Chivas USA vs. FC Dallas | MLS Match Preview

CHIVAS USA vs FC DALLAS
STUBHUB CENTER, Carson, Calif.
Aug. 3, 2014 (WEEK 21, MLS Game #201)
7 p.m. PT (TWCD; TWCS-TX)

Chivas USA and FC Dallas meet for the third time this season when the Western Conference foes clash in a crucial match Sunday evening at StubHub Center. Chivas USA have lost back-to-back games coming off a club-record equaling four-game winning streak, last a 3-0 loss at the Colorado Rapids that left them seven points behind the final playoff position. FC Dallas have gone six games now without a loss following their 2-2 draw at Vancouver last weekend, sitting in a tie for third in the division.

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REFEREE: Ricardo Salazar. AR1 (bench): Mike Kampmeinert; AR2 (opposite): Apolinar Mariscal; 4th: Kevin Stott
MLS Career: 190 games; FC/gm: 26.8; Y/gm: 3.4; R: 56; pens: 68

SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: CHV: Bobby Burling, Marky Delgado … DAL: Fabian Castillo
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: CHV: Tony Lochhead, Mauro Rosales, Donny Toia, Erick Torres, Nathan Sturgis … DAL: Matt Hedges, Michel, Blas Perez, Je-Vaughn Watson, Victor Ulloa
DISABLED LIST: CHV: Thomas McNamara … DAL: Hendry Thomas (season-ending injury)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none

HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (27 meetings): Chivas USA 6 wins, 30 goals … FC Dallas 12 wins, 37 goals … Ties 9
AT CHIVAS USA (12 meetings): Chivas USA 4 wins, 18 goals … FC Dallas 6 wins, 20 goals … Ties 2

2014 (MLS)
3/22: DAL 3, CHV 1 (Castillo 71; Watson 78; Michel 86 – Torres 81)
5/17: DAL 1, CHV 1 (Castillo 83 – Delgado 60)

• The teams are meeting for the third time this season, with FC Dallas winning once, a 3-1 victory on March 22 at Toyota Stadium behind goals from Fabian Castillo, Je-Vaughn Watson and Michel. A late goal from Fabian Castillo answered a Marky Delgado strike to pull FCD back into a 1-1 draw, May 17 in Frisco.
• Chivas USA haven’t won in Frisco since 2009, when they defeated FC Dallas 2-0. Since then, FCD is 3-0-4 at home vs. Chivas. The 3-1 Chivas USA win in Carson last season was their first vs. FC Dallas at home since the 2009 season.
• Coaches record: Oscar Pareja vs. CHV: P8 W5 L0 T3 … Wilmer Cabrera vs. DAL: P2 W0 L1 T1

LAST MEETING (MLS)

• Chivas USA took the lead in the 60th minute. Martin Rivero switched the ball to Mauro Rosales on the right flank, and he sent a sharp cross to midfielder Marco Delgado, who finished it past FCD goalkeeper Raul Fernandez for his first career goal, a day after his 19th birthday.
• But FC Dallas pulled even in the 83rd minute. Fabian Castillo slipped between defenders to get into the goal area and got onto the end of a cross from Jair Benitez, redirecting it past Dan Kennedy for the equalizer.
• FC DALLAS (4-2-3-1): Raul Fernandez - Zach Loyd, Stephen Keel, Matt Hedges, Michel (David Texeira 69) - Adam Moffat (Andres Escobar 64), Victor Ulloa - Je-Vaughn Watson, Fabian Castillo, Jair Benitez - Blas Perez (Tesho Akindele 85).
• CHIVAS USA (4-2-3-1): Dan Kennedy - Eric Avila, Bobby Burling, Carlos Bocanegra, Donny Toia - Oswaldo Minda, Martin Rivero - Mauro Rosales (Eriq Zavaleta 87), Marky Delgado, Leandro Barrera (Carlos Alvarez 62) - Erick Torres (Ryan Finley 79)

CHIVAS USA
Chivas USA suffered their second consecutive loss, falling 3-0 to the Colorado Rapids on Friday evening at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Chivas USA sit in ninth place in the Western Conference with 23 points from 20 games.

