Chivas makes do in 2-0 win
The last time Jesse Marsch scored a goal, it was in front of a Major League Soccer-record crowd of 92,650 at the Los Angeles Coliseum on Aug. 6 in a game against the New England Revolution.
“This one was in front of 900 fans,” Marsch said after the game.
Not quite, but not far from it either.
Marsch’s first goal since last year came in front of an announced crowd of 9,028 at the Home Depot Center in Carson on Saturday night. Despite playing without four of its regular starters, Chivas USA beat the Eastern Conference-leading Revolution, 2-0, to remain unbeaten at home. Chivas stayed in third place in the Western Conference, three points behind Houston and six behind leader Dallas, its next opponent Wednesday.
“We knew a game at home like this was going to be important, so I’m glad we came away with three points,” said Marsch, who scored in the 60th minute to put the home team up, 1-0.
The first half of the game was pretty forgettable, but Chivas came out strong in the second half with two goals -- the one by Marsch and a spectacular one by Maykel Galindo in the 88th minute, when Chivas was playing a man down after captain Claudio Suarez was red-carded.
On Marsch’s goal, Ante Razov came down the right side of the field to near the corner kick mark. Razov, who had Galindo inside the box, chose not to send in a cross and moved the ball inside. Razov saw that Marsch was making a run up field and tapped the ball over to him. The pass went in between three defenders to Marsch, who one-timed the ball past a diving a Matt Reis.
“It was random timing on the field,” Marsch said. “I knew at halftime that I wanted to push forward for our team a little bit and make some good plays. So the timing worked out perfectly. He got his head up, saw me and I connected with the ball and it all worked out.”
After the goal, action picked up. Five cards, including Suarez’s red and a yellow to Chivas’ Paulo Nagamura, were handed out after the 65th minute.
Suarez’s ejection means that he will miss the next game, possibly more.
“In the second half, it seems like on every play I felt [the Revolution’s Adam Cristman’s] elbow,” Suarez said. “I’m not going to exaggerate when they