FC Dallas vs. Chivas USA | MLS Match Preview

FC DALLAS vs CHIVAS USA
TOYOTA STADIUM, Frisco, Texas
May 17, 2014 (WEEK 11, MLS Game #98)
7:30 p.m. CT (KTXA-CBS)

FC Dallas and Chivas USA meet for the second time this season when the Western Conference clubs face off Saturday evening at Toyota Stadium. FC Dallas return home looking to put the skids on a four-match losing streak, coming off a 2-1 defeat by the San Jose Earthquakes. Chivas USA are coming off their first victory in nine games, starting their road swing with a 3-1 win at the Colorado Rapids last weekend.

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REFEREE: Drew Fischer. AR1 (bench): Bill Dittmar; AR2 (opposite): Gianni Facchini; 4th: Ismail Elfath
MLS Career: 28 games; FC/gm: 26.3; Y/gm: 2.8; R: 2; pens: 8

INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: CHV: Oswaldo Minda
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: DAL: Fabian Castillo, Michel – CHV: Carlos Alvarez, Bobby Burling
DISABLED LIST: none
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: CHV: Marvin Chavez (HON)

HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (26 meetings): FC Dallas 12 wins, 36 goals – Chivas USA 6 wins, 29 goals – Ties 8
AT DALLAS (14 meetings): FC Dallas 6 wins, 16 goals – Chivas USA 2 wins, 11 goals – Ties 6
FUTURE MATCH: 8/3: Chivas USA vs. FC Dallas, 7 p.m. PT

• The teams are meeting for the second time this season. FC Dallas got three goals over final 19 minutes of the game, from Fabian Castillo, Je-Vaughn Watson and Michel, to storm back for a 3-1 triumph March 22 at Toyota Stadium.
• Chivas USA haven't won in Frisco since 2009, when they defeated FC Dallas 2-0. Since then, FCD is 3-0-3 at home vs. Chivas, ending a streak of three consecutive draws with this year's victory.
• The 3-1 Chivas USA win in Carson in the first meeting a season ago was their first vs. FC Dallas at home since the 2009 season.
• Coaches record: Oscar Pareja vs. CHV: P7 W5 L0 T2 – Wilmer Cabrera vs. DAL: P1 W0 L1 T0

LAST MEETING (MLS)

3/22: DAL 3, CHV 1 (Castillo 71; Watson 78; Michel 86 – Torres 81)

• FC Dallas took the lead in the 71st minute. From a free kick, Mauro Diaz sent in a looping ball that found defensive midfielder Hendry Thomas in the box. He nodded the ball down for an onrushing Fabian Castillo, who put the ball first-time into the back of the net.
• The lead was 2-0 in the 79th minute. From just inside the halfway line, Diaz and found Je-Vaughn Watson on the far side. The perfectly weighted ball skipped off a defender and allowed Watson to dribble around an exposed Chivas USA goalkeeper Dan Kennedy before slotting home from a harsh angle.
• Two minutes later, Chivas USA pulled a goal back when substitute Kris Tyrpak took a pass from Adolfo Bautista on the left side of the box and sent in a low cross for Erick Torres to turn home from close range.
• But just five minutes later, FCD restored their margin when substitute Michel drove a free kick through the wall from outside the area on the right, the ball taking a deflection on its way past an outstretched Kennedy.
• FC DALLAS (4-2-3-1): Chris Seitz - Kellyn Acosta, Matt Hedges, Stephen Keel, Jair Benitez - Hendry Thomas (ejected 94+), Adam Moffat (Andrew Jacobson 11 / David Texeira 66) - Je-Vaughn Watson, Mauro Diaz, Fabian Castillo - Blas Perez (Michel 76).
• CHIVAS USA (4-4-2): Dan Kennedy - Eric Avila, Eriq Zavaleta, Carlos Bocanegra, Tony Lochhead - Mauro Rosales, Oswaldo Minda (Marky Delgado 44), Thomas McNamara, Leandro Barrera (Kris Tyrpak 71) - Erick Torres, Luke Moore (Adolfo Bautista 78).

