For the first time in club history, Chivas USA have won three consecutive games at the start of a season.
Eduardo Lillingston scored early in the second half to give Chivas USA a 2-1 advantage Sunday against the Columbus Crew and the club made it stand and walked away with three points in yet another match.
With a team-record three wins to start a season, yet another multi-goal effort and another goal from Lillingston, it would seem the club fired on all cylinders on Sunday.
Not exactly, Chivas USA coach Preki said.
"We'll take the three points. It was one of those games ... I'm always afraid of," he said. "For whatever reason, there was not a real football atmosphere in the stadium, guys are a little bit flat, not sharp, whatever."
Chivas USA scored the first goal of the game despite that. Defender Jonathan Bornstein found Gerson Mayen along the left flank and fed the ball to the youngster. Mayen beat Crew midfielder Eddie Gaven and slipped a pass to Atiba Harris, who knocked the ball into the back of the net.
But the club then seemingly became complacent afterward and Crew defender Andy Iro capitalized as he scored in the 37th minute to level terms.
"For whatever reason we dropped in our half and started defending, inviting Columbus in our half," Preki said. "We knew they were a tough team ... on set pieces and every time they have a set piece it's going to be tough. They found a way in the game quite frankly we were lucky to go into halftime even."
Still, Chivas USA overcame their lethargic first-half effort to reclaim the lead for good. Carey Talley sent a free kick into the penalty area, where Shavar Thomas stood. Thomas knocked a header on frame but the ball hit the post and bounced to the front of the goal. Lillingston beat teammate Jim Curtin to the ball and tapped it into the back of the net.
Four minutes later, the makeup of the game changed as Iro was sent off after a vicious tackle on Carey Talley. Iro's challenge left Talley on the ground for more than a minute and the veteran defender limped noticeably in the locker room after the match.
Not even with a man ahead, though, could the hosts put Columbus away. The Crew had three shots on goal in the second half but goalkeeper Zach Thornton came up with a solid performance.
"We got one set piece in the half ... and we found a way to score," Preki said. "After that, they got a man down and for whatever reason instead of us being the team dominating the play we kept losing the ball in the midfield, we started turning the ball over, the guys who came off the bench didn't give us the things we were looking for, for whatever reason."
Thornton's presence was critical, Preki said. He turned away Alejandro Moreno in the 87th minute when Moreno unloaded a 22-yard rocket on goal.
"Zach was sharp tonight, made a couple of good saves and at the end of the day we found a way to win," Preki said. "For right now I'll take the win and we'll move on to next game."
Still, the match featured several encouraging performances. Lillingston scored his first goal at home for his new club and is making his presence with the team in a short amount of time. Before last week's game-winning goal in Dallas, Lillingston's last goal in a competitive match was nearly two years ago as Lillingston bagged a pair for Tecos in a 2-0 win over San Luis on April 28, 2007.
"The important thing is to win," Lillingston said. "The team is on a good streak and I'm happy to keep scoring for the team and for the fans."
Lillingston said he is adjusting to his new surroundings and new teammates well, but also said there is room for improvement.
"We need to get a better understanding, work together and become a good team," Lillingston said. "We've won but we need to become a better team. We still need to improve."
Meanwhile, for Mayen the match was memorable. A week ago, he made his MLS debut when he started against FC Dallas. On Sunday, Mayen played for the first time at home, before a wealth of family and friends. Mayen said he had around 40 supporters cheering him on from the stands.
"I wasn't trying to think about it too much because it would probably get in your head," said Mayen, who graduated from nearby Manual Arts High School. "The things that you want to come out right might come out wrong. I wasn't thinking about it too much but I was a little nervous."
Still, he couldn't help but to look towards his relatives.
"I tried not to but it's just a little thing. You have to look at your family," Mayen said.
Luis Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
