Diverging paths collide at SuperClásico
Off highs and lows, Galaxy, Chivas USA set to renew rivalry
THE HOME DEPOT CENTER, Carson, Calif.
July 11, 2009 (WEEK 17) / MLS Game #122
8 p.m. PT (FSC/FSE)
It's the second SuperClásico of the season as Home Depot Center denizens Chivas USA and Los Angeles Galaxy meet. Chivas USA haven't faced a league match in nearly a full month, their last MLS game a loss in Columbus before embarking on competition in SuperLiga and the U.S. Open Cup. The Galaxy have posted back-to-back 1-0 wins, their first consecutive wins on the season. The teams met in April in a hard-fought scoreless draw that saw the Galaxy finish with nine players and Chivas USA with 10.
REFEREE: Ricardo Salazar. SAR (bench): Thomas Supple; JAR (opposite): Greg Barkey; 4th: Edvin Jurisevic
MLS Career: 91 games; FC/gm: 28.5; Y/gm: 3.6; R: 24; pens: 30
INJURY REPORT: CHIVAS USA - OUT: DF Bobby Burling (sports hernia surgery); GK Dan Kennedy (R knee surgery); FW Ante Razov (R ankle surgery); DF Claudio Suárez (R calf strain); DF Lawson Vaughn (L ankle surgery); MF Cesar Zamora (L hamstring strain); QUESTIONABLE: FW Justin Braun (concussion); PROBABLE: DF Ante Jazic (L hamstring strain); MF Mariano Trujillo (L hamstring strain) ... LOS ANGELES GALAXY - OUT: DF Sean Franklin (R hamstring surgery); DF Julian Valentin (R foot fracture); QUESTIONABLE: FW Alan Gordon (L calf strain); MF Yohance Marshall (back spasm); MF Dema Kovalenko (L calf contusion)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: LA: Donovan Ricketts (JAM; CONCACAF Gold Cup)
SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: CHV: Eduardo Lillingston, Jesse Marsch, Paulo Nagamura, Carey Talley
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: CHV: Atiba Harris ... LA: Omar Gonzalez, Alan Gordon, Eddie Lewis, Stefani Miglioranzi
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (16 meetings): Chivas USA 3 wins, 17 goals ... Galaxy 8 wins, 26 goals ... Ties 5AS CHIVAS HOME GAME (7 meetings): Chivas USA 1 win, 7 goals ... Galaxy 3 wins, 8 goals ... Ties 3
REMAINING MATCH: 8/29: Chivas USA at Los Angeles Galaxy, 8 p.m. PT
• After winning the final two meetings of four in 2007, Chivas USA has not defeated the Galaxy in the last four SuperClásicos, the Galaxy winning the first last year before three draws since.
• The Galaxy won the first five meetings all-time between the teams before the first Chivas victory; since those initial five victories, the league series has been evenly split, each team winning three times with four draws.
• The teams have met outside of The Home Depot Center once, on Aug. 10, 2005 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before 88,816 as part of a Club América-CD Guadalajara doubleheader - the second-largest crowd ever to see an MLS regular season game.
• Coaches record: Preki vs. LA: P8 W2 L2 D4 ... Bruce Arena v CHV: P3 W0 L2 D1
LAST MEETING (MLS):
4/11: CHV 0, LA 0
• The teams played to a scoreless draw in the first SuperClásico of the season at The Home Depot Center on April 11.
• A fractious contest took a turn just before halftime when Chivas midfielder Paulo Nagamura was sent off with a second yellow card, this one for a foul on Landon Donovan in the center circle.
• But the game lurched back in the other direction midway through the second half. The Galaxy's Alan Gordon saw two yellow cards in the space of three minutes and left both teams with 10 players a side.
• Then in the 79th minute, Alecko Eskandarian appeared to have nicked the ball and gotten free for a breakaway. But Gregg Berhalter pulled him down before he could escape, and he too was shown red by referee Tim Weyland.
