Chivas USA's Preki and TFC's Mo Johnston both broke into the league together in the inaugural season of 1996 as teammates with the Kansas City Wizards.
• While Toronto had the best of the early exchanges, Chivas USA opened the scoring in the 35th minute by perfectly springing the TFC offside trap. Cuban striker Maykel Galindo got free in behind the defense and raced alone into the penalty area, before sliding a pass for the easiest of tap-ins for Ante Razov. It was the 99th league goal for Razov.
• Then two minutes from the end, Sacha Kljestan put the result beyond all doubt, collecting the ball well outside the area and hammering a long-range drive that sailed past TFC goalkeeper Greg Sutton inside his right-hand post.
• Here's Preki's team (4-4-2): Brad Guzan - Alex Zotinca, Claudio Suarez, Lawson Vaughn, Jonathan Bornstein - Sacha Kljestan, Amado Guevara, Jesse Marsch, Francisco Mendoza - Maykel Galindo (Matt Taylor 85), Ante Razov (John Cunliffe 85). Substitutes Not Used: Preston Burpo, Jason Hernandez, Carlos Llamosa, Rodrigo Lopez, Erasmo Solorzano
• Here's Johnston's team (4-4-2): Greg Sutton - Miguel Canizalez, Andrew Boyens, Jim Brennan, Marco Reda (Adam Braz 76) - Carl Robinson, Richard Mulrooney, Paulo Nagamura, Andy Welsh (Conor Casey 65) - Alecko Eskandarian, Edson Buddle. Substitutes Not Used: Rich Asante, Tomer Chencinski, Abbe Ibrahim, Andrea Lombardo, Stephen Lumley
TORONTO FC
Toronto FC saw their winless and goalless streaks both extended, falling 3-0 to the New York Red Bulls last Sunday afternoon at Giants Stadium. TFC is still tied for sixth place in the Eastern Conference with 20 points from 20 matches, level with the Chicago Fire, six points behind the Columbus Crew.
LAST MATCH
• The Red Bulls were playing their first game since July 26, having lost two of three games on a five-game homestand, the last match a 2-0 loss to Chivas USA. Toronto FC were winless in five games and hadn't scored a goal since July 7, a span of more than six hours.
• The Red Bulls owned the game from the outset against an injury-hit TFC side, ending the game with a 21-3 advantage in shots, and not allowing the first shot from the visitors until just 15 minutes remained.
• New York deservedly took the lead in the 24th minute. Clint Mathis -- who had come on for an injured Claudio Reyna just seconds earlier -- hammered in a low cross from the right that took a slight deflection. Juan Pablo Angel was able to corral the ball and quickly fired home from just beyond the far post, his 10th goal of the league campaign and first in seven games.
• The Red Bulls put the game after the break. On a counter, Jozy Altidore slipped the ball to Angel on the right as the two raced toward goal. Angel tried to drive a low pass into the goalmouth; it took a deflection off a prone TFC defender and looped toward goal, Altidore putting on the final touch as it was crossing the line (50).
• Thirteen minutes later the duo again combined forces. Angel flicked on a long ball as Altidore raced into the area. He tapped the ball over a defender's head and around TFC goalkeeper Kenny Stamatopoulos, driving it into the unguarded goal for his fourth goal on the season.
• The shutout extended Toronto's scoreless streak to 462 minutes, the club's last goal coming July 7 in a 1-1 draw against the Chicago Fire. The streak is the fifth-longest without a goal in MLS history.
• TFC head coach Mo Johnston made one change to the team that played to a scoreless draw with the Los Angeles Galaxy the Sunday before at BMO Field. With Maurice Edu suspended, Andy Welsh came into a wide midfield role as Todd Dunivant moved inside.
• Here's Johnston's team (4-1-4-1): Kenny Stamatopoulos - Adam Braz, Marco Reda, Tyrone Marshall, Jim Brennan - Carl Robinson - Collin Samuel (Joey Melo 49), Chris Pozniak, Todd Dunivant, Andy Welsh (Andrew Boyens 59) - Andrea Lombardo. Substitutes Not Used: Nana Attakora-Gyan, Gabe Gala, David Monsalve
• "Are we disappointed? Yes. Are we down? No," said Johnston. "We know we're a better team than this. With the injuries it's just impossible. Then we had to play 30 minutes with 10 men. We need to get everyone healthy."
TEAM NEWS
• The team was missing injured strikers Danny Dichio (hip flexor) and Jeff Cunningham (hernia), midfielder Ronnie O'Brien (knee) and defender Marvell Wynne (hamstring). They also were without MLS Rookie of the Year candidate Maurice Edu, who was serving a one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation.
• To make matters worse, Trinidad and Tobago international forward Collin Samuel left the game in the 49th minute with a bone bruise. Pozniak's red card rules him out of the Chivas USA match.
• "This team needs Ronnie back in there," said Johnston. "It needs Danny and the presence of Cunningham. We just don't have it."
• With so many players out, Johnston has been forced to play his healthy charges out of position, which he said has contributed to the recent slide.
• "We have to keep moving guys around," Johnston said. "We had [defender] Jimmy [Brennan] on the left side of midfield because of the injuries, and now we think he broke his hand in the first half. He couldn't take any throw-ins. We're playing [another defender, Todd] Dunivant in the midfield, higher up. This squad is getting down to bare bones."
• There could be light at the end of the tunnel, as only O'Brien and Sutton have been completely ruled out for Saturday's match. Getting Dichio and Cunningham back could be the most important factor in putting an end to the long goalless streak.
• "He can make a chance out of nothing," Pozniak said of Cunningham. "Even when we're struggling, Jeff gives us something because of his speed. Danny is a very smart player and knows how to combine with him. Without those two we need to find a way to create chances. We just couldn't do that today."
• Once again, the Toronto traveling support was impressive despite the poor result - even if they did show some displeasure when Altidore scored his second of the match.
• "They're disappointed. What can I say to them - I'm disappointed myself. If I were them, I'd throw bottles onto the field as well. We were disappointed in ourselves today," Brennan said. "For our fans, they came all this way and they want to get goals and put effort in where you're going to get three points, but obviously we got nothing today. We apologize to our fans for the way we performed today, but we can't thank them enough for at least coming, anyway."
CHIVAS USA
Chivas USA return to action after three full weeks away from league play, their last match a 3-2 loss to the Kansas City Wizards at Arrowhead Stadium on July 29. Chivas sit in third place in the Western Conference with 27 points from 17 matches, seven behind Houston and six in front of Colorado, but more importantly in seventh place in the overall MLS table, a point ahead of the Columbus Crew.
LAST MATCH
• The Wizards had won just once in their last eight games, while Chivas USA were coming off just the fifth road victory in the club's history, but already the second this season, three nights earlier at New York.
• The visitors took the lead in the 17th minute when Ante Razov found Jonathan Bornstein cutting into the area from the left. Stopped momentarily by Jack Jewsbury and goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, well off his line, Bornstein reached behind himself as the ball popped up and hooked a shot underneath Hartman for his first goal on the campaign.
• Six minutes later the Wizards had a glorious chance to pull level when Davy Arnaud was tripped up driving into the box, but Brad Guzan saved Carlos Marinelli's penalty kick with ease. But the Wizards still drew level on 38 minutes through a stunning goal, a wicked strike by Kerry Zavagnin from all of 30 yards that whistled narrowly inside the angle of crossbar and post.
• Arnaud nosed Kansas City in front after the break when his freekick from the left flank skipped past a lunging Jimmy Conrad in the goalmouth and a static Guzan, finding its way inside the far side netting (53). But it took Chivas just two minutes to recover, as John Cunliffe took a pass in the penalty area and curled a left-footed effort around Hartman and into the back of the net.
• In the 89th minute, Movsisyan gave the Wizards a fortunate winner. Retrieving a pass on the left, he was able to run at the Chivas defense before lashing a shot from the left corner of the box that took a slight deflection and looped over Guzan inside the far post for his fifth goal on the year.
• Chivas USA head coach Preki made one change to the team that defeated the New York Red Bulls 2-0 three days earlier. Maykel Galindo suffered a knock and was unavailable, Laurent Merlin coming into his place up top.
• Here's Preki's team (4-4-2): Brad Guzan - Alex Zotinca, Shavar Thomas, Claudio Suarez, Jonathan Bornstein - Sacha Kljestan, Jesse Marsch, Lawson Vaughn (Rodrigo Lopez 83), Francisco Mendoza - Laurent Merlin (John Cunliffe 46), Ante Razov. Substitutes Not Used: Preston Burpo, Jorge Flores, Anthony Hamilton, Jason Hernandez, Orlando Perez
• "I thought that we played well tonight. We were the better team; we had the more of the better chances. We were unlucky to give up a goal so late in the game. Things just didn't bounce our way tonight," Preki said. "We had chances to win the game, and just couldn't capitalize. In a lot of ways we were a better team. We kept the ball more and got more chances."
TEAM NEWS
• The loss put an end to a three-game unbeaten run, and was the fourth of five road games in the month of July.
• "The group really played hard. They fought for 90-plus minutes, and they didn't get the break. We could have had a penalty kick, but we didn't get it," Preki said, referring to a possible Arnaud handball in the Wizards' box in the second half. "That's the story of our season because so far we've played 17 games and we're one of the only teams to have no penalty kicks. Maybe one of these days we'll get a break or two."
• Since then, it has basically been just training for Chivas. The club played a friendly in Sacramento on Aug. 11, defeating 5-1, but that game mainly saw a lineup full of reserves.
• "Sometimes it can be a good little break because guys get to rest and you get a little down time to yourself. Sometimes it makes you sharper mentally," Jonathan Bornstein said. "It might take a little bit out of you physically if guys don't do anything. We've just got to keep working through that stretch. It's a time to fine-tune some things that you normally don't' get a chance to when you're playing back to back."
• The so-called vacation from league play could also provide a platform for the club to springboard into the final third of the season. "You can't complain about it," Ante Razov said. "You just have to go about your business and use those three weeks to prepare to go down the home stretch."
• It also helps for veteran players to avoid being ground down by the long season. "For guys like myself and Jesse Marsch, we could use it for some recovery time and to get some fitness in," Razov said. "That's the way the team has to look at it. The older guys have to rest a little bit and work on some fitness to get refreshed and the other guys have to work on some other things."
• After their date in Toronto, Chivas USA will play nine of their remaining 12 games in Carson. "We'll be able to take a positive from it and use it to our advantage going down the stretch," Razov said. "We've been really good at home ... we've got nine home games coming down the stretch. I think that's big for us."
• On Wednesday, Chivas USA acquired Ramon Nuñez from FC Dallas in exchange for a conditional third-round pick in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft. In his four seasons with FCD, Nunez started 42 of the 67 regular season games in which he appeared, scoring 14 goals and adding nine assists. In 2007, Nunez started 10 of his 13 games, scored three goals, and contributed two assists.
