OUT: DF Eric Ebert (R knee lateral meniscus surgery); GK Zach Thornton (L hamstring tear); DF Lawson Vaughn (L ankle ligament insufficiency); MF Raphael Wicky (R ankle surgery); FW Ante Razov (R calf strain); QUESTIONABLE: DF Jonathan Bornstein (concussion); FW Maykel Galindo (sports hernia surgery); MF Paulo Nagamura (R knee sprain); DF Carey Talley (concussion)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
SUSPENDED: DC: Jaime Moreno (through Oct. 12)
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: DC: Clyde Simms ... CHV: Sacha Kljestan, Jesse Marsch, Daniel Paladini
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: DC: Fred, Rod Dyachenko, Marcelo Gallardo, Devon McTavish, Jaime Moreno, Santino Quaranta ... CHV: Jonathan Bornstein, Maykel Galindo, Atiba Harris, Shavar Thomas, Ante Razov, Sasha Victorine
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (7 meetings): United 5 wins, 14 goals ... Chivas USA 1 win, 7 goals ... Ties 1
AT RFK STADIUM: (3 meetings): United 3 wins, 7 goals ... Chivas USA 0 wins, 1 goal ... Ties 0
• This is second of two meetings between the teams this season, the lone meeting to be played at RFK Memorial Stadium.
• When Chivas USA claimed a draw in the season series finale a season ago, it was their first-ever point taken against D.C. United. The Black-and-Red had won the first five meetings all-time between the clubs.
• Then Chivas USA won for the first time ever against United in the first meeting this year, a 3-1 win at The Home Depot Center.
• The Claudio Suarez penalty kick in the 2-1 result on Sept. 3, 2007 marked Chivas USA's first goal ever scored against D.C. United, putting an end to a 301-minute goalless drought in the series.
• Coaches record: Tom Soehn vs. CHV: P3 W1 L1 D1 ... Preki vs. DC: P3 W1 L1 D1
LAST MEETING (MLS):
5/17: CHV 3, DC 1 (Marsch 73; Kljestan 76; Flores 82 - Gallardo 30)
• Chivas USA came from behind for the first time in club history to record a victory, scoring three late goals in a 10-minute span for their first win ever against D.C. United, 3-1 on May 17 at The Home Depot Center.
• A stroke of brilliance put United ahead on the half hour. Marcelo Gallardo took a pass outside the area straight out from goal, made a quick move to his left to create space and hooked a masterful shot high into the upper corner past Brad Guzan, United's first goal in 220 minutes.
• But Chivas fought back in the second half and tied the game in the 73rd minute. D.C. 'keeper Zach Wells came sliding off his line to take the ball off the foot of Atiba Harris racing toward goal, but the rebound fell to Jesse Marsch and he knocked it home.
• Then three minutes later Chivas took the lead. Harris raced down the right flank to collect a loose ball and cut into the area before slotting a square pass to Sacha Kljestan who stroked it past Wells.
• In the 82nd minute, the Chivas comeback was complete. Kljestan sprung Harris clear with a long ball over the top, and after the St. Kitts and Nevis international corraled the ball in the area, he laid it off for Jorge Flores and the winner of the Sueno MLS 2007 competition ripped it into the back of the net for his first MLS goal.
• Here's Preki's team (3-4-3): Brad Guzan - Bobby Burling, Jesse Marsch, Jim Curtin - Atiba Harris, Daniel Paladini (Eric Ebert 58), Paulo Nagamura, Francisco Mendoza - Justin Braun (Anthony Hamilton 76), Ante Razov (Jorge Flores 67), Sacha Kljestan. Substitutes Not Used: Kraig Chiles, Dan Kennedy, Gerson Mayen, Keith Savage
• Here's Soehn's team (4-3-1-2): Zach Wells - Bryan Namoff, Domenic Mediate, Gonzalo Martinez, Marc Burch (Franco Niell 77) - Santino Quaranta, Clyde Simms, Ryan Cordeiro - Marcelo Gallardo (Rod Dyachenko 74) - Francis Doe (Luciano Emilio 58), Jaime Moreno. Substitutes Not Used: Jose Carvallo, Quavas Kirk, Dan Stratford, Mike Zaher
D.C. UNITED
D.C. United saw their league winless streak reach five games, falling 3-0 to FC Dallas on Sunday afternoon at Pizza Hut Park. United still have 33 points from 26 matches, still sitting in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, two points behind the New York Red Bulls yet a point ahead of the Kansas City Wizards.
