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D.C. UNITED v CHIVAS USA
RFK MEMORIAL STADIUM, Washington, D.C.
3 p.m. ET (TeleFutura)
May 6, 2007 (WEEK 5) / MLS Game #31
D.C. United is still searching for their first victory of 2007 - while ending their season-opening losing streak on Thursday - as they play host to Chivas USA on Sunday afternoon at RFK Stadium. For the visitors, D.C. United has not been a welcome rival in their history - Chivas USA has lost all four previous meetings between the teams, finally scoring a goal against United in their last encounter last year. Chivas USA has lost both of their road matches this season, the last coming a week ago when they were the visitors in their own stadium, losing to fellow Home Depot Center denizens Los Angeles Galaxy.
REFEREE: Kevin Stott. SAR (bench): Nate Clement; JAR (opposite): George Vergara; 4th: Jorge Gonzalez
MLS Career: 132 games; FC/gm: 26.8; Y/gm: 3.4; R: 36; pens: 29
Games involving United: P33 W20 L9 T4; FC/gm: 27.1; Y/gm: 3.6; R: 13; pens: 6
Games involving Chivas USA: P8 W0 L7 T1; FC/gm: 31.9; Y/gm: 3.3; R: 2; pens: 3
INJURY REPORT: D.C. UNITED - OUT: MF Kiki Willis (adductor strain); FW Marc Burch (mid-foot sprain); DF Devon McTavish (hip flexor strain); MF Jeff Carroll (shin splints); PROBABLE: MF Rod Dyachenko (MCL sprain), MF Fred (groin strain) ... CHIVAS USA - OUT: DF Carlos Llamosa (L knee sprain); PROBABLE: DF Eder Robles (L hip flexor strain); DF Orlando Pérez (L groin strain)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
SUSPENDED: CHV: MF Amado Guevara (through May 6); MF Sacha Kljestan (through May 6)
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: none
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: DC: Christian Gomez
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (4 meetings): United 4 wins, 9 goals ... Chivas USA 0 wins, 1 goal ... Ties 0
AT RFK STADIUM (2 meetings): United 2 wins, 5 goals ... Chivas USA 0 wins, 0 goals ... Ties 0
• This is the first of two meetings between the teams this season, the only one set for East Capitol Street. Their lone meeting at The Home Depot Center will come on Sept. 6.
LAST YEAR (MLS):
4/8: DC 2, CHV 0 (Moreno 59, 90)
9/3: CHV 1, DC 2 (Suarez 32 - Gomez 3, 33)
• In four all-time meetings, D.C. United have never lost to Chivas USA. Chivas USA have yet to score a goal at RFK Stadium; in fact, the Claudio Suarez goal scored in the second meeting a year ago, Sept. 3 at The Home Depot Center, was their first ever against United and ended a 301-minute goalless streak.
• In Chivas USA's inaugural season, United won 2-0 in Carson in the club's first-ever game, then won 3-0 at RFK Stadium on Aug. 13.
• Coaches record: Tom Soehn vs. CHV: first game ... Preki v DC: first game
D.C. UNITED
D.C. United ended their losing streak to begin the 2007 season, but were still left searching for a first victory on the campaign, facing a 10-man New England Revolution for the final half-hour before settling for a 1-1 draw on Thursday night at RFK Stadium. United are now alone in sixth place with one point from four matches, a point ahead of Toronto FC and nine behind the first-place tie between New York and Chicago.
LAST MATCH
• D.C. United were winless in their opening three games for the first time since the inaugural season of 1996, while the Revolution were unbeaten in their last three games, looking for a second road victory on the trot.
• After a quiet first half, the Revolution took the lead barely seconds into the second. A long ball from the center circle found Taylor Twellman in behind the United backline, and his first-time effort was parried aside by a diving Troy Perkins. But the rebound fell to Andy Dorman all alone in the heart of the area, and he had only to tap it into the empty goal for the opener.
• But United pulled level just five minutes later. Jaime Moreno - who started the match on the substitutes' bench - was bundled over by a shoulder charge from James Riley in the penalty area and referee Terry Vaughn pointed to the spot. Moreno sent Matt Reis the other way in converting the penalty for his 106th career goal.
• The game then turned in the 59th minute when Sharlie Joseph clattered into Ben Olsen in the midfield while challenging for the ball, and Vaughn sent him off with a straight red card.
