Chivas loses SuperLiga opener

Pachuca defender Bruno Marioni scored off a disputed free kick and midfielder Gerardo Rodriguez also got a goal as the defending champions beat Chivas USA, 2-1, in the SuperLiga Group B opener Sunday night at Carson.

Chivas Coach Preki called Marioni’s goal a “changing point” in the game, and was upset with a yellow card given to midfielder Francisco Mendoza preceding the free kick. He thought Mendoza’s tackle was clean, but the referee thought otherwise.

“There’s no way that’s a free kick, much less a yellow card,” Preki said.

Chivas struck first at Home Depot Center, capitalizing in the 16th minute off a Pachuca miscue. Pachuca defender Leobardo Lopez attempted to clear the ball out of his own box, but instead sent it right to Chivas’ Sacha Kljestan. Kljestan found a streaking Ante Razov in front of the net, and he scored.

Pachuca evened it up in the 23rd minute with the free kick off the Mendoza yellow card. Pachuca midfielder Gerardo Rodriguez sent the kick in low to Marioni, who managed to get a foot on it while battling a Chivas defender to direct the ball into the net.

“After that we got caught in a moment and lost … focus a little bit,” Preki said. “You give the ball away in the wrong part of the field and they punish you.”

Pachuca made Chivas pay for its lack of focus in the 42nd minute. Rodriguez crossed the ball to midfielder Gabriel Caballero near the left post. Caballero headed the ball toward the right post and past Chivas goalkeeper Lance Parker, to give Pachuca the 2-1 lead it held the rest of the way.

Parker, 22, making his MLS debut for Chivas, made five saves in place of Brad Guzan, who agreed to a transfer with English club Aston Villa, and regular backup Dan Kennedy, who is injured.

Chivas had the chance to help out its new goalkeeper in the first half, especially in the opening minutes.

In the third minute, Chivas defender Jonathan Bornstein broke away from the defense following a throw-in near midfield. Bornstein raced down the left side of the field until he found midfielder Kljestan in the middle of the box, but Kljestan’s shot hit the crossbar.

Then in the eighth minute, Pachuca defender Fausto Pinto went up for a header in the box against Chivas forward Atiba Harris, but on his way up, Pinto hit the ball with his hand. Pinto was given a yellow card, and Chivas a penalty kick. However, Claudio Suarez’s attempt hit the left post and deflected away from the net.

Chivas created few chances against Pachuca’s conservative play in the second half. Its best chance came in the 60th minute, when a header from Razov nearly went in the net. But Pachuca goalkeeper Miguel Calero dived and slapped the ball away just before it crossed the line.

 chris.hine@latimes.com