Welcome to the beautiful Titan Stadium for tonight's SuperLiga (and I use the word beautiful loosely). I tried to get pictures of both teams before the match but only New England gathered for a team shot. Perhaps Chivas players were too focused on the game...
Here are the starting lineups:
Chivas: Dan Kennedy; Carey Talley, Claudio Suarez, Bobby Burling, Francisco Mendoza; Sacha Kljestan, Daniel Paladini, Jesse Marsch, Jonathan Bornstein; Ante Razov, Roberto Nurse.
New England: Matt Reis; Amaechi Igwe, Michael Parkhurts, Jay Heaps, Chris Albright; Sainey Nyassi, Steve Ralston, Shalrie Joseph, Jeff Larentowicz; Kheli Dube, Kenny Mansally.
And on to the match...
7 - Okay, updating all that took me some time. Chivas have had a few corner kicks but nothing too dangerous.
8 - Preki isn't here. He had to go to Serbia for some sort of emergency. Not sure when he's coming back, but the team won't have any games or anything for the next few weeks.
12 - Albright sends nice cross to far post but Igwe's side volley goes wide of goal.
15 - Pretty quiet first quarter hour. Most of the action came very early. The Revs are pretty organized as usual.
16 - Razov called for offside. Marsch just a fraction of a second too late on the pass, and Razov lets him knows it.
17 - Steve Ralston gets booked for a foul on Jesse Marsch.
19 - Dube has a breakaway but the ball skips away from his feet as Dube's touch was horrible.
21 - It looked like a Revs player was offside, Dube maybe, but no whistle was blown. It looked like the assistant was about ready raise the flag and but nothing was blown. Panchito took out a Revs player in the box but nothing was called.
24 - Ralston sends long free kick into area and Albright heads it but the ball goes wide of the goal.
26 - Revs with the better of the possessions here as Kenny Mansally rips a shot on goal. But the ball hits the outside of the net.
29 - Chivas with some good buildup but Panchito dribbles the ball around too much and can't get a shot off.
31 - Kljestan shot, deflects off Revs player, Razov with the shot but goes right to Reis.
33 - Bornstein finds some space at the top of the box but his shot floats away. Looked like he kicked a balloon there.
36 - Bornstein with a cross to Razov but the ball is just a bit too high for Razov. Then, Razov eventually gets the ball again but his slow-rolling 22-yard shot goes just wide of the post.
38 - Looks like Dube is down. Chivas held the ball for a while before knocking it out of bounds but i dont think they saw Dube laying on the field.
42 - Marsch with a blast and forces Reis to make diving save. Corner for Chivas and Kljestan sends it in but ball gets cleared away.
45 - Revs show same danger in stoppage time but a corner goes nowhere.
HALFTIME - Fairly even match but there was really just the one scoring chance, Marsch's late attempt. Revs would be happy with this result but Chivas USA needs a win to go through; if they draw, Pachuca's gotta lose.
46 - Substitutions... none for either side.
47 - Nyassi with a shot for the Revs but Kennedy turns him away.
49 - Revs with a dangerous set piece here. Ralston from the right side places it into the box but Kennedy punches it away.
52 - Kljestan sends Razov through but Razov can't get a clean shot off on goal. Reis makes the save but Razov cant control the rebound.
55 - Razov with an attempt but his shot goes just wide of goal.
59 - GOAL! Razov finally breaks through. Through ball from Paladini, Razov breaks past defense, Reis makes initial save but ball bounces out to Razov, who knocks it into an empty net.
60 - Paladini made a perfect pass to Razov. Reis actually made a partial save with his left hand but Razov had put so much force into it that Reis couldn't stop it but only slow it down. Razov has now scored a goal in six consecutive games.
69 - Revs trying to get back into the match but look a bit unsettled. Their SuperLiga campaign might be over, if this holds and Pachuca wins.
79 - GOAL! Revs. Joseph with a header, got past Kennedy and Paladini could't kick it out.
80 - Revs in driver's seat now. If they hang on, they win the group.
90 - Four minutes of stoppage time.
90 - Might be Chivas' last stand. Kljestan with a free kick on the left side. He swings it into the box and Marsch places header wide.
FULLTIME - Match is over. 1-1. New England wins group. Chivas needs for Santos to beat Pachuca.
Here are the starting lineups:
Chivas: Dan Kennedy; Carey Talley, Claudio Suarez, Bobby Burling, Francisco Mendoza; Sacha Kljestan, Daniel Paladini, Jesse Marsch, Jonathan Bornstein; Ante Razov, Roberto Nurse.
New England: Matt Reis; Amaechi Igwe, Michael Parkhurts, Jay Heaps, Chris Albright; Sainey Nyassi, Steve Ralston, Shalrie Joseph, Jeff Larentowicz; Kheli Dube, Kenny Mansally.
