Chivas Falters at the Finish
In a constant rain, dressed in their striped jerseys, they danced and sang and waved their Mexican flags.
With the clock counting nearer to 90 minutes Saturday night, the smattering of boisterous Chivas fans at Gillette Stadium could sense that something magical was about to happen. Chivas USA, the Major League Soccer expansion team with the most porous defense in the league, was about to shut out the New England Revolution, MLS’ highest scoring team.
Then, the chanting and bouncing and celebrating stopped and the rain seemed to turn to tears.
In the 88th minute, Revolution midfielder Clint Dempsey beat Chivas defender Ryan Suarez in the box and went vertical to head in Marshall Leonard’s cross from the left side. The goal, Dempsey’s fourth of the season, gave New England a 1-0 defeat of a crestfallen Chivas USA squad in front of a drenched Hispanic Heritage Night crowd of 7,813.
“I take full responsibility for the loss,” said Suarez, who was playing a week after being sidelined because of a concussion, his third in five years.
“That was my player that scored. It was my fault. There are no other words to describe what happened.”
What happened was Chivas let a chance at a season-shifting draw escape. And on a night when 20-year-old rookie goalkeeper Brad Guzan had the game of his young professional life. Chivas (0-4-1) is still searching for its first win. The Eastern Conference-leading Revolution improved to 4-0-1 and won its third match in eight days.
With each spectacular save Guzan made, the Chivas fans acknowledged him, chanting “Por-ter-o, Por-ter-o,” Spanish for “Goal-keep-er.”
“It’s awesome the support we get, no matter where we are,” said Guzan, who entered the game with the worst goals-against average in MLS at 2.75 but with the most saves, 19. Against the Revolution, Guzan had seven more saves, perhaps none more brilliant than the pair he had in the first half. He stopped Taylor Twellman’s point-blank shot from five yards with his ribs in the 32nd minute before diving to deflect a blistering Pat Noonan volley from the middle of the box minutes later.
“It’s frustrating to play a great team like New England in New England in [poor] conditions and give up a goal on a play we talked about -- we knew they’d try to whip in a cross,” Guzan said.
But New England had no idea that Chivas would abandon its frenzied offensive attack, a strategy that often leaves Chivas woefully thin in the back. In an effort to slow down the Revolution, which began the game with 12 goals scored, Chivas Coach Thomas Rongen altered the formation of his team, which had given up 11 goals before Saturday.
Rongen flooded the midfield with a 3-5-2 alignment in hopes of playing the Revolution, which also uses a 3-5-2, to a stalemate. The strategy worked ... for 87 minutes.
“Clearly the game was dominated by New England, but by a certain degree by design,” Rongen said, alluding to Chivas’ formation and game plan. “To give up a goal in the [88th] minute is tough. But in the end, it’s probably just.”
New England controlled the run of play and with the number of dangerous chances it had, it only seemed a matter of time before the Revolution found the back of the net. New England outshot Chivas overall, 15-5, and in shots on goal, 9-2. The Revolution also had 13 corner kicks and Chivas didn’t have any.
Chivas, which prides itself on a finesse style, was uncharacteristically physical, five players receiving yellow cards -- Hector Cuadros, Matt Taylor, Thiago Martins, Isaac Romo and Suarez.
And with Chivas’ counter-attack all but nonexistent because of its style -- Taylor and Martins were the two forwards and Romo came in for Taylor in the 76th minute -- Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis made only two saves, neither of which was on a dangerous opportunity.
Perhaps Chivas’ best chance came in the 56th minute, when Suarez’s attempted bicycle kick in the box ended with him booting Revolution midfielder Shalrie Joseph in the face. Referee Kevin Terry whistled the play dead before Martins’ shot off the rebound found the back of the net.
