CHIVAS USA vs TORONTO FC
THE HOME DEPOT CENTER, Carson, Calif.
August 22, 2009 (WEEK 23) / MLS Game #160
7:30 p.m. PT (FSN-PT/Azteca; RogersSN)
A pair of teams coming off buoying victories meet at The Home Depot Center when Chivas USA and Toronto FC face off for the second time this season. Chivas USA put an end to a five-game MLS losing streak in a 2-0 victory at New York last weekend, still in the thick of the playoff chase with games in hand. Toronto FC moved into third place in the Eastern Conference with a vital win against the team now below them, a 2-0 home victory against D.C. United.
REFEREE: Hilario Grajeda. SAR (bench): Corey Rockwell; JAR (opposite): Fabio Tovar; 4th: Kevin Stott MLS Career: 22 games; FC/gm: 28.9; Y/gm: 4.1; R: 5; pens: 7
INJURY REPORT: CHIVAS USA - OUT: FW Justin Braun (concussion); DF Jim Curtin (L ankle sprain); GK Dan Kennedy (R knee surgery); FW Ante Razov (R ankle tendonitis); DF Claudio Suárez (R calf strain); DF Lawson Vaughn (L ankle surgery); MF Sasha Victorine (concussion); MF Cesar Zamora (L hamstring strain); QUESTIONABLE: MF Kevin Harmse (R knee tendonitis); MF Paulo Nagamura (R hamstring strain); PROBABLE: GK Zach Thornton (R quad strain) ... TORONTO FC - QUESTIONABLE: DF Marvell Wynne (hamstring); DF Nick Garcia (calf)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
SUSPENDED: TOR: Jim Brennan (caution accumulation; through Aug. 23)
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: CHV: Eduardo Lillingston, Jesse Marsch ... TOR: Chad Barrett, Nick Garcia, Carl Robinson, Adrian Serioux
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: CHV: Sacha Kljestan, Marcelo Saragosa, Bojan Stepanovic ... TOR: Dwayne De Rosario, Pablo Vitti
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (5 meetings):
Toronto FC 1 win, 3 goals ... Chivas USA 4 wins, 9 goals ... Ties 0
AT CHIVAS USA (2 meetings):
Chivas USA 2 wins, 4 goals ... Toronto FC 0 wins, 1 goals ... Ties 0
• Chivas USA won all four previous meetings between the clubs before Toronto FC's win in the first meeting this season. In Toronto FC's first year, they were shutout in both matches; last year, they lost 2-1 in Carson and 3-1 at BMO Field.
• Coaches record: Preki vs. TOR: P5 W4 L1 T0 ... Chris Cummins v CHV: first game
LAST MEETING (MLS)
4/22: TOR 1, CHV 0 (Guevara 36)
• Toronto FC defeated Chivas USA for the first time ever in a 1-0 victory on April 25 at BMO Field.
• The game's lone goal came in the 36th minute. Danny Dichio's header outside the area found Amado Guevara, and the Honduran international raced into the area, dribbled through a couple of defenders and kept possession before lashing home a close-range shot past Zach Thornton.
• TFC rookie goalkeeper Stefan Frei was called upon to make just a single save in recording his first clean sheet as a professional, that coming on a long-range freekick from Sacha Kljestan in the first half.
• Here's John Carver's team (4-2-1-3): Stefan Frei - Marvell Wynne, Adrian Serioux, Marco Velez, Jim Brennan - Sam Cronin, Carl Robinson - Amado Guevara (Rohan Ricketts 91+) - Pablo Vitti (Fuad Ibrahim 80), Danny Dichio, Chad Barrett. Substitutes Not Used: Nana Attakora-Gyan, Emmanuel Gomez, Kevin Harmse, Johann Smith, Greg Sutton
• Here's Preki's team (4-4-2): Zach Thornton - Mariano Trujillo (Gerson Mayen 66), Carey Talley, Shavar Thomas, Jonathan Bornstein - Sacha Kljestan, Paulo Nagamura, Jesse Marsch, Bojan Stepanovic - Eduardo Lillingston (Chukwudi Chijindu 46), Alecko Eskandarian (Michael Lahoud 60). Substitutes Not Used: Jim Curtin, Jorge Flores, Atiba Harris, Lance Parker
CHIVAS USA
Chivas USA won for the first time in more than two months, defeating the New York Red Bulls 2-0 on Saturday evening at Giants Stadium. Chivas have 30 points from 19 matches, sitting in a tie for fourth place in the Western Conference with the Colorado Rapids, nine points behind division leaders Houston Dynamo.
