Chivas USA gives coach first victory
It took a little longer than he had hoped. And it wasn’t as stylish as he probably had wished. But none of that made Martin Vasquez’s first victory as an MLS coach any less special.
“I’m a little emotional right now,” Vasquez said. “It means a lot. It’s very special.”
Yet, that might be the only memorable thing about Chivas USA’s 2-0 victory over the New York Red Bulls on Saturday in front of 12,597 at the Home Depot Center.
After opening the season with two sloppy losses in which it failed to score, Vasquez’s team was only slightly better for much of this game. However, that changed late in the first half when Jesus Padilla came off the bench in place of Ante Jazic, who left because of a knee sprain.
“He provided a great spark,” team captain Sacha Kljestan said of Padilla.
Actually, he provided more than just a spark. He provided all the Chivas scoring, though he had a little help from some unexpected sources.
The first goal, a gift from the Red Bulls, came two minutes into the second half after a Padilla shot from about 20 yards hit a defender and ricocheted off the right goalpost. The ball bounced to Bouna Coundoul, the New York goalkeeper, who batted it into the net to give Chivas (1-2-0) its first lead, and score, this season.
Padilla’s second goal, which came in stoppage time, was only slightly less unusual since it started with a goal kick by Chivas goalkeeper Zach Thornton. That ball bounced over forward Chukwudi Chijindu and a Red Bull defender to Padilla, who took control of it just outside the 18-yard box then beat Coundoul.
Thornton wound up with an assist on the play, his fourth in 258 MLS games.
But Padilla’s substitution wasn’t the only change Vasquez made to the lineup Saturday. Thornton got his first start and forward Maykel Galindo and midfielder Osael Romero started on the bench for the first time. The 4-4-2 formation that resulted was something that came out of a Friday meeting between Vasquez and team leaders Kljestan and Jonathan Bornstein.
“One difference is we scored,” said Bornstein, who moved from defense to the midfield in the new lineup. “And two, we didn’t give up any goals.”
Much of the credit for that second fact goes to Dario Delgado who, in his MLS debut, helped shut down Juan Pablo Angel and Macoumba Kandji, the heart of the attack for New York (2-1-0).
“I know there are a few things, or a lot of things, we have to fix. And they’re fixable,” Vasquez said. “But I’m very proud of my team, how they responded after these two first losses.
“It wasn’t pretty at times. But we got the results. We know we can score and we know we can defend.”
