Required by injury and absences to field a patchwork offense, Chivas USA could not break through the league's best defense and lost their first MLS match in almost two months, falling 1-0 to the Chicago Fire before a sellout crowd at Toyota Park Saturday.
The loss dropped Chivas to 6-7-4 (22 points) overall and gave the Red-and-White a 1-4-3 record on the road this season.
Chivas coach Preki had almost an entire team's worth of injuries to deal with, but was mostly thin at forward. Alecko Eskandarian, Maykel Galindo and Ante Razov were on the injury report, although Eskandarian and Galindo (both recovering from groin surgeries) were listed as reserves and played in the second half.
Also, Sacha Kljestan was in Beijing playing with the U.S. Olympic team, and midfielder Jorge Flores was with the U-20 national team.
Even Preki was not at field level, serving the second of a two-game suspension after being sent off in the Home Depot Center derby against the LA Galaxy.
Preki's lineup included a surprise at goalkeeper. Zach Thornton, the former Fire player, was given the start just one day after being traded to Chivas by the New York Red Bulls. Chivas was in search of a starting goalkeeper after Brad Guzan signed a deal with Aston Villa of the English Premier League.
Chivas has not played a league game since the July 10 1-1 SuperClasico draw with the Galaxy. While they were the home game that day, the Red-and-White had not played an MLS game away from The Home Depot Center since playing at New York June 5. Their last league loss came the next weekend, June 14 vs. Real Salt Lake.
The Fire played the game without Mexican midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco, suspended due to yellow card accumulation.
Chivas did not stage any sort of offensive thrust in the first half and recorded only two shots, neither of them on goal.
Their best scoring opportunities came off of free kicks, including one by former Fire midfielder Jesse Marsch that went off the head of forward Atiba Harris and over the net. In the 39th minute, Carey Talley sent a free kick from near midfield into the box and Harris' sharp header went directly into Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch's arms.
The Fire goal came in the 16th minute when Chivas failed twice to clear the ball from a corner kick. Chris Rolfe latched onto a cleared corner kick at the top of the penalty area, and while his first touch got away from him, rookie Patrick Nyarko reacted quickly to it and hooked a high, curling shot past Thornton.
In the 30th minute, Paulo Nagamura was carded for a reckless foul on Fire midfielder John Thorrington. In stoppage time, captain Claudio Suarez and Nyarko collided while challenging for a corner kick, and Suarez had to be carried off the field on a stretcher. Bobby Burling replaced Suarez in the lineup at the start of the second half.
Team officials reported Suarez was hit in the back of his head and was dizzy at halftime.
In the 58th minute, Chivas got a free kick off a handball by Thorrington. From 23 yards out, Nagamura's kick squirted through the wall but right into Busch's hands.
In the 64th minute, Galindo entered the match for Lawson Vaughn and the Chivas attack improved from that point on.
On the counter in the 67th minute, Galindo, Harris and Mendoza got inside the area but could not get off a shot on goal. The ensuing corner kick was ineffective.
In the 70th minute, Chivas got the ball inside the box again, but three different thrusts failed to produce a goal.
In the 73rd minute, Chivas inserted Alecko Eskandarian into the match for Keith Savage. But they couldn't find the final touch needed to dent the Fire defense, which has now recorded a league-leading eight shutouts.
Kent McDill is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