LAST MATCH
• FC Dallas were coming off an impressive win in Chicago that ended a five-game winless run, while United were riding a four-game winless streak of their own, off a heavy defeat by the LA Galaxy.
• FC Dallas took just nine minutes to take the lead. From a free kick well out on the left, Andre Rocha swung in the ball, aiming for the back post. Yet while no one got on the end of it, the ball bounced in the goal area and nestled just inside the post for his third goal, all in the last six games.
• Jeff Cunningham continued his rich vein of form, doubling the lead in the 56th minute. Marcelo Saragosa swung in a cross from the left and Cunningham was able to get to it first and poke it past Louis Crayton, his fifth goal in seven games since joining FCD.
• Then three minutes into stoppage time, Kenny Cooper strolled forward from nearly the midfield stripe, cut into the area and lashed a left-footed drive inside the left corner for his 15th goal on the season.
• D.C. United head coach Tom Soehn made two changes to the team that lost 5-2 to the Los Angeles Galaxy the previous weekend at The Home Depot Center. Gonzalo Peralta and Jaime Moreno returned to the lineup from injury, as Gonzalo Martinez went to the substitutes' bench and Marc Burch was suspended.
• Here's Soehn's team (4-3-1-2): Louis Crayton - Bryan Namoff, Devon McTavish, Gonzalo Peralta, Ivan Guerrero -Thabiso Khumalo (Ryan Cordeiro 72), Clyde Simms, Fred - Santino Quaranta (Gonzalo Martinez 41) - Luciano Emilio (Rod Dyachenko 55), Jaime Moreno. Substitutes Not Used: Craig Thompson, Joe Vide, Zach Wells, Mike Zaher
• "I was disappointed in our effort in the first half," Soehn said. "Obviously, everybody knows the importance of this game. We talked all week and said the right things but that doesn't mean much when you don't execute. We came out flat. I don't think anybody worked. I adjusted things at halftime and it was better but you can't afford to waste a half. On hot days like this, the first goal usually dictates who wins the game."
TEAM NEWS
• Soehn started the game with four in the back, but removed Santino Quaranta just before halftime, bringing on Gonzalo Martinez as he went to a 3-5-2.
• "He's still got a bad knock on his leg from the LA game," Soehn said about Quaranta. "It was more cautious because we had to conserve some legs and make sure we weren't stuck and bound to keep them on the field late or have to take him off and play shorthanded. At no point did I want to (take him out) but that's what the game dictated. We weren't doing a good enough job with our shape."
• Moreno's red card became a two-game suspension after a decision by the MLS Disciplinary Committee on Wednesday. As well, Luciano Emilio was forced from the field with a hamstring injury early in the second half against FC Dallas, which will severely limit the United strike options over at least the next two games.
• "I didn't see it but it's something that Jaime has to do a better job with," Soehn said. "Whether he's provoked or whatever, he's got to be smart enough to know that these next games count. Missing for the next game is going to cost us two games, not just one."
• After winning the Open Cup Final on Sept. 3, United went the next six games winless, four in league play and the first two matches of CONCACAF Champions League group play.
• "Down this last stretch, every game is so crucial for us," said D.C. forward Rod Dyachenko. "We know how the other team is going to play, so we need three points every game. Not to get three points off a team that we thought we should get three points off is disappointing. That's just the way it goes sometimes in soccer."
• On Wednesday, Cruz Azul got a freaky deflected goal from Pablo Zeballos in the 56th minute for the game's only marker as D.C. United lost their third CONCACAF Champions League group match in as many outings.
• "The effort and the energy that a lot of the young guys brought on the field, obviously mixed with some of the veteran guys, it was a good, quality performance," said Soehn. "Unfortunately the way the goal happened, it was well wide and it ends up hitting someone in the backside and we end up eating one."