LAST MATCH

• The Rapids took the lead in the 16th minute. After Vicente Sanchez’s initial shot was blocked, Nick LaBrocca took the rebound from just outside the area and curled a left-footed effort off the post and to the back of the net.
• Ten minutes later, the Rapids doubled their lead. A perfectly-placed corner from Dillon Powers went straight to Drew Moor, who made no mistake with his open header, blasting it straight into the back of the net.
• The home side completed the scoring in the 75th minute when Gabriel Torres cut back inside and beat Chivas ‘keeper Dan Kennedy with a left-footed curling blast from the left corner of the area.
• Chivas USA head coach Wilmer Cabrera made five changes to the team that fell 3-1 to D.C. United at RFK Stadium. Akira Kaji and Andrew Jean-Baptiste came into the back four, Nathan Sturgis and Eric Avila came into the midfield and Leandro Barrera started up top, replacing Carlos Bocanegra, Tony Lochhead, Mauro Rosales, Oswaldo Minda and Marvin Chavez.
• CHIVAS USA (4-4-2): Dan Kennedy - Akira Kaji, Eriq Zavaleta, Andrew Jean-Baptiste, Donny Toia - Marky Delgado (Matthew Dunn 80), Agustin Pelletieri, Nathan Sturgis, Eric Avila (Ryan Finley 64) - Leandro Barrera, Erick Torres.

TEAM NEWS

• Chivas USA have followed up a four-game winning streak – matching the longest in club history – with back-to-back losses, following the loss at Colorado.
• “I’m disappointed about some players’ mentality, especially some guys that had a chance to play, they have the possibility to step up on the field. The first thing that you do in these types of games is be well prepared with the right tools,” said Chivas USA head coach Wilmer Cabrera. “Some players went on the field with cleats that are not good for this weather and these conditions. They were slipping over there, and obviously they cost a goal. With that, they don’t pay attention, and they don’t learn that this is a professional game and they have to have a professional mentality. That’s why we get exposed.”
• Erick Torres saw his six-game goal-scoring streak come to an end, one game shy of the MLS record of seven consecutive games with a goal, achieved three times previously by Raul Diaz Arce (1997), Wolde Harris (2000) and Carlos Ruiz (2006).
• "We didn't have good control of the ball," Cabrera said. "And then when we had control and we had possibilities to attack, the last pass or cross wasn't clear."
• Andrew Jean-Baptiste made his first league start since April 19, coming into central defense, while Akira Kaji made his first MLS and Chivas USA start, at right back.
• “These opportunities are few for some young guys that want to play,” Cabrera said. “We had some injured guys -- Carlos was injured, Bobby [Burling] is still injured and Marvin [Chavez] had a little problem. Some guys are tired because they've been carrying a heavy load and we needed some young guys to step up, some fresh legs to step up.”
• Said center back Eriq Zavaleta: “We were a bit too spread out and weren't organized maybe as well as we should have been. You can make excuses about altitude, travel and things like that all you want, but we didn't play well enough. We made mistakes that we've made continually throughout the year. They are things we need to fix if we want to make a playoff push.”
• Jean-Baptiste started ahead of Carlos Bocanegra, who missed the game through concussion. Bobby Burling missed a third consecutive match following a knee injury.
• Nathan Sturgis made his first Chivas USA, playing a central midfield role. He had made four consecutive substitute appearances after being acquired in a trade with the Colorado Rapids.
• “I think we struggled a little bit defensively to get good pressure on them, and I think that translated in us not being able to keep the ball as much as we wanted to. The two things are connected. If you’re not organized, and not playing well defensively, then it makes it tough to keep it. If you’re not keeping it, it’s tough to defend. I think that both sides of the ball, we were just not very sharp,” said Sturgis. “We weren’t able to settle the game down and get ahold of the ball, and play a little bit on their end. I think we resorted to lumping it forward, and it wasn’t working too well.”
• Leandro Barrera made his first start since July 5, partnering Erick Torres in attack, coming into the team after two consecutive substitute appearances.

