OUT: FW Justin Braun (R ankle sprain); MF Jesse Marsch (fractured jaw); DF Carey Talley (L thigh strain); MF Raphaël Wicky (R ankle surgery); DF Alex Zotinca (R knee surgery); QUESTIONABLE: FW Maykel Galindo (sports hernia surgery); PROBABLE: FW Alecko Eskandarian (sports hernia surgery); FW Ante Razov (L knee sprain); DF Lawson Vaughn (R knee sprain) ... TORONTO FC - OUT: DF Todd Dunivant (ankle); DF Nana Attakora-Gyan (knee)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
SUSPENDED: CHV: Shavar Thomas (caution accumulation; through Aug. 31)
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: CHV: Atiba Harris, Sacha Kljestan, Jesse Marsch
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: CHV: Jonathan Bornstein, Maykel Galindo; Paulo Nagamura, Daniel Paladini ... TOR: Amado Guevara, Abdus Ibrahim, Carl Robinson
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (2 meetings): Chivas USA 2 wins, 4 goals ... Toronto FC 0 wins, 0 goals ... Ties 0
AT THE HOME DEPOT CENTER (1 meeting): Chivas USA 1 win, 2 goals ... Toronto FC 0 wins, 0 goals ... Ties 0
• This is the first of two meetings between the clubs this season - with both occurring on back-to-back weekends. The teams will meet next Saturday at BMO Field.
LAST SEASON (MLS):
4/7: CHV 2, TOR 0 (Razov 35; Kljestan 88)
8/18: TOR 0, CHV 2 (Galindo 57; Kljestan 88)
• Chivas USA won both meetings between the teams in Toronto FC's inaugural season, winning by 2-0 scorelines at each stadium.
• Coaches record: Preki v TOR: P2 W2 L0 D0 ... John Carver vs. CHV: first game
CHIVAS USA
Chivas USA saw their winless streak reach six games, playing to a scoreless draw with the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday night at The Home Depot Center. Chivas now have 24 points from 21 matches, moving into a three-way tie for fourth place in the Western Conference with the Colorado Rapids and LA Galaxy, two points behind FC Dallas.
LAST MATCH
• A pair of teams heading in opposite directions met in a vital game at the foot of the West. The Earthquakes had been unbeaten in their last five matches, while Chivas USA had not won a game in their last five tries. Chivas USA's last win came against the Earthquakes on July 5.
• Both goalkeepers stood tall. Chivas USA seemed to have taken the lead in the 73rd minute, but an apparent goal from Alecko Eskandarian was ruled out for offside.
• Then five minutes from the end, Ronnie O'Brien had a terrific chance to give the Quakes a dramatic winner, but Zach Thornton made a superb save to preserve the scoreless draw.
• Chivas USA head coach Preki made five changes to the team that lost 4-0 to the Houston Dynamo at midweek. With Carey Talley and Claudio Suarez injured, Jim Curtin came into the back line and Sacha Kljestan came into the midfield. Kraig Chiles and Jorge Flores were also returnees to the lineup, along with Ante Razov, in place of Bobby Burling, Daniel Paladini and Roberto Nurse.
• Here's Preki's team (4-4-2): Zach Thornton - Jonathan Bornstein, Jim Curtin, Shavar Thomas, Francisco Mendoza - Kraig Chiles (Alecko Eskandarian 59), Sacha Kljestan, Paulo Nagamura, Jorge Flores (Daniel Paladini 86) - Atiba Harris, Ante Razov. Substitutes Not Used: Bobby Burling, Dan Kennedy, Roberto Nurse, Claudio Suarez, Lawson Vaughn
• "I don't really like making excuses but when every week we change four or five guys in the lineup it's difficult," Preki said. "... But the commitment from the players is magnificent. I think they all work hard and they're committed."
TEAM NEWS
• The injury crisis continued to afflict Chivas as a couple more starters went down during the Earthquakes game, and again Chivas struggled to find their way. The Red-and-White were shut out for the third time in five games.
• "[For] the first 15 to 20 minutes of the first half we weren't really sure of ourselves because of so many changes [but then] I thought we did pretty good," Preki said. "We tried to push forward, we tried to get a goal. I think we did everything but get a goal, and I'm disappointed that we didn't get three points. I thought we were the better team on the night."
• While Sacha Kljestan was able to return to the lineup for the first time in five games after Olympic and international duty, he didn't have his usual running mate in Jesse Marsch, who missed a second match with a fractured jaw suffered in the SuperClásico.
• "It's always tough when you don't have a guy who has started every game of the season," Kljestan said. "In my two and a half years in this league, I think every game I've started, Jesse has as well. We have a good relationship. It's tough when you take out one of the links of the team that has been there since the beginning, but it happens to everybody."
• After conceding 10 goals in his first four games with Chivas - four at midweek in the loss to Houston - Zach Thornton recorded his first shutout with the club.
• "I was more happy to get the point. We've been struggling a bit as far as getting results and getting points, and we didn't get three tonight but we got one, and that's a good starting point for us going forward," Thornton said. Said Preki: "San Jose maybe has one good look at the end, and Zach makes a good save but we had 10. I don't know if that's not good playing but we had 10 good looks [at goal tonight]."
