No Answers for Chivas USA
It took all of 31 seconds for Martin Zuniga to get his Major League Soccer baptism by fire Sunday night.
That’s how long it took FC Dallas to welcome the Mexican veteran goalkeeper with a goal.
And Dallas poured it on in the second half against Zuniga and Chivas USA, finishing with a 5-2 defeat of the MLS expansion franchise in front of an announced crowd of 8,977 at the Home Depot Center.
The loss dropped Chivas to 1-7-1 and also prompted a meeting for today between club President and co-owner Antonio Cue and Coach Thomas Rongen, who accepted full blame for the loss and his club’s early-season woes.
Cue scuttled speculation that Rongen would be fired, saying Rongen would be on the sideline for the next match but would not commit to him further than that.
“I have a lot of confidence in Thomas,” Cue said. “Thomas is the coach for the Galaxy game, for sure.”
The defeat also sullied the starting debut of center-forward Isaac Romo, who had one of Chivas’ goals, and the return of midfielder Francisco Gomez from injury. It also marked the third consecutive Chivas home match in which attendance dropped markedly, and on a night when the team offered free admission to anyone 50 or older.
Dallas (5-1-3) strengthened its hold on first place in the Western Conference with goals by Aaron Pitchkolan, Carlos Ruiz, Ronnie O’Brien, Eddie Johnson and Roberto Mina.
The troubles for Zuniga, who went down with a left knee injury March 2, looked much like the ones suffered by 20-year-old rookie Brad Guzan at the beginning of the season, when he surrendered 11 goals in his first three-plus games.
With Guzan playing well of late, the move of Zuniga to the starting lineup was met with curiosity, especially against the high-powered attack of Dallas, which had 11 shots on goal.
“It was an unfortunate performance,” said Zuniga, who added that he had never surrendered a goal as early as the first minute. “When you take five goals, there is nothing to say. You just come back to work.
“We talked about being very watchful in the first 10 minutes. We didn’t pay attention.”
The early goal came when O’Brien had possession on the right side and beat Chivas defender Armando Begines by sliding the ball through the top of the box, where both Ruiz and Johnson whiffed on their respective shot attempts.
Ramon Nunez did not and his shot deflected off Pitchkolan and rolled slowly by a diving Zuniga.
Chivas tied the score at 1-1 in the 19th minute on Hector Cuadros’ penalty kick, his team-leading third goal of the year, and Chivas felt good about itself with a tie at the half.
Two Dallas goals within the first six minutes of the second half erased the good feelings, though Romo’s header, his second goal of the year, off a Cuadros cross pulled Chivas within 3-2 in the 53rd minute.
Johnson then scored in the 69th minute and Mina did the same in injury time.
“We win and lose as a team,” Chivas defender Ryan Suarez said. “Martin, we left him high and dry for three of the five goals.
“It doesn’t get much lower than this.... We’re all worried about our jobs.”
Said Rongen: “I’m responsible for this. The buck stops with me. I have to do some soul-searching. I’m not a quitter and I’ll keep on fighting.”