LAST MATCH
• Chivas USA made their third consecutive road appearance riding a five-game losing run, winless in nine games in all competitions. The Red Bulls were opening a five-game homestand having also lost five in a row and winless in their last 15 games in all competitions.
• It took the visitors just 14 minutes to take the lead. Bojan Stepanovic freed Chukwudi Chijindu on the right, and his long crossfield pass found Maykel Galindo racing into the area on the left. Galindo hammered a left-footed shot inside the near post for his third goal of the season, putting an end to Chivas USA's club-record 334-minute scoreless streak.
• Deep into second-half stoppage time, Chivas finished off the game. Gerson Mayen freed Michael Lahoud down the right, and he raced into the New York penalty area before sliding a pass to a wide-open Eduardo Lillingston, who had the simplest of finishes into an empty net for his seventh goal on the season.
• The loss extended the Red Bulls league winless mark to 13 games, a club record.
• Chivas USA coach Preki made four changes to the team that lost 4-0 to the Colorado Rapids the weekend before. Mariano Trujillio and Carey Talley returned to the back line, Bojan Stepanovic came into the midfield and Chukwudi Chijindu started up top, with Gerson Mayen, Shavar Thomas and Eduardo Lillingston going to the substitutes bench and Sasha Victorine injured.
• Here's Preki's team (4-4-2): Zach Thornton - Mariano Trujillo, Jonathan Bornstein, Carey Talley, Ante Jazic - Sacha Kljestan, Jesse Marsch, Marcelo Saragosa, Bojan Stepanovic (Gerson Mayen 87) - Maykel Galindo (Eduardo Lillingston 73), Chukwudi Chijindu (Michael Lahoud 60). Substitutes Not Used: Bobby Burling, Jorge Flores, Lance Parker
TEAM NEWS
• Galindo's goal snapped the club record scoreless drought, the first goal scored in league play since Eduardo Lillingston scored June 14 at Columbus. The last goal in any competition was June 30, in the U.S. Open Cup loss to the USL1 Charleston Battery.
• "We found a way to get a goal after a long, long time," said Preki. "I don't even remember the last time we scored a goal."
• After recording six shutouts in the first nine league games of the season, Chivas USA have kept a clean sheet in just two of the 10 since. The shutout of New York was the first in a league game since a 1-0 defeat of Seattle Sounders FC on June 6.
• "I thought we did pretty well tonight," said Jonathan Bornstein. "Their chances came off mostly our mistakes and we did a pretty good job of controlling the defensive part of the field. Overall, it was a good game, we got the shutout, and Zach (Thornton) made some big saves. We came out with a big win that we needed."
• For Jesse Marsch, the win came in his 100th league appearance for Chivas USA. Chivas has scored just 20 times in 2009, the second-worst output in MLS. The last-overall Red Bulls have netted only 16.
• "Our team rhythm hasn't been what it's been in the past, partly because we've had a lot of injuries," said Marsch. "But I just feel we kind of needed to refocus our mentality, and I think we did that tonight. Hopefully we can build on it."
• After missing the 4-0 loss to Colorado because of a thigh injury suffered in the MLS All-Star Game, Zach Thornton returned between the posts and was credited with the win. However, he still was not at 100 percent: he was unable to take goal kicks, with Bornstein instead taking the majority of them.
• "It was huge, huge. To get a result on the road, and now we have a game at home next week. Just to get off that downward spiral, we had so much time off to think about it. I think we had three weeks off. It's good to get back to winning ways," Thornton said.
