Sunday, September 9, 2007

Chivas USA-New York Red Bulls running blog

0 - There are a smattering of fans here. My guess is somewhere around 4,000.

1 - It's me, Andrea, taking over for Luis. Bulls are staying in their huddle far longer than Chivas USA

Reyna and Angel are such a contrast - Claudio has his shirt tucked in and his shorts pulled way up - almost Urkel-style, while Angel has his shirt untucked and long, almost covering the number on his shorts.

3 - Panchito Mendoza on the run - he's great on the dribble. Waterreus catches the ensuing cross.

4 - Mendoza sends the ball over the top, Razov misses, as his defender manages to tie him up a bit, but Razov recovers and holds the ball in the box for a sec before finding Sacha Kljestan on the other side of the box. Kljestan jukes his defender and slides a pass in front of the goal for Galindo to one-time into the net. Nice play.

10 - Though it came early, the goal was a just reward for Chivas USA's work. They have had the lion's share of touches and have controlled the action, which has taken place mostly in the Red Bulls' half.

14 - Red Bull are settling down a bit holding their line better. Funny, isn't it, how much they obviously miss Jozy.

16 - Joe Vide has more touches in this game so far than Reyna. They're about the same quality, as well.

17 - Offsides on Mathis and he yells at the ref about it. Clint's put on weight since his early-season hot run of form.

19 Angel free kick! He slams it, but Guzan knocks it over the bar for a corner. Jeff Parke then knocks the corner over the bar.

21 - It's a bit lonely in the press box. The OC Register has cancelled soccer coverage for Chivas USA, so the excellent Miguel Melendez is here no more.

22 - Another Angel free kick - skims just over the top of the bar and bounces off the net.

23 - Clint on the break with a crappy pass that overshoots Angel - he raises his hand in apology. Red Bulls attack again, get the ball into the box, but no one can quite connect and finally a foul is called on New York for pulling at a defender.

25 - Clint with a hard shot from a bit outside the box that Jason Hernandez slides in front of just in time.

27 - Clint is down - he and Razov banged into each other.

28 - On the free kick that follows, Reyna chips the ball into the box, where John Wolyniec gets a head on it, but doesn't get it to go the direction he wished. Red Bulls seem to have found their feet and are attacking better now. Chivas USA have gone flat.

30 -Angel to Dave Vandenburgh, who slides a cross into Wolyniec, who falls trying to reach the ball with Shavar Thomas draped all over him.

33 - Jeff Parke picks Panchito's pocket in the box. Nice tackle.

34 He does the same thing to Galindo - living dangerously there. Chivas USA remember how to attack - Watterreus kicks out a close pass, Kljestan collects the rebound, and shoots but Waterreus is up to save it.

36 -One-Shoe Stammler does nicely to hold off Razov's access to a long pass.

39 - Wow - Mike Magee is alive. I'd forgotten.

42 - He's not especially effective, though, miscalculating his run to a long ball in the box that Guzan collect instead.

44 - I forgot to mention that Clint is out of the game - Magee came in for him. He must have hurt himself worse than it seemed in that knock with Razov.

45 - One minute of stoppage. Huh. Ok.

Half - Well, Chivas USA looked bright, crafty, clever and creative at the start, but then the Red Bulls began to play much better. Chivas USA probably relaxed a bit too much. They picked it up towards the end of the half, though. Now it looks like a back and forth match. New York has had chances, but they don't appear too dangerous, really.

Hey, Disney came to the halftime show. There's Mickey, Minnie, Donald Duck and Pluto, Goofy, Cinderella, Belle, Snow White and Chip and Dale. Yay. Usually we get the Chiva Girls - I like these cartoons better.

Welcome all. Glad you could squeeze in some Major League Soccer on the first Sunday of the NFL season. Myself, I spent the better part of the afternoon watching some pointy ball.

Anyway, here are the starting lineups:

Chivas USA: Brad Guzan; Lawson Vaughn, Jason Hernandez, Shavar Thomas, Jonathan Bornstein; Sacha Kljestan, Jesse Marsch, Paulo Nagamura, Francisco Mendoza; Maykel Galindo, Ante Razov.

New York: Ronald Waterreus; Chris Leitch, Jeff Parke, Seth Stammler, Kevin Goldthwaite; Joe Vide, Claudio Reyna, Dav van den Bergh, Clint Mathis; John Wolyniec, Juan Pablo Angel..

For Chivas, Claudio Suarez is listed as a reserve. He left Thursday's game against DC with an injury. Meanwhile, New York's bench features Hunter Freeman, Carlos Mendes and Dema Kovalenko among others.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

"34 He does the same thing to Galindo - living dangerously there. Chivas USA remember how to attack - Conway kicks out a close pass, Kljestan collects the rebound, and shoots but Conway is up to save it"

conway's in? Sucks that RBNY got scored on with both Conway and Waterreus in net!

And lay off Magee. He's been hurt for like the last year. :)

E. Charles Blanco said...

Any more info about the OC Register ending their coverage of Chivas USA?

As someone who works in the business, it's just another sign of the cutbacks all throughout the industry.

It's a shame too, considering Chivas have a legit shot to win the title.

Unfortunately, I'm guessing they still staff Galaxy games even with Beckham out for the rest of the season and the team going nowhere.

A.C. said...

Well, we haven't heard from Miguel himself yet, but that's the news from his colleague, Damian Calhoun. You're right, newspapers are suffering and cutting back a lot as a result. It's sad. What's interesting is that the OC is letting Damian finish out the season of Galaxy coverage, even though the Galaxy are far behind Chivas. Luis had this theory that it's because they've covered the Galaxy longer, or because the Galaxy draw more reader interest, like they draw more fans to the games themselves. Still, it's lame that Chivas USA are having a great season and then get the coverage ax. I told Luis, "It's going to make the Register look stupid if Chivas USA make MLS Cup."