And on to the match...
7 - Okay, updating all that took me some time. Chivas have had a few corner kicks but nothing too dangerous.
8 - Preki isn't here. He had to go to Serbia for some sort of emergency. Not sure when he's coming back, but the team won't have any games or anything for the next few weeks.
12 - Albright sends nice cross to far post but Igwe's side volley goes wide of goal.
15 - Pretty quiet first quarter hour. Most of the action came very early. The Revs are pretty organized as usual.
16 - Razov called for offside. Marsch just a fraction of a second too late on the pass, and Razov lets him knows it.
17 - Steve Ralston gets booked for a foul on Jesse Marsch.
19 - Dube has a breakaway but the ball skips away from his feet as Dube's touch was horrible.
21 - It looked like a Revs player was offside, Dube maybe, but no whistle was blown. It looked like the assistant was about ready raise the flag and but nothing was blown. Panchito took out a Revs player in the box but nothing was called.
24 - Ralston sends long free kick into area and Albright heads it but the ball goes wide of the goal.
26 - Revs with the better of the possessions here as Kenny Mansally rips a shot on goal. But the ball hits the outside of the net.
29 - Chivas with some good buildup but Panchito dribbles the ball around too much and can't get a shot off.
31 - Kljestan shot, deflects off Revs player, Razov with the shot but goes right to Reis.
33 - Bornstein finds some space at the top of the box but his shot floats away. Looked like he kicked a balloon there.
36 - Bornstein with a cross to Razov but the ball is just a bit too high for Razov. Then, Razov eventually gets the ball again but his slow-rolling 22-yard shot goes just wide of the post.
38 - Looks like Dube is down. Chivas held the ball for a while before knocking it out of bounds but i dont think they saw Dube laying on the field.
42 - Marsch with a blast and forces Reis to make diving save. Corner for Chivas and Kljestan sends it in but ball gets cleared away.
45 - Revs show same danger in stoppage time but a corner goes nowhere.
HALFTIME - Fairly even match but there was really just the one scoring chance, Marsch's late attempt. Revs would be happy with this result but Chivas USA needs a win to go through; if they draw, Pachuca's gotta lose.
46 - Substitutions... none for either side.
47 - Nyassi with a shot for the Revs but Kennedy turns him away.
49 - Revs with a dangerous set piece here. Ralston from the right side places it into the box but Kennedy punches it away.
52 - Kljestan sends Razov through but Razov can't get a clean shot off on goal. Reis makes the save but Razov cant control the rebound.
55 - Razov with an attempt but his shot goes just wide of goal.
59 - GOAL! Razov finally breaks through. Through ball from Paladini, Razov breaks past defense, Reis makes initial save but ball bounces out to Razov, who knocks it into an empty net.
60 - Paladini made a perfect pass to Razov. Reis actually made a partial save with his left hand but Razov had put so much force into it that Reis couldn't stop it but only slow it down. Razov has now scored a goal in six consecutive games.
69 - Revs trying to get back into the match but look a bit unsettled. Their SuperLiga campaign might be over, if this holds and Pachuca wins.
79 - GOAL! Revs. Joseph with a header, got past Kennedy and Paladini could't kick it out.
80 - Revs in driver's seat now. If they hang on, they win the group.
90 - Four minutes of stoppage time.
90 - Might be Chivas' last stand. Kljestan with a free kick on the left side. He swings it into the box and Marsch places header wide.
FULLTIME - Match is over. 1-1. New England wins group. Chivas needs for Santos to beat Pachuca.
Man this is sad. I feel like I'm watching a high school game. At least there is some grass on the field unlike Houston's Robertson Stadium. Still I wonder if qualified groundskeepers are how to find in the US these days. Maybe US Soccer and MLS should set up workshops on the proper way to maintain a soccer pitch.
ReplyDeleteWith Abbey reffering this thing the game is over before it starts. One wonders how that guy keeps getting assignments.
How many people are there? 3K? SAD!!
As was pointed out earlier this week, this three-way tiebreaker needs some work. If the Revs were to lose, they'd be better off losing big than losing small. If they lost 4-0, Pachuca would have to win by four to knock them out. If they lost 1-0, Pachuca would only have to win.
ReplyDeleteSame thing last night. If Chivas had lost 8-0 they would have made the semifinals. Losing 2-0 they finished third and were out.
Yeah Pachito seriously ran over Nyassi and got away with it. Got to love that Ref Abbey O!!
ReplyDeleteThere have been a lot of Revs players on the ground in this game. Oddly though I've never seen Steve Nicol look so relax in a game before. I mean he's just kind of taking it all in.
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