On a steamy Thursday night at The Home Depot Center, Chivas USA earned a 2-0 win over Cuauhtémoc Blanco and the Chicago Fire, to leap into a second-place tie in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference.
Chivas USA’s goals were both scored in the first half, by U.S. Olympic hopeful Sacha Kljestan (Huntington Beach, Calif.) and rookie FW Justin Braun (Salt Lake City). Ante Razov picked up two assists.
The raucous crowd of 24,143, Chivas USA’s largest so far of 2008, included vocal support from the club’s fan groups Legión 1908 and Union Ultras, as well as the Huntington Park High School band.
Chivas USA played the entire second half with 10 men after the 46+-minute expulsion of midfielder Paulo Nagamura, who received his second yellow card of the game at the end of the first half.
Thursday's game marked the second appearance in Southern California of the Chicago Fire’s Mexican Designated Player Cuauhtémoc Blanco, who formerly played with Club América of Mexico’s First Division.
Captain Claudio Suárez, who faced Blanco countless times in the Mexican First Division, made his return to Chivas’ starting lineup from injury. The 39-year-old started, playing 90 minutes.Swiss midfielder Raphaël Wicky made his first start for Chivas USA since being acquired in the offseason. The World Cup and Euro 2004 veteran played 45 minutes and created several scoring chances.
Chivas USA Head Coach Preki, on Thursday’s match: “A very good result for us. I thought for the most part of the game we were pretty good. … I thought we weren’t sharp in the beginning, we gave up a chance or two but also we had a chance or two as well. After that I thought we were pretty decent, we were good with the ball, we were moving the ball pretty good, we created some chances and I just thought we were going to score. Once we scored, the second came.”
Chivas goalkeeper Brad Guzan and midfielder Sacha Kljestan have been called in to the U.S. National Team ahead of its upcoming qualifier in Barbados. The two are scheduled to fly to Miami on Friday.The Red-and-White remain at The Home Depot Center next weekend, as they look to avenge an earlier loss to the New York Red Bulls on Saturday, June 28. Don’t miss the special Disney halftime moment!
For tickets or more information on Chivas USA, please call 1-877-CHIVAS-1, visit http://www.cdchivasusa.com/ or contact Chivas USA Communications.
