Chivas Drops Revs

Preston Burpo recorded a clean sheet in his first start since September 3rd, 2006, and Chivas USA survived a late send-off of their captain Claudio Suarez as they defeated the New England Revolution 2-0 at the Home Depot Center on Saturday night.

Chivas was forced to compete without three key players in Brad Guzan, Sacha Kljestan and Jonathan Bornstein, all away at Copa America, and New England was once again missing the services of striker and Golden Boot candidate Taylor Twellman.

In the early stages of the match, it was all Chivas USA. Five minutes in, veteran Jesse Marsch would take the first crack at goal, but his half-volley would be far too high to trouble Revs’ keeper Matt Reis.

Two minutes later, Cuban sensation Maykel Galindo would nearly put the Goats ahead early. Galindo ran down the left side of the field and cut back into the box, leaving Revs defender James Riley in his dust. As Riley recovered, Galindo saw his window closing and launched a shot goalward, just missing to the near side.

The first half-hour went by without a shot from the Revolution, but a defensive miscue by Suarez in the 33rd minute nearly led to a New England goal. Andy Dorman stepped in front of a lax pass from El Emperador and quickly unleashed a shot at Burpo, but Dorman’s shot spun just wide of the goal.

As play advanced to the other side of the field, Chivas USA pushed back. Galindo again ran past several Revolution defenders, his hard shot from the right side forcing Reis into making his first save of the match in the 34th minute.

Despite controlling the tempo in the first half, Chivas went into the break tied with New England.

In the 51st minute, Ante Razov was left unmarked in the box and Maykel Galindo found him with a perfect cross. All by himself, Razov’s header was disappointing, going high and wide and not even troubling Reis.

Two minutes later, it was Adam Cristman’s chance to blow an open header. The rookie for New England created separation in the box as Pat Noonan crossed the ball to him, but Cristman headed the ball straight into the ground and wide of the near post, going out harmlessly for a goal kick.

In the 60th minute, Chivas would finally break through. Razov pushed the ball up the right side of the field and into the box, where he was surrounded by three New England defenders. Seeing Jesse Marsch out of the corner of his eye, Razov laid the ball back and Marsch took full advantage of the situation, firing a shot past Matt Reis, off the far post and into the goal, giving Chivas a 1-0 lead just past an hour.

Things turned ugly in the 81st minute when Suarez landed an elbow to the side of Adam Cristman’s head, resulting in a red card. Chivas USA would now have to defend their one-goal lead with ten men for the final ten minutes of the game.

Despite the one-man advantage, New England had a hard time even getting a shot on frame and Galindo made them pay, putting the game away for Chivas in the 89th minute. ‘El Angelito,’ as he is known, ran onto a long ball in space, put on the brakes to lose defender Jay Heaps, and fired a perfectly placed shot from the corner of the box into the back of the net, sailing over Reis but under the crossbar to seal the victory for Chivas by a score of 2-0.

By losing, the Revolution wasted a chance to move four points clear of the New York Red Bulls in the East, who lost earlier in the day in Columbus.

Chivas USA closed the gap in the West between themselves and the two Texas teams, moving to within six points of leaders FC Dallas with the win.

Scoring
CHV – Jesse Marsch 1 (Ante Razov 3, Maykel Galindo 4) 60’
CHV – Maykel Galindo 7 (Orlando Perez 1) 89’

Lineups
NE – Matt Reis, Avery John, Jay Heaps, Adam Cristman, Pat Noonan, Steve Ralston, Michael Parkhurst, James Riley, Gary Flood (Khano Smith 67’), Andy Dorman, Wells Thompson

CHV – Preston Burpo, Claudio Suarez (red card 81’) Francisco Mendoza, Ante Razov (John Cunliffe 84’), Maykel Galindo (Erasmo Solorzano 92’+) Jesse Marsch, Jason Hernandez, Alex Zotinca, Lawson Vaughn (Laurent Merlin 71’), Paulo Nagamura, Orlando Perez