• Here's Preki's team (4-4-2): Zach Thornton - Mariano Trujillo (Chukwudi Chijindu 87), Carey Talley, Shavar Thomas, Jonathan Bornstein - Sacha Kljestan, Jesse Marsch, Paulo Nagamura, Gerson Mayen (Bojan Stepanovic 46) - Atiba Harris, Eduardo Lillingston (Alecko Eskandarian 46). Substitutes Not Used: Jim Curtin, Jorge Flores, Michael Lahoud, Lance Parker
• Here's Arena's team (4-4-2): Donovan Ricketts - A.J. DeLaGarza (Bryan Jordan 61), Gregg Berhalter, Omar Gonzalez, Eddie Lewis - Sean Franklin, Stefani Miglioranzi (Jovan Kirovski 58), Josh Tudela, Chris Klein (Tony Sanneh 81) - Landon Donovan, Alan Gordon. Substitutes Not Used: Mike Magee, Yohance Marshall, Kyle Patterson, Josh Saunders
CHIVAS USA
Chivas USA return to MLS action for the first time in nearly a month, after playing in SuperLiga. Their last league match was a second consecutive MLS loss, falling 2-1 to the Columbus Crew at Crew Stadium on June 14. Chivas USA have 27 points from 15 matches, now in second place in the Western Conference, four points behind the Houston Dynamo.LAST MATCH
• Chivas USA had won just once in their last five games after the midweek loss in Houston, while the defending champion Crew hadn't lost since a 2-1 reverse by Chivas at The Home Depot Center, a span of eight games.
• Chivas took the lead in the 39th minute with an opportunistic goal. Crew defender Eric Brunner went down trying to play a ball headed back toward his own goal, and Chivas forward Eduardo Lillingston was quickly on it, skipping past goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum and rolling it into the empty goal for his sixth goal on the year.
• But after the break, Guillermo Barros Schelotto brought the Crew all the way back. In the 61st minute, a long goal kick bounced over a Chivas defender and Schelotto latched onto it before banging home from inside the area.
• Then three minutes from the end, Gino Padula picked out Schelotto with a curling early cross from the left and the 2008 MLS MVP settled the ball before slotting home inside the far post for his league-leading 10th goal on the season.
• Chivas USA coach Preki made four changes to the team that lost 1-0 to the Houston Dynamo the previous Wednesday on the road. Mariano Trujillo and Ante Jazic both came back into the back four, and Eduardo Lillingston and Bojan Stepanovic came into the team, with Jim Curtin, Jorge Flores, Michael Lahoud and Sasha Victorine all dropped from the lineup.
• Here's Preki's team (4-4-2): Zach Thornton - Mariano Trujillo, Carey Talley, Shavar Thomas, Ante Jazic (Jorge Flores 70) - Atiba Harris (Chukwudi Chijindu 73), Jesse Marsch, Paulo Nagamura, Bojan Stepanovic - Eduardo Lillingston (Gerson Mayen 82), Maykel Galindo. Substitutes Not Used: Alecko Eskandarian, Michael Lahoud, Lance Parker, Claudio Suarez
TEAM NEWS
• It's been nearly a full month since Chivas USA have played a league match. In the meantime, however, they've seen their participation in both SuperLiga and the U.S. Open Cup come to an end.
• For the second consecutive year, Chivas USA were eliminated from SuperLiga after the group stage. Chivas opened play in Group A with a 2-1 home loss to Mexican Primera Division side Tigres UANL, then lost 1-0 to the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park. By the time the opening whistle blew to kick off their group finale, the Red-and-White had already been eliminated.
• In that finale at The Home Depot Center, Chivas came back to earn a 1-1 draw with San Luis. An Alfredo Moreno penalty kick put the Mexican club into the lead, but Atiba Harris scored a late equalizer for the draw.
• "I was really proud of the way the whole group played," said Preki. "After we gave up the goal, we could have easily gone down two, three, or four. But we had a fight in us, we played for each other, and that's good to see."
• In the game, rookie Cesar Zamora made his professional debut, coming in as a 61st-minute substitute. Zamora, a southern California native, joins Jorge Flores and Gerson Mayen as the third product of the Chivas USA youth system to move up to a professional contract with the first team.
• "It was his first time on the field in front of a big crowd," said Preki of Zamora. "I'm sure he was nervous, but we tried to encourage him to go and try things. I think he came in and worked hard and it was good to see him get some minutes."
• Here's Preki's team: Zach Thornton (Lance Parker 46), Jorge Flores, Claudio Suárez (Jim Curtin 37), Carey Talley (Cesar Zamora 61), Shavar Thomas, Jesse Marsch (Sasha Victorine 46), Paulo Nagamura, Bojan Stepanovic, Chukwudi Chijindu, Maykel Galindo (Atiba Harris 46), Eduardo Lillingston
• Last week, Chivas USA was eliminated from the U.S. Open Cup by lower-division opposition for the third consecutive season, losing 3-1 to the USL-1 Charleston Battery at Blackbaud Stadium. Randy Patterson put Charleston into the lead (8), but Jesse Marsch brought Chivas level (28). Patterson scored his second just before halftime, then Tsuyoshi Yoshitake scored in stoppage time to seal the victory.
