Chivas USA dropped valuable points at home on Saturday evening, falling victim to a late Juan Pablo Angel goal and a missed penalty kick to settle for a 1-1 draw with the New York Red Bulls at The Home Depot Center.
Sacha Kljestan had put the Red-and-White ahead in the 64th minute, but New York came charging back in the game's closing minutes to snatch away the win from the home side.
Kljestan especially will regret a missed penalty kick in stoppage time that could have sealed the victory for Chivas USA. His low shot fooled Bouna Coundoul but skipped just left of the goal to condemn the Red-and-White to the draw.
Chivas USA wasted no time, attacking right from the opening whistle. The first wave of offense was sparked by Ante Jazic in just the second minute. The Canadian veteran streaked up the left flank and slotted a low pass into the box that found Kljestan. Kljestan almost snuck a quick shot through Bouna Coundoul's legs, but the New York goalkeeper reacted well and kicked the shot out of bounds.
Preki's men continued to pile on the offense, and almost found the back of the net again in the 11th minute, this time relying on Maicon Santos for a bit of magic. Carey Talley crossed a ball in from the right flank that was headed clear onto the feet of Paulo Nagamura. Nagamura blasted a shot from 20 yards that Santos stepped in front of and cleverly redirected with a backheel. His touch beat Coundoul but skipped wide right and over the endline.
New York finally began to find its footing in the 20th minute, but struggled to break down a Chivas USA midfield that was resolute in holding its ground. Led by strong performances from Nagamura and rookie Michael Lahoud the Red-and-White parried away countless attacks from the Red Bulls strikers before they were able to put anything together.
At the other end of the pitch, it was Kljestan and Justin Braun who were emerging as Chivas USA's offensive spark. The two combined from the left flank on a number of occasions, producing a few good chances for the Red-and-White in the last 10 minutes of the first half.
Looking to boost their firepower for the second half, Chivas USA added a third striker to its lineup, replacing Jesús Padilla with Maykel Galindo. The speedy Cuban made his presence felt almost immediately. Getting onto the end of a low Kljestan cross in the 52nd minute, he pushed the ball back out of the box and onto the feet of Lahoud. The young rookie drilled a low shot, but his effort was collected by Coundoul on the ground.
Chivas USA finally broke the deadlock in the 64th minute thanks to a dazzling individual display from Kljestan. The midfielder collected a loose ball about 25 yards out from the New York goal and, seeing Coundoul off his line, hit a long shot that sailed over the top of the Red Bulls goalkeeper and into the right side of the net to put the Red-and-White ahead.
The Red-and-White almost struck again inside of 10 minutes. Getting on to the end of a good through ball from Nagamura on the left, Santos outraced his man and headed toward goal. The Brazilian chipped the ball over the head of a charging Coundoul, but his effort rattled off the crossbar to keep the Chivas lead at 1-0.
Santos again caused problems for New York in the 79th minute, this time hammering a free kick from 21 yards out that Coundoul only barely managed to tip wide right of the net with a diving save.
Any momentum that Chivas USA had was quickly squelched in the 84th minute. New York substitute Sinisa Ubiparipovic found a bit of space on the left side of midfield and lofted a high cross into the penalty spot. Angel timed his run perfectly and nodded the ball into the back of the net with a leaping header to level the score at 1-1.
The Red-and-White charged back into the New York end and, after a number of near-misses, were finally rewarded a penalty kick in the 93rd minute when Galindo's shot knocked off Andrew Boyens' hand. Kljestan stepped up to take the shot, but missed wide left in what proved to be the final action of the game.
Chivas USA now travel to Washington to take on D.C. United next Saturday, while the Red Bulls remain on the road, traveling to San Jose to take on the Earthquakes, also on Saturday evening.
Jeffrey King is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
