Chivas USA suffered another second half collapse, conceding a late goal to the Chicago Fire en route to a 1-0 loss at The Home Depot Center on Saturday.
This time it was Gonzalo Segares who did in Chivas with a 78th minute goal, moments after the home side were reduced to 10 men after defender Orlando Perez was given a red card. That came just a few minutes after Chivas 'keeper Brad Guzan saved a penalty kick.
It was the seventh time this season that Chivas has failed to maintain a halftime tie or lead. It was also the 13th loss in 17 games for Chivas, who haven't won since early May.
Coming into the match, questions abounded about how the Chivas backline would hold up without the presence of their two starting central defenders for much of the season, Ryan Suarez (released last week) and Douglas Sequiera (Costa Rican national team duty).
For most of the match, the three-man backline succeeded in staying the Fire attack, limiting their shot on goal total to three. The defensive trio that Chivas fielded saw Francisco Gomez -- who has been a midfielder throughout his MLS career -- between Armando Begines and Ezra Hendrickson.
Helping matters for Chivas were three major Fire absences. The Fire were less than full strength with Tony Sanneh and Chris Armas on U.S. national team duty and their leading goal scorer, Nate Jaqua, out with an ankle injury. In the last meeting between the teams, Jaqua hit for a hat trick.
Still, just two minutes after the opening whistle, it looked like Chivas had already let the match get out of hand when Andy Herron beat Guzan on a close range shot. The Fire forward, however, was ruled to be in an offside position much to the relief of the home side.
Chivas controlled the bulk of the possession during the early stages of the match. Their strong play nearly paid off midway through the half but luck -- and accuracy -- were not with them during the frenetic two-minute span.
First, in the 20th minute Thiago Martins controlled a through ball played into him at the top of the 18-yard box. The Brazilian forward took a quick, point-blank shot just inside the penalty area but Fire 'keeper Zach Thornton punched the ball wide right of goal for a corner kick.
Ezra Hendrickson then got a head on the ensuing corner kick but his close range shot bounced a couple of yards in front of the goal line, was deflected by the Fire and sent over the crossbar.
Chivas again were unable to capitalize on the following corner kick, this time Martins sending his header just over the crossbar.
In the 25th minute, Chivas put themselves in a bad spot when Esteban Arias fouled the Herron just outside the penalty area. Herron took the 19-yard free kick but his shot went right into Guzan's hands.
Seven minutes later, Chivas found themselves knocking on the Fire's door again. Martins raced for a ball near the Fire goal line, just inside the left side of the penalty area. He sent a low pass back to the top of the penalty area to Matt Taylor, who tapped the ball to his left to an onrushing Hector Cuadros, but his one-time shot was about a yard too high.
Chivas continued creating quality scoring chances in the second half. In the 56th minute, Martins had a clear look at goal from 19-yards out but his shot was just wide right of goal.
Eight minutes later, Hendrickson almost headed home the go-ahead goal. Antonio Martinez sent a left-sided cross to Hendrickson, who was positioned three yards from the goal and he got a head on the ball over a Fire defender but his shot went over the crossbar.
In the 68th minute, the Fire were awarded a penalty kick after Gomez knocked the ball down with his left hand just inside the right side of the penalty area. Jesse Marsch took the spot kick but didn't hit it well to his left and Guzan came up huge on the play, correctly diving to his right and smothering the ball.
Chivas USA were forced to play the final 15 minutes of the match a man down after Perez was given a red card after committing a foul just outside the Chivas penalty area.
It didn't take long for the Fire to capitalize, as they scored on the ensuing free kick. Marsch took the kick, sending a ball near the Chivas goal line, wide of the goal. Jim Curtin drove the ball back across goal to Segares, who buried the ball into the back of the net past Guzan from five yards out.
Gomez made amends later when he cleared a Chad Barrett shot off the line to preserve the one-goal margin. Chivas nearly capitalized three minutes from time, but Martins' shot inside the left side of the penalty area went just wide right of goal.
MLSnet.com Man of the Match: Zach Thornton (Chicago Fire)
Danny Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Majro League Soccer or its clubs.
Chicago Fire (10-6-2) vs. Chivas USA (1-13-3)
July 02, 2005 -- The Home Depot Center
Scoring Summary:
CHI -- Gonzalo Segares 2 (Jim Curtin 3, Jesse Marsch 1) 78
Chicago Fire -- Zach Thornton, Logan Pause, C.J. Brown, Jim Curtin, Gonzalo Segares, Justin Mapp, Scott Buete, Jesse Marsch, Ivan Guerrero, Andy Herron (Chris Rolfe 61), Lubos Reiter (Chad Barrett 80).
Substitutes Not Used: Samuel Caballero, Leonard Griffin, David Mahoney.
TOTAL SHOTS: 9 (Justin Mapp 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Jesse Marsch 2); FOULS: 13 (3 tied with 3); OFFSIDES: 1 (Andy Herron 1); CORNER KICKS: 5 (Justin Mapp 2, Jesse Marsch 2); SAVES: 3 (Zach Thornton 3)
Chivas USA -- Brad Guzan, Ezra Hendrickson, Armando Begines, Francisco Gomez, Orlando Perez, Esteban Arias, Hector Cuadros (Francisco Mendoza 83), Antonio Martinez, Ramon Ramirez (Alfonso Loera 80), Thiago Martins, Matt Taylor.
Substitutes Not Used: Victor Arbelaez, Javier Barragan, Milton Blanco, Christian Jimenez, Aaron Lopez, Arturo Torres.
TOTAL SHOTS: 12 (Thiago Martins 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (3 tied with 1); FOULS: 17 (Esteban Arias 5); OFFSIDES: 4 (Matt Taylor 2); CORNER KICKS: 4 (Orlando Perez 2); SAVES: 4 (Brad Guzan 3)
Misconduct Summary:
CHV -- Francisco Gomez (caution; Tackle from Behind) 19
CHV -- Antonio Martinez (caution; Diving, Exaggeration) 45
CHI -- Logan Pause (caution; Tackle from Behind) 66
CHV -- Hector Cuadros (caution; Dissent) 68
CHV -- Orlando Perez (ejection; Serious Foul Play) 76
Referee: Mark Geiger
Referee's Assistants: -Steven Davidson; Corey Rockwell
4th Official: Ramon Hernandez
Weather: Clear-and-70-degrees
Attendance: 11,976
All Statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial.