• The Revolution nearly weathered the entire storm without much danger, until the final seconds of stoppage time. First, Moreno flicked a delicate ball into the area and Ben Olsen headed it goalward - only for it to come back off the face of the crossbar. Then moments later, a cross was hooked in from the right and Luciano Emilio's flick header had seemed to find the inside of the far post - until Reis pushed it away at full stretch with a remarkable fingertip save.
• United head coach Tom Soehn made three changes to the team that lost 1-0 to the Columbus Crew the weekend before, while undergoing a tactical shift. Facundo Erpen came back into the team in the back as Devon McTavish was out through injury, while Clyde Simms was able to return to the midfield, preferred at the start to Brian Carroll. Up top, newly signed Nicholas Addlery made his MLS debut, starting in place of Jaime Moreno.
• Here's Soehn's team (4-4-2): Troy Perkins - Facundo Erpen, Bobby Boswell, Bryan Namoff, Joshua Gros - Fred (Guy-Roland Kpene 79), Ben Olsen, Clyde Simms (Brian Carroll 54), Christian Gomez - Nicholas Addlery (Jaime Moreno 46), Luciano Emilio. Substitutes Not Used: Stephen deRoux, Justin Moose, Jay Nolly, John Wilson
• "I think we all can look at ourselves and say that the effort was so much better. That alone is something to build off of. I don't know that there's a sense of relief in the fact that we came out with a tie - I don't think you're ever happy with a tie," Soehn said.
TEAM NEWS
• The big news before the game was dropping Moreno from the starting lineup, the second week in a row Soehn had moved some pieces around after the club's rough start. In Columbus, Facundo Erpen moved to the substitutes' bench and Brian Carroll was taken off at halftime, though Erpen came back into the team for the New England match.
• Moreno came off the bench at halftime, and within five minutes had won a penalty and then converted himself from the spot. It was the 106th league goal of his career - now just two away from all-time goalscoring leader Jason Kreis, who earlier in the day retired as an active player to take over as head coach of Real Salt Lake. It was the 30th penalty kick goal Moreno has scored in his MLS career, also a league record, and remarkably, it was just the second goal he's scored in that time after coming on as a substitute.
• "I don't have anything to prove," Moreno said. "I'm too old. I think 18, 19 years old, you have something to prove. But I'm 33, and a lot of people knew, and know, me. So I think it's just other things - right now that's not that important. What's important is D.C. United, and that's what we work for."
• After gaining the man advantage, United struggled some to break down the Revolution defense before hitting the woodwork and seeing Matt Reis pull off a remarkable save in stoppage time.
• "We're still having to be patient, but we created our chances and we were unfortunate not to come away with a win," Soehn said. "But they didn't let up - they kept fighting and kept knocking at the door. Unfortunately it didn't happen for us today."
• The draw also kept this United team out of the record books for matching the worst start in club history. The 1996 team lost its first four games - all in regulation time - before eventually turning things around to claim the first MLS Cup.
• "It was a step in the right direction," said defender Bobby Boswell. "I think overall we did well - we shifted well as a team, we defended well. I thought the possession was really good. It felt better. It feels like a better performance as a team."
• Born in Jamaica, Addlery was signed by United the week before the Columbus game, and played in the reserve match that weekend. The folding of the USL's Virginia Beach Mariners made him available, and he was signed by D.C., the latest stop in a soccer odyssey that saw him play at California University of Pennsylvania, then professionally in Trinidad & Tobago (CL Financial San Juan Jabloteh) and Vietnam (Dong Nai F.C.).
• "When he's gotten chances, he's put them away," Soehn said. "You can never have enough of that. When the balls are delivered into the box, he's looking to get on the end of it, like Luciano [Emilio]. So we saw some qualities in him that we think can help."
• "He's a guy that comes to training every day and gives passion," said midfielder Ben Olsen. "He came at the right time. The coaches saw that, I believe, and rewarded him for the hard work he's done. He makes it very difficult for our backs at training. He's busy, he's strong and he's hungry to play, hungry to stay in this league. In that sense, he's been a blessing to all of us."
CHIVAS USA
Chivas USA lost for the second time on the year - technically on their travels - as they fell 3-1 to the Los Angeles Galaxy at The Home Depot Center in the first Super Clasíco of 2007 last Saturday night. Chivas are still in third place in the Western Conference with six points from four matches, a point behind the first-place tie between FC Dallas and the Colorado Rapids.
LAST MATCH
• Chivas USA had won twice in two matches at home to begin the season, while the Galaxy were coming off a 16-day layoff in league competition still looking for a first win on the campaign.
• But as the home team, the Galaxy got off to a magical start, scoring twice in the opening 17 minutes. The first goal was a gift, coming after eight minutes. Kyle Martino swung in a cross from the right, and goalkeeper Brad Guzan and defender Claudio Suarez collided while trying to clear. The ball fell to Landon Donovan and he easily knocked it into an empty net.
• Then Donovan and Kevin Harmse played a neat one-two on the left, Donovan sending the young Canadian international alone into the area. As Guzan came off his line, Harmse poked the ball inside the near post for his career MLS goal.
• Chivas pulled a goal back in the second half as Suarez atoned for his earlier miscue. Ante Razov saw a header come off the post, and after it wasn't cleared, Laurent Merlin drove a thigh-shot into the crowded goalmouth that Suarez turned to deflect home with his body.
• Yet the Galaxy had the last salvo. Donovan went racing forward for nearly half the field on a counter. At the top of the area he slid the ball across to Cobi Jones, who slotted the ball under Guzan, for the 78th-minute finisher.
• Chivas USA head coach Preki made one change to the team that defeated Real Salt Lake 4-0 the weekend before. With Sacha Kljestan suspended, Jason Hernandez came into team in central defense, Lawson Vaughn moved to fullback and Jonathan Bornstein into the midfield.
• Here's Preki's team (4-4-2): Brad Guzan - Alex Zotinca, Jason Hernandez (Laurent Merlin 46), Claudio Suarez, Lawson Vaughn - Jonathan Bornstein, Amado Guevara (John Cunliffe 56), Jesse Marsch, Francisco Mendoza - Maykel Galindo (Matt Taylor 64), Ante Razov. Substitutes Not Used: Jorge Barrera, Desmond Brooks, Preston Burpo, Erasmo Solorzano
• "It was a tough loss. We made big mistakes on the first two goals and it's always difficult to come back from a 2-0 deficit," Preki said. "But after that, we pushed hard, especially in the second half. I believe we dominated, but Joe Cannon came up big again for them."
TEAM NEWS
• Facing the first Super Clasíco of the year, the Chivas players said they did not come out to start with the right mindset.
• "We didn't come out with the intensity we needed to. I think we did in the second half but at the beginning of the game we needed to come out with a little more focus, a little more intensity," Lawson Vaughn said. "It's an individual thing. Everybody needs to be focused and have the right mentality before the games."
• Said Ante Razov: "In these kinds of games, if you don't come out and play 100 percent like they did, you've got one or two guys strolling around, you are going to be in big trouble. We're going to have some serious conversations this week."
• After a fine start to the season, Preki took off Amado Guevara after 56 minutes. Later, Guevara was shown a red card while on the bench after a confrontation with the fourth official, and will be suspended for the United match.
• "Defensively he wasn't just working hard. In a game like this, you need 11 guys to fight for each other," Preki said. "When you put a Chivas jersey and you go out there, you have to represent that with a lot of pride. In my opinion he wasn't the Amado Guevara that we know so we gave somebody else a chance."
• Shockwaves then hit the club during the week when Guevara and the club parted ways, though he is still on the Chivas books.
• "I have a vision of where this club is going and he's not part of it," Preki said after training on Thursday. "The guy has been a good player for the league. I don't argue with that. But in terms of how I see things, I see it a little different. I didn't know him before I came here that well. I gave him two or three months to see how things work. If I don't see things aren't going to work out, I might as well do it right away instead of waiting down the line and then that becomes an issue when we're facing the crucial part of the year."
• The next Super Clasico will also be the next Chivas USA home match as the two sides will face off again on May 20. Whether Chivas USA has better luck that match depends on the players who will play in that game, Guzan said.
• "You create your own luck, whether that's against the Galaxy, Toronto, Salt Lake or whatever," he said. "You're going to have nights like that. You've got to pick your heads up, move on. It's a long season. We're only four games in. We've got a lot of games ahead of us."
• On Friday, Chivas USA received midfielder Paulo Nagamura from Toronto FC in exchange for the club's first-round selection in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft. Nagamura, who has also seen time in MLS with the Los Angeles Galaxy, started in all four games in the midfield for the expansion club this year. To make room for Nagamura, Chivas placed defender Carlos Llamosa on the season-ending injury list.