• On Tuesday, Chivas fell 2-0 to Panama's Tauro FC in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League preliminary round series at Estadio Rod Carew in Panama City. Panamanian international Edwin Aguilar scored in the seventh and 67th minute to give the Toros de Pedregal a big advantage heading into next Tuesday's return match.
• "We didn't come out the way we wanted to come out from the locker room. We fell quickly behind at the seventh minute. It was difficult for us, we were caught by surprise and we were 2-0 behind. We created one or two opportunities with Atiba Harris ... if he scores, it was going to be another game but we don't score and we go to halftime 1-0 down," Preki said. "At the second time, I tried to push the tempo a little bit, we made one mistake and we got punished. We are still not out of it, hopefully we can get together and may be get two or three [players] back."
• Here's Preki's team: Zach Thornton, Jonathan Bornstein, Claudio Suárez (Jim Curtin 46), Shavar Thomas, Francisco Mendoza, Kraig Chiles (Lawson Vaughn 62), Paulo Nagamura, Daniel Paladini (Alecko Eskandarian, 46), Jorge Flores, Sacha Kljestan, Atiba Harris
TORONTO FC
Toronto FC saw their home winless streak reach four games, though they came back to snatch a 1-1 draw with the New England Revolution on Saturday evening at BMO Field. TFC is tied for sixth place in the Eastern Conference with 26 points from 21 games, level with the Kansas City Wizards, five points behind the New York Red Bulls and D.C. United.
LAST MATCH
• The Revolution had put an end to a quick two-game skid and moved back atop the East with a 2-1 home win at midweek against D.C. United, while Toronto FC had just one win in their last eight league games and had lost for the first time at home in nearly a year in their last appearance on the shores of Lake Ontario.
• The Revolution jumped out to a first-half lead as Taylor Twellman continued his return to form. Chris Tierney flighted in a cross from the left flank and Twellman popped up to head home with authority, his third goal in four games and fourth in an injury-plagued season.
• But TFC drew back level in the 66th minute. Rohan Ricketts worked free on the left and cut in a rolling cross, finding Chad Barrett. He quickly cut back and drove a quick, low-footed shot inside Doug Warren's right-hand post for his second goal in three games since coming to the club from Chicago, his seventh on the campaign.
• TFC head coach John Carver made three changes to the team that lost 2-0 to the New York Red Bulls the weekend before. Marvell Wynne was back from Olympic duty and came back into the team along with Amado Guevara (back from suspension) and Tyrone Marshall, in place of Nana Attakora-Gyan, Abdus Ibrahim and the released Laurent Robert.
• Here's Carver's team (3-4-1-2): Greg Sutton - Tyrone Marshall, Julius James, Marco Velez - Marvell Wynne, Kevin Harmse (Tyler Rosenlund 62), Carl Robinson, Jim Brennan - Amado Guevara - Rohan Ricketts (Johann Smith 88), Chad Barrett (Abdus Ibrahim 78). Substitutes Not Used: Danny Dichio, Brian Edwards, Tyler Hemming, Jarrod Smith
• "I thought we deserved to get something more, although we could've lost it towards the end," Carver said. "You know Sutts pulled off a great save and Julius James pulled off a fantastic block. He does that every day in training so when he did it tonight I was pleased, because that is as good as a goal, what he did."
TEAM NEWS
• Carver ran out his team in a 3-5-2-system, putting Jim Brennan and Marvell Wynne in the wide midfield roles, giving Amado Guevara two holding midfielders behind him and using Rohan Ricketts in attack with Chad Barrett.
• "If you cast your mind back to when we played in New England, we struggled playing 4-4-2 against them because ... they played 3-5-2 then," Carver said. "I said we wouldn't be able to handle their three [midfielders] inside so I had to play with three in there."
• Carver said Guevara's midweek international duty, when he played the full 90 minutes for Honduras in a 2-1 loss to Mexico, also played a factor. "I had to give him a release gap to try and play off that, so that's why I went with the five [midfielders]," Carver said.
• Carver tried everything possible to get the full three points at the end. "It nearly cost us because we were driving forward to try and win the game," Carver said. "You know what we're like on the road [a 2-8 record], we're not picking up many points, so I want to get as many as I can at home. I wanted the three points."
• Carver said that Ricketts is a natural playmaker, not goalscorer, but that his workrate and effort certainly brought a bright dimension to the TFC attack.
• "I'm happy there because I'm ... in a more central position so I've got a wider scope to my left, to my right," Ricketts said. "Sometimes when you're on the wing it's easy to be marked, so you get it and the guy is there so you just have to beat him. But [at striker] I can pick up positions where I'm on the front foot because there's so much movement now that if I get the right space, it's beneficial for me and the team and it's harder for me to be marked."
• After his international duty with Guatemala and taking care of personal matters, Carlos Ruiz joined the team at the start of the week and will be available for the Chivas match. Carver indicated there is little question Ruiz will find his way on the field, likely paired with Chad Barrett, his two big midseason acquisitions.
• "I'll play with two strikers, that's for sure," Carver said. "Whether I play 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 it'll depend on personnel. ... I like to play in 4-4-2 when I can, but in certain circumstances like tonight I'll go with a 3-5-2 and play offensive."