FC DALLASa

FC Dallas extended their undefeated run to six games, reaching a 2-2 draw with Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Sunday afternoon at BC Place. FC Dallas sit in a tie for third place in the Western Conference with 30 points from 21 games.

LAST MATCH

• Whitecaps FC took the lead after just 11 minutes. Darren Mattocks opened the scoring when he ran onto an inch-perfect through ball from Gershon Koffie and drilled it home from just outside the area.
• FC Dallas pulled even in the 29th minute when Zach Loyd's header beat Vancouver goalkeeper David Ousted but crashed off the crossbar before falling to Blas Perez, who put the rebound high into the net from just four yards out.
• FC Dallas went up 2-1 with six minutes remaining in the first half. Carlyle Mitchell jumped for a long ball into the box with his arm raised and made clear contact, and referee Kevin Stott pointed to the spot. Michel then duly converted the penalty kick.
• But Whitecaps FC canceled out that goal with a penalty of their own in the 53rd minute. Moises Hernandez was adjudged to have handled the ball right near the edge of the box, and Pedro Morales converted the penalty to leave the game knotted up.
• FCD head coach Oscar Pareja made two changes to the team that defeated the New England Revolution 2-0 at Toyota Stadium. Walker Zimmerman and Michel came into the team, in place of Je-Vaughn Watson and Andres Escobar.
• FC DALLAS (5-3-2): Raul Fernandez - Zach Loyd, Matt Hedges (Mauro Diaz 46), Stephen Keel, Walker Zimmerman, Moises Hernandez - Victor Ulloa, Michel, Adam Moffat - Tesho Akindele (Ryan Hollingshead 90), Blas Perez (Peter Luccin 84).

TEAM NEWS

• FC Dallas extended their undefeated streak to six games (3-0-3) with the 2-2 draw with Vancouver. FCD last lost in a league game in a 2-1 home defeat by San Jose on May 31.
• “We came up here to find three points and at the end, with the options that we had, we couldn’t walk away with three points,” said FCD head coach Oscar Pareja. “It was a great job for our players, great sacrifice with certain difficulties we had prior to the game, and within the game, we brought Matt [Hedges] out at the half because of injury. That hurt us too, because it was a good half. But, it was a good match ñ we played against a good team.”
• Pareja ran out his team with five nominal defenders. He started a trio of center backs with Matt Hedges, Stephen Keel and Walker Zimmerman, with Zach Loyd and Moises Hernandez playing as wingbacks. FCD had used the scheme on June 29 against Columbus in MLS play, and against the Carolina RailHawks of the NASL in the U.S. Open Cup.
• “We decided to go with that formation knowing that we will have options with Blas [Perez] and Tesho [Akindele], and we wanted to be solid in the middle,” Pareja said. “I thought we clogged when we wanted, we made it difficult for them.”
• FCD was missing Fabian Castillo, who was serving the final match of a four-game suspension, while Je-Vaughn Watson was unavailable, and Andres Escobar suffered an injury in the week leading to the match.
• “I think that our outside backs, Moises and Zach have a lot of space and they have open range to go back and forth, which just opens space for them out wide,” said midfielder Victor Ulloa.
• The scheme did have to change when Hedges was forced off at halftime after suffering concussion-like symptoms. “He is doing much better,” Pareja said. “I think he will be on track very soon. I think we will have him available on Sunday [at Chivas USA].”
• Michel scored his sixth goal of the season, his fourth from the penalty spot. All six of Michel’s goals have come from dead-ball situations – four from penalties, and two directly from free kicks.
• Blas Perez scored his sixth goal of the season, his first since June 11.
• “It was a tough game. We leave with a point, which is the good thing about it. It’s an important game for us; we’re going to play them two more times, so it was important that we get off on the right foot, and I think we did that,” said Ulloa.