Chivas - D.C. second half blog

-- That's it. Ball game. Chivas 2, D.C. United 1.

-- Last chance? D.C. corner kick in the 88th minute. Header on goal by Walker, cleared over crossbar, another corner kick. Ball bounced around dangerously but no goal.

-- Change for Chivas: Martinez out, Jose Patlan in.

--Troy Perkins made a nice save off a shot from Sergio Santana. Perkins dived to his left to stop the shot. Namoff is cramping up but he stays on.

-- D.C. is having problems getting the ball near the Chivas goal. Their possessions are dying in the midfield.

--Ben Olsen picked up a yellow in the 80th minute. Not sure what it was for. Oh, he kicked Diego Martinez, well, he tried to kick him.

-- Luciano Emilio has been quiet for a while. So too has Gomez. Without Moren, one of them is going to have to step up. Or Fred's going to have to show something right away.

--Free kick from about 30 yards. Christian Gomez took it and it deflected off a Chivas player. Corner kick for D.C. Moreno is out of the game. Jamil Walker is in for Moreno. Walker thisclose to being part of the Chivas family. He was drafted by Chivas USA in the 2004 expansion draft but inexplicably cut in the preseason. Corner went nowhere.

--Quarter hour left. Chivas looks like they'll be heading to the final.

-- Chivas is pretty much in control of the game now. D.C. has tried to shake off Perkins' howler but it has clearly affected their play. Chivas looks very comfortable with the ball.

--Moreno made a nifty move to get free inside the area but it was only for a moment. He wasn't able to do much with the ball and it was cleared out by Chivas. D.C. is playing with some urgency as well they should.

-- 66th minute, the debut of the highly touted Fred. Let's see what this guy is all about. Fred's wearing number 7.

-- Gonzalo Pineda is 1-0 against DC in Mexico. He was on Pumas' 2005 team, the one that routed DC 5-0 in Mexico City in this same tournament.

-- 59th minute, Simms had space down the right flank but his cross into the area went nowhere. Chivas counter ends up with shot over goal.

-- Chivas has more space now that D.C. is pushing forward.

-- DeRoux sent a nice cross into the area and Moreno hit a sliding shot on goal but Michel made a good save. D.C. almost leveled the match.

-- Wow. That was bad. Just bad. Not something you would expect from a the goalkeeper on the league's best regular-season team from last year. That noise you heard overhead was the air going out of D.C. United.

-- Brian Namoff fouled Diego Martinez on the right flank. Dangerous free kick. Morales swung it in, the ball went out to the top of the area and --- OH NO!!! Perkins botched it. Gonzalo Pineda shot from 27 yards hit Perkins in the hands and floated over his head and into the back of the net. Chivas 2-1.

-- Not a whole lot going on in the first 5 minutes of the second half. A lot of passes that are going nowhere for both sides.

-- There doesn't look like there are too many fans at this game.

Okay, I'm trying this again. Second half just started.