this year at The Home Depot Center, with 10 victories and three draws in their 13 matches in Carson as the home team. It would also render the final regular season matchup with Houston Dynamo as meaningless to the standings, although it could have a huge psychological effect with the teams 1-2 in the West.
• "It's important because we've been undefeated at home this year," Kljestan said. "I've been saying let's make history and be only the second team since San Jose to not lose at home. We've got two games to do that and one of them really matters on Sunday. If we get the win, the other one couldn't matter at all. As long as we get a win on Sunday, we won't care what happens in the following game."
COLORADO RAPIDS
The Colorado Rapids kept their playoff aspirations alive, defeating Toronto FC 1-0 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on Sunday evening despite finishing the game two men down. The Rapids jumped into ninth place overall with 32 points and two matches still to play, four points behind the Chicago Fire, who hold the eighth spot, coming into the weekend.
LAST MATCH
• The Rapids came into the game winless in their last five games after a season-long three-game winning streak, while Toronto FC was coming off their first victory since July 4.
• The Rapids also needed a win to maintain contact, but on a cold, wet night in Commerce City, the job threatened to get that much tougher in the 36th minute when Mehdi Ballouchy was sent off with a straight red card by referee Kevin Stott for a studs-up tackle on Carl Robinson in midfield.
• But Colorado had a little good fortune just before the break. A corner kick bounced around the area, and as it was pumped back in, TFC midfielder Chris Pozniak pulled down Facundo Erpen as he moved for the ball. Stott awarded a penalty, and Jovan Kirovski converted with ease, his sixth goal of the year and fourth from the spot.
• TFC 'keeper Kenny Stamatopoulos made sure it stayed 1-0 with a terrific save on a close-range Kirovski volley midway through the second half, then two minutes from the end, Pablo Mastroeni was shown a second yellow card, leaving Colorado down two men.
• From the ensuing free kick, the ball was played square to substitute Tyler Hemming who hammered a rising drive from well outside the area, but Rapids 'keeper Bouna Coundoul just tipped it over the bar to secure the victory.
• Rapids head coach Fernando Clavijo made three changes to the team that lost 1-0 to the New England Revolution the previous weekend. Kosuke Kimura started at right back for the injured Ugo Ihemelu, Mehdi Ballouchy came back into the team for the injured Tony Sanneh, and Conor Casey came back from injury for Jacob Peterson.
• Here's Clavijo's team (4-3-1-2): Bouna Coundoul - Kosuke Kimura, Facundo Erpen, Mike Petke, Brandon Prideaux - Terry Cooke, Pablo Mastroeni, Colin Clark - Mehdi Ballouchy - Conor Casey (Omar Cummings 57) (Stephen Keel 92+), Jovan Kirovski. Substitutes Not Used: Jose Cancela, Nicolas Hernandez, Daniel Osorno, Jacob Peterson, Zach Thornton
LAST MATCH
• The game put an end to a five-game winless streak for the Rapids that had included two 1-0 losses and a 1-1 draw where they finished the game a man down
• "It seems like we keep repeating the same thing every week. We were playing with 10 players and really put ourselves in the hole. The team kept fighting, playing and we managed to get the three points," said Clavijo. "[When we went down two men] I was very concerned because we had a couple of chances to put them away. Jovan forced a great save from the goalkeeper for one of them. We need to put those games away, even with 10 men, and we are capable of doing that."
• Although the Rapids moved ahead of the Columbus Crew in the race for the final playoff spot, Colorado still needs to win the rest of its games and hope for a slip-up by the Chicago Fire.
• "You play to win," said Clavijo. "You play regardless of what you have. You play for the club and for the fans. The benefit of playing and winning is the playoffs and a championship. But we should not look at anything any differently for the next two games, regardless of whether we have a chance to go to the playoffs or not. We play to win every game, and anybody who is on my team better have that attitude or else they won't play."
• If the Rapids fail to win at Chivas USA, then they will likely be eliminated from the postseason. If they come away from The Home Depot Center with only a draw, they will have to have hoped that the Chicago Fire lost to D.C. United on Saturday night.
• "We are still in it and we are still battling," said Mastroeni. "We need to go to Chivas and get a result. We have a good team and we have great players. We are fighters; we are not going to go down easy. Hopefully we can put something together and create some luck."
• The Rapids did claim one piece of hardware on the year, winning the MLS Reserve Division in a 3-0 victory against Toronto FC after the first-team match. Jordan Harvey put the Rapids in front, then Jose Cancela and Nico Colacula put the game away.
• "It was a great [win]," said Harvey, the Rapids' first-round pick in the 2006 Supplemental Draft. "We did it last year and this year we brought back the core players as well as new players. The coaching staff is great at scouting young talent."