• Here's Soehn's team: Zach Wells, Greg Janicki, Marc Burch, Devon McTavish, Mike Zaher, Quavas Kirk (Thabiso Khumalo 61), Rod Dyachenko, Joe Vide (Ryan Cordeiro 46), Craig Thompson, Francis Doe (Ryan Miller 83), Jaime Moreno
CHIVAS USA
Chivas USA returned home and won for the second consecutive week, making two first-half goals stand up for a 2-1 victory against the Kansas City Wizards at The Home Depot Center on Saturday evening. Chivas USA now have 36 points from 26 matches and sit in second place in the Western Conference, four points behind the Houston Dynamo, now with a two-point cushion over third place Colorado and Real Salt Lake.
LAST MATCH
• Chivas USA had moved back into second in the West with their third win in four games the week before, while the Wizards were back on the road after recording back-to-back 2-0 shutouts at home.
• Facing his former long-time team for the first time, Sasha Victorine had a major part to play for Chivas USA. First, in the 26th minute, Victorine turned the corner on the left flank and laid a pass for Alecko Eskandarian, who drove it past Kevin Hartman for his fourth goal on the season and third in the last five games.
• Then in first-half stoppage time, Victorine was given time and space to hare forward from midfield and he launched a shot from just outside the area to double the Chivas lead.
• The Wizards came back into the game in the second half, and halved the lead in the 70th minute. A corner kick wasn't cleared, despite a couple of chances, and as it popped up in the area, Josh Wolff launched himself into a full overhead kick for his third goal since coming back to MLS.
• Chivas USA head coach Preki made two changes to team that defeated Real Salt Lake 1-0 the previous weekend at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Alex Zotinca made his first start of the year and Sasha Victorine made his first as a member of Chivas USA, coming in for the injured Carey Talley and Jonathan Bornstein.
• Here's Preki's team (4-4-2): Dan Kennedy - Alex Zotinca (Bobby Burling 67), Claudio Suarez, Shavar Thomas, Francisco Mendoza - Atiba Harris, Jesse Marsch, Sasha Victorine, Sacha Kljestan - Alecko Eskandarian (Maykel Galindo 77), Ante Razov (Justin Braun 30). Substitutes Not Used: Jim Curtin, Dejair Ferreira, Jorge Flores, Lance Parker
TEAM NEWS
• Victorine had made his Chivas debut the week before, coming on as a halftime substitute in the 1-0 win against Real Salt Lake. In his first start with the Red-and-White, he certainly made his mark. He had just one goal with the Wizards this season - ironically coming in the 3-2 Kansas City win against Chivas on Aug. 9.
• "I think he's a good player. He fits good in our system, he plays the ball on the ground, he sees things around him, he's a smart soccer player, he can score goals, he's good on set pieces," Preki said. "You can see tonight, in the 77th minute he was cramping but he stuck to it and he has a good mentality, a mentality that fits the group."
• Said Victorine:"Preki came up to me before the game and said 'You don't have anything to prove tonight' and that made me relax a little bit. Obviously you've got a lot of emotion when you go out there and you're playing against your old team."
• Eskandarian has started four of the last five games, his first start of the season coming on Aug. 30 vs. Toronto. He has three goals in that period.
• "I thought he was pretty sharp in the first half. His movement was pretty good, he was in involved in a lot of things, and he's progressing pretty good," Preki said. "He's been out for most of this year, and we always knew he was a good player, a dynamic player, he can score goals. It was just a matter of being patient and getting him on the field."
• In addition to Victorine making his first Chivas start, Jesse Marsch made his first start in six games after suffering a fractured jaw and Alex Zotinca made his first start of the season after undergoing preseason knee surgery. Maykel Galindo was also able to make a late substitute appearance, his first since Aug. 14.
• "A lot of new faces again from last weekend. We had to scramble and make adjustments," Preki said. "I give my guys incredible amount of credit because they fought and are still fighting. The whole year has been the same and they deserve what they are getting."
• Victories by Colorado, Salt Lake and Dallas meant Chivas made no forward advancement in the standings with the win. Now comes two consecutive away matches before finishing the season with two home games - the last against Houston, who Chivas feel is still within reach.
• "Anything is possible. Why not? We're not playing to be second, we're playing for first, and we're going to go into every game with the idea that we're going to get some points. That's the only thing we can do," Preki said. "Obviously Houston has a different idea, and they're a good team and we respect them, but we've got to just take care of our games. We can't worry about Houston or anybody else."