FC DALLAS
FC Dallas had their losing streak extended to four matches, falling 2-1 to a 10-man San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday evening at Buck Shaw Stadium. FC Dallas sit in a tie for third place in the Western Conference with 16 points from 11 games.

LAST MATCH

• The Quakes took the lead in the 23rd minute. Goalkeeper Jon Busch sent a long ball back downfield after a cleared corner kick, and center back Clarence Goodson flicked it goalward. Cordell Cato burst past a defender, chested it down and slotted home between the legs of FCD goalkeeper Raul Fernandez.
• But just before the break the Quakes were reduced to 10 men when Shea Salinas drew a straight red from referee Chris Penso after a one-footed studs-up tackle on Dallas right back Zach Loyd.
• The Quakes used some good forture to double their lead in the 73rd minute. Marking Chris Wondolowski on a free kick from the right flank, FCD striker David Texeira wound up twisting around and knocking the ball off his back just inside the near post.
• FC Dallas pulled a goal back just three minutes later following a foul just outside the top of the San Jose penalty area. Michel stepped up and hammered a stunning free kick into the top of the goal in the upper left corner.
• FCD head coach Oscar Pareja made three changes to the team that suffered a 2-1 defeat by Seattle Sounders FC at CenturyLink Field. Victor Ulloa, Tesho Akindele and Fabian Castillo all came into the midfield, in place of Adam Moffat, Andrew Jacobson and David Texeira.
• FC DALLAS (4-2-3-1): Raul Fernandez - Zach Loyd (David Texeira 46), Walker Zimmerman, Matt Hedges, Michel - Hendry Thomas (Jair Benitez 73), Victor Ulloa - Tesho Akindele (Andrew Jacobson 89), Danny Garcia, Fabian Castillo - Blas Perez.

TEAM NEWS

• FC Dallas matched their club record with their fourth consecutive defeat. It's the eighth time in the club's 19 seasons FCD has lost four games in a row.
• "At this point, it's hard to see all of the positive things, but I'm glad that you asked me that because the way that these guys ran the field was very well done," said FCD head coach Oscar Pareja. "I have to praise my players and I back them up with all of my heart because there was nothing but effort and desire."
• Michel scored his fifth goal of the season, all from deadball situations. He's blasted home two goals directly from free kicks; he's also converted three penalty kicks. Michel has scored three goals straight from free kicks in his eight career MLS goals.
• Tesho Akindele made his first career MLS start, playing 89 minutes in a wide midfield role. He had made two substitute appearances totaling 15 minutes before the start vs. San Jose.
• "We have some guys that are big and can match them that way, but we also have guys that are faster, like Fabian Castillo and myself," Akindele said. "I feel like we can get at them on the outside and just use our speed against them, which helped us get a lot of crosses, too."
• There were two significant injury blows out of the San Jose match. Just before the game, it was announced playmaking midfielder Mauro Diaz will miss from 6-10 weeks after undergoing surgery on his right knee.
• "You want continuity," Jacobson said. "But then again, if you stick with one XI, one injury can throw your whole season off. Now you're leaning on guys who haven't played a minute. When you start rotating, maybe you don't get the continuity but now you have 20 guys who are confident and fit. I think we have a very deep team. We have enough good players to rotate."
• Then Hendry Thomas was forced from the field late in the contest after suffering a muscle tear in his right leg, which is expected keep him out of the lineup for 6-8 weeks.
• "Big loss; he is a great player," central defender Matt Hedges said. "He's got a lot of experience in big leagues, and you can just tell when he was on the field he was our midfield pivot, so it's a big loss."
• Said Pareja: "We have to have options at this moment when the injuries don't give us a break."

CHIVAS USA
Chivas USA put an end to their winless streak after eight matches, rolling to a 3-1 win against the Colorado Rapids on Sunday afternoon at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Chivas USA sit in a tie for seventh place in the Western Conference with 9 points from 10 games.