TORONTO FC
Toronto FC ended their three-game winless run with a huge 2-0 win, getting the full three points in a vital Eastern Conference triumph against D.C. United on Saturday afternoon at BMO Field. TFC has 30 points from 21 games, now in third place in the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of D.C. United and still nine points behind pace-setting Columbus.
LAST MATCH
• The teams came into the match separated by just a single point in the Eastern Conference. United had scored eight goals in their last three games but had just four points to show for it, while TFC were winless in their last three games.
• The hometown Reds took the lead on the half-hour. Receving a pass on the right flank, Jim Brennan hooked a cross to the near post where Dwayne De Rosario flashed in and sent a glancing header past United goalkeeper Josh Wicks. It was the fourth consecutive game with a goal for De Rosario, who now has nine on the season, tied for fourth in the MLS Golden Boot standings.
• TFC doubled the lead in the 66th minute. A corner kick fell into the heart of the area, where Nana Attakora was able to poke it back to substitute O'Brian White. The No. 4 overall pick in this year's SuperDraft, making just his second league appearance, was able to smash through the crowded goalmouth and into the back of the net for his first professional goal.
• TFC interim head coach Chris Cummins made four changes to the team that played to a 1-1 draw with the New England Revolution on Aug. 1. Three players - Emmanuel Gomez, Amadou Sanyang and O'Brian White - were given their first MLS starts and another youngster, Nana Attakora, returned to the team, with Marvell Wynne and Nick Garcia injured, Chad Barrett suspended and Ali Gerba going to the substitutes bench.
• Here's Cummins' team (3-4-1-2): Stefan Frei - Nana Attakora, Emmanuel Gomez, Adrian Serioux - Sam Cronin, Amadou Sanyang, Carl Robinson (Amado Guevara 46), Jim Brennan (Gabe Gala 87) - Dwayne De Rosario - O'Brian White (Ali Gerba 73), Pablo Vitti. Substitutes Not Used: Danny Dichio, Brian Edwards, Fuad Ibrahim
TEAM NEWS
• In addition to the three rookies given their first MLS starts (Gomez, Sanyang and White), first-year men Sam Cronin and Stefan Frei were also in the lineup once again and Nana Attakora is just in his second year after playing just 318 minutes a season ago. In all, six TFC starters were 23 years of age or less.
• "I said I was going to mix it up," Cummins said. "I saw enough in the young players to put them in and that's been my background [as a youth coach at Watford], seeing that talent, that enthusiasm, those legs and being patient with them. ... I thought they were outstanding."
• Gomez, Sanyang and White had a combined 33 minutes of MLS experience between them heading into the game, but earned their places based on performances against River Plate and Real Madrid.
• "In those two friendlies the young kids showed they can play," Cummins said. "They're going to get their opportunities now and as long as they keep going well they'll stay on the team. ... Of course it's a risk putting in six under-23s, but they've got legs, they've got energy and to play in MLS you need that energy. You've that experience in the right places as well, Adrian talking to Nana and Gomez, Robbo talking to Amadou and Sammy Cronin playing out of position again, doing a good job."
• White, the fourth overall pick in the 2009 SuperDraft, had been slowed after knee surgery. His professional debut came July 25 vs. Columbus, also coming off the substitutes' bench in both games vs. Puerto Rico in the CONCACAF Champions League.
• "One goal we know they could score that at any time, so to score the second goal, it gave us a little bit of leverage," White said. "They [the other TFC players] saw what I went through with my therapy. I'm thankful for their support, it means a lot. I got my first goal, it really felt good. I have to give thanks to the training staff who put in a lot of work with me. I'm very grateful for it."
• The victory was arguably the biggest of the season for TFC, which now embarks on a three-game road swing to Western Conference foes (Chivas USA, Seattle, Colorado) and plays five of its next six away from BMO Field.
• "We said all week, we've got 10 games left and today we wanted to win to set us up and get us ready for the final push to the playoffs," said Jim Brennan. "It was very hot out on the pitch and it got a bit scrappy at times, but the guys dug deep, had a couple of chances, finished them and we walked away with three points."
