Chivas USA returned to MLS action on Saturday night against Real Salt Lake but unfortunately failed to produce the kind of form they were showing before the international break. In an error strewn game, The Goats surrendered their six game unbeaten streak as they were humbled by the Western Conference leaders 3-0. A Fabian Espindola brace and a Will Johnson stoppage time sucker punch extended the visitors unbeaten run to seven and left Robin Fraser with another disappointing home defeat to analyze. It was a convincing win for RSL, and their quality showed, however Chivas USA were full of mistakes and again failed to create many chances in front of their home fans.
Despite having the excitement of the USMNT and European football, the return of Major league Soccer to the HDC after a three week break was eagerly anticipated by Chivas USA fans. Before focusing on US Open Cup competition over the last couple of weeks, The Goats had started to show the kind of form that was expected from them at the start of the season. A point a piece from San Jose, New York and Seattle, and a victory over LA Galaxy gave the Rojiblancos an unexpected run of results that pushed them up the Western Conference. Performances were improving and more importantly the dismal home record had been rectified. However, there was to be no continuation of that on Saturday when Chivas USA met the league’s highest placed side.
Chivas USA: Dan Kennedy; James Riley, Danny Califf, Rauwshan McKenzie, Ante Jazic; Ben Zemanski, Oswaldo Minda (Cesar Romero, 77), Alejandro Moreno, Blair Gavin (Ryan Smith, 60); Juan Agudelo, Juan Pablo Angel. Unused subs: Paolo Cardozo, Laurent Courtois, Tim Melia, John Alexander Valencia, Jorge Villafaña.
A match involving Chivas USA at the Home Depot Center has some guarantees. No matter who the opposition has been this season, the first 45mins, and indeed the majority of the game, will undoubtedly be a tight, disciplined display. Unfortunately, a lack of focus and/or bad luck has still punished the Goats’ on several occasions this year. Well, against Real Salt Lake on Saturday, there were more of these mistakes than usual. The first half started like many others and there wasn’t much between the two teams to begin with. It was a physical and quite open first half and The Goats looked like they had a decent chance at continuing their unbeaten streak. Playing out mostly in the midfield, chances were not at a premium and Chivas almost made it to the half with the regular 0-0 score-line.
The opening goal though went RSL’s way in the 41st minute and arrived through an unforced error from the normally ever reliable Dan Kennedy. A poorly distributed ball thrown out to Ante Jazic was intercepted by Jonny Steele and moved on to Beckerman, who sent an inviting ball into the box. Espindola got on the end of it and sent a header beyond Kennedy to make it 1-0. Although the keeper was somewhat at fault for the uncharacteristic move, the defense still failed to close down the play. It also came after RSL had a goal wrongly disallowed for offside, so going in at the half 1-0 down was arguably a fair result.
Returning for the second half Chivas USA still had it all to play for. Playing against a side of Real Salt Lake’s quality was always going to be a tall order but with a strike partnership of Angel and Agudelo on the field all was not lost. Unfortunately though, it was yet another home performance that didn’t include much to cheer about up front. The second half started brightly but it was again RSL who would take advantage on the rare chances on offer. In the 54thminute after collecting a pass, Espindola ran at the Chivas defense, breezed past McKenzie with some trickery and slid the ball past the outstretched Kennedy. It was a good second goal from the Argentine but again it was frustrating to see the Chivas defense breached so easily.
As soon as the second goal went it you couldn’t help but think it was game over. Chivas USA had been poor going forward and were beginning to become quite slack in their play. Real Salt Lake were more comfortable but in all fairness they didn’t quite light up the HDC with attacks either. Also, with possession almost even, Chivas USA and RSL only racked up 3 and 5 shots on target respectively.
The stats perhaps flatter Chivas and show this game was quite even but it quickly became evident that RSL were too strong for Chivas USA. A 2-0 defeat at home to the Western Conference leaders was not exactly a humiliating result. Nevertheless, the third goal, in the fourth minute of stoppage time, soured what was already a poor display. Johnson found himself wide open in the Chivas box after the defense was posted missing and he found the back of the net with a precise strike. Prior to this finishing touch by the visitors, Chivas only real attack of note was a header from Juan Agudelo in the last ten minutes. The lack of match highlights involving anything but the goals shows how lackluster this game was.
I stated in my preview to this game that a lengthy break can either be a welcome rest for a team or one that essentially disturbs their rhythm. With Chivas USA it seemed to be the latter. After such a good run of results prior to the international soccer, the Real Salt Lake game was hopefully going to be another example of the potential of Robin Fraser’s Chivas USA. However, they didn’t look anywhere near sharp enough and the momentum of that Galaxy victory seemed to have worn off.
On the other hand, despite another disappointing home defeat, it is hard to be too upset about this result. In a list of fixtures including the league’s in-form teams The Goats have still exceeded many fan’s expectations with their haul of points form these games. Sometimes you just have to accept that you were outclassed on the night by the better team. And with a short turnaround in games (Montreal come to the HDC on Wednesday) Chivas USA will get another shot at recapturing their form soon enough.
(image courtesy of Getty Images)