• "I thought we played well and didn't get any breaks tonight," said Marsch. "From our end the story of our season is that we don't score enough goals. So, as much as we command parts of the game we don't score enough and that hurt us again tonight. We certainly had chances, but in the end the scoreboard says 3-1 and there's not much of an argument you can make."
• Here's Preki's team: Lance Parker, Sasha Victorine, Jim Curtin, Carey Talley, Jorge Flores, Chukwudi Chijindu (Bobby Burling 70), Paulo Nagamura, Jesse Marsch, Bojan Stepanovic, Atiba Harris (Michael Lahoud 84), Eduardo Lillingston (Maykel Galindo 58)
LOS ANGELES GALAXY
The Los Angeles Galaxy won for the second consecutive match by a 1-0 scoreline, defeating the New England Revolution in another July 4 meeting at The Home Depot Center. The Galaxy now have 21 points from 16 matches, pulling into a tie for fourth place in the Western Conference with the Colorado Rapids, 10 points behind the MLS overall leaders Houston Dynamo.LAST MATCH
• The Galaxy had stopped back-to-back losses -- just their second and third of the year -- with a win against Houston the week before. The Revolution were back in league competition after advancing to the semifinals in defense of their SuperLiga title, their last MLS game a loss in Kansas City.
• Alecko Eskandarian had completed a move just down the hall in a trade with Chivas USA just days earlier, and even with Landon Donovan's return from international duty, he made the start in attack for the Galaxy.
• It took him just eight minutes to open his account with his new club. Todd Dunivant sent in a high ball from the left flank and Eskandarian timed his run perfectly, volleying the ball home at the right post back inside the left stick, his second MLS goal on the season.
• Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena made two changes to the team that defeated the Houston Dynamo 1-0 on June 28. Josh Saunders came in between the posts for Donovan Ricketts, away on Gold Cup duty, and Alecko Eskandarian was handed the start in his first game after his trade from Chivas USA, coming in for Alan Gordon.
• Here's Arena's team (4-4-2): Josh Saunders - A.J. DeLaGarza, Gregg Berhalter, Omar Gonzalez, Todd Dunivant - Jovan Kirovski, Mike Magee (Tony Sanneh 78), Stefani Miglioranzi, Eddie Lewis (Chris Klein 64) - Edson Buddle, Alecko Eskandarian (Bryan Jordan 67). Substitutes Not Used: Leonard Griffin, Kevin Guppy, Dema Kovalenko, Kyle Patterson
• "Our center backs played real well on the evening. It was just a blue-collar type of game tonight. You have to win these games in this league. Obviously, both teams are missing some players, and it's never an excuse. You have to deal with it," Arena said.
TEAM NEWS
• Alecko Eskandarian became the fourth player in Galaxy history to score for his new club after a midseason trade - the last was Edson Buddle, who did it in 2007 after arriving from Toronto FC.
• "I thought that obviously besides the goal, he was really pretty active. He offers us some good mobility. Partnering up with Buddle, they were able to combine and create some chances," Arena said. "We certainly didn't anticipate having to play him some 60-odd minutes. He wasn't expected to be in the starting lineup, but with the unfortunate injury with [Alan] Gordon - he came and did a great job."
• Eskandarian didn't expect to be in the first team either, but found out just before kickoff after Gordon suffered a calf strain during prematch warmups.
• "When I was younger in my career I probably wouldn't have adapted well to this," said Eskandarian. "But I prepared as if I would start, as far as getting a good night's rest and eating well and all that stuff. Obviously I wasn't expecting to, but I stepped right in. A little craziness for a few minutes, but once I got my warmup in I knew I'd be fine."
• Goalkeeper Josh Saunders deputized for Donovan Ricketts, who remained with the Jamaican team in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, and recorded his first career clean sheet in his fourth MLS appearance.
• "The whole backline is awesome. Since the beginning of the year they have progressed as a unit. Their ability to move together and feed of each other and know where they each other is going to be, is great. Gregg [Berhalter] is a great leader back there. He's hard on us. He expects the most from us. It shows. We've gotten a lot of results," Saunders said. "There might not be a lot of wins in the win column, but we've gotten a lot of results keeping the goals out. I can't say enough about the four guys in front of me."
• Despite having gone on a 10-match unbeaten run April 11-June 6, the wins against Houston and New England marked the first back-to-back victories for the Galaxy this season.
• "It's great. It's huge for us. We haven't been able to put two wins together all year. Doing it 1-0 was the hard way, but it's also a good sign because we haven't had a lot of those victories in the past few seasons, said defender Todd Dunivant. "It shows that the team is making progress, and I think the character of this team is really showing through."
