Chivas Feels the Heat in 2-1 Loss to Salt Lake
Chivas USA’s reinforcements from Mexico began working out with the club last week.
But attacking midfielder Francisco Palencia, forward Juan Pablo Garcia and defender Hector Garcia will not be allowed to play for Chivas USA in a Major League Soccer match until after the international transfer window opens Aug. 15.
The team could have used the trio Saturday at Salt Lake City’s Rice-Eccles Stadium as Chivas fell to Real Salt Lake, 2-1, in the final regular-season meeting between the two Major League Soccer expansion clubs.
Temperatures hit 118.9 degrees on the artificial turf in the first half.
It was a bitter loss for last-place Chivas, which fell to 3-15-3 after having scored the first goal in a hotly contested and foul-marred match that saw the ejections of Salt Lake forward Clint Mathis and Chivas defender Esteban Arias.
After Mathis was fouled by Jesus Ochoa, Isaac Romo kicked the ball at the prone Mathis. Pushing matches broke out immediately.
After things settled down, Arturo Torres, who started Chivas’ first four matches at forward before finding the bench, gave Chivas the 1-0 lead in the 28th minute.
Taking a through ball from midfielder Ramon Ramirez, Torres, who has started the past two MLS matches, sped past the Real back line and with D.J. Countess leaving his line to meet him, Torres’ left-footed shot skidded off the goalkeeper to find the back of the net.
It was the first goal of a disappointing year for Torres, who was Chivas’ first pick in the expansion draft, from the Galaxy, and marked Ramirez’s team-leading fifth assist.
But that was it as far as highlights went for Chivas.
Real, which improved to 5-11-4 to put some more distance between the two Western Conference bottom feeders, had twice as many shots as Chivas, 22-11, and 12 shots on goal to Chivas’ six.
Chivas was also hit with five yellow cards and one red card, compared to Real’s one red card, and Chivas was called for 18 fouls, Real was called for eight.
Real forward Andy Williams tied the score, 1-1, in the 49th minute after Chivas defender Ezra Hendrickson lost the ball near the goal. Jason Kreis gathered the ball on the left and immediately sent it to Williams in the middle, where he fired it past goalkeeper Brad Guzan.
It was the Jamaican national’s second goal of the year, and the 5,000th goal scored in the nine-plus year history of MLS.
Real’s game-winner came on a Kreis penalty kick in the 74th minute. The controversial PK, Kreis’ seventh goal of the season, was called by referee Ricardo Salazar after Chris Brown, on a breakaway, was bumped by Antonio Martinez in the box and went down.
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Gutierrez reported from Los Angeles.