LAST MATCH

• Chivas USA opened the scoring on their first chance of the match in the 56th minute. A cross from midfielder Martin Rivero - making his first start for Chivas after his midweek acquisition from Colorado - found a wide open Erick Torres for an easy header into goal.
• Eleven minutes later, the lead was doubled when Chavez sprinted down the heart of the field, taking advantage of a gaffe in the Colorado back line to race 70 yards and chip over Rapids goalkeeper Clint Irwin from the top of the box.
• Then nine minutes later it was 3-0, after defender Marc Burch misplayed a back pass to Irwin and Chavez was quickest to it to fire home for his second goal of the game.
• The Rapids pulled a goal back in stoppage time when Deshorn Brown curled home a shot from the left side of the box from a loose ball, but it was far too little, too late.
• Chivas USA head coach Wilmer Cabrera made three changes to the team that suffered a 4-1 defeat by , the Houston Dynamo at StubHub Center. Dan Kennedy came back from suspension to replace Tim Melia between the posts, and Marky Delgado and Martin Rivero came back into the team in place of Carlos Alvarez and Adolfo Bautista.
• CHIVAS USA (4-2-3-1): Dan Kennedy - Eric Avila, Bobby Burling, Carlos Bocanegra, Donny Toia - Oswaldo Minda, Agustin Pelletieri (Marvin Chavez 57) - Marky Delgado, Martin Rivero, Leandro Barrera (Mauro Rosales 77) - Erick Torres (Ryan Finley 81).

TEAM NEWS

• Chivas USA put an end to their eight-game overall winless streak and their 19-game road winless streak in the win at Colorado. The road winless run was the fourth-longest in MLS history, snapped on a weekend when two of the four longest in MLS annals were put to an end (also D.C. United, 21 games).
• "After a year and two months of not winning [on the road] for this franchise, it was necessary and important for us to be sure that we needed this, for all of us, for the work that we've been doing and for the work and effort are putting on the field," said Chivas USA head coach Wilmer Cabrera. "It's a new process we're working here with Chivas USA, and today we saw good results. When you play away, it's not easy."
• Making his Chivas USA debut, Marvin Chavez came off the substitutes' bench and scored two goals. Chavez had been obtained from the Rapids just days before the match, in a deal that sent Luke Moore to Colorado, then Toronto FC.
• "I didn't imagine that would happen; I was only thinking about contributing to the team," Chavez said. "I thought that we were capable of earning the three points. This was a blessing for all of us. I'm a professional. I came to do my job and take advantage of the opportunity from Wilmer. I'm happiest for the three points."
• Chavez became the first Chivas USA player other than Erick Torres to score a goal since Thomas McNamara and Bobby Burling scored in the season opener March 9.
• Torres scored his eighth goal of the season, over the first 10 games. Torres is now second in the MLS Golden Boot standings, one goal behind New York's Bradley Wright-Phillips.
• Martin Rivero made his first start of the season for Chivas USA, coming into a central midfield role. He had come on as a halftime substitute the week before.
• "We planned an intelligent game," said Rivero. "We knew [the Rapids] liked having possession of the ball and we tried to play with their desperation. When we had the ball, we tried to attack. In the first half, with the difficulty of the weather, it was complicated for both teams, but a bit more for us."
• Mauro Rosales was able to come off the substitutes' bench for the final 13 minutes after missing the Houston match entirely with an adductor strain.
• "[Chavez and Rivero] have the confidence, personality and talent to impact the game," Cabrera said. "That's what we were looking for to finish the game -- with Marvin, Martin and Mauro Rosales on the field. It's important for all of us to get that confidence. The chemistry is getting better and better."
• There was a significant transaction following the match, when Adolfo Bautista left the club by mutual agreement. The former Mexican international Bautista did not score a goal in seven appearances (one start) with Chivas USA this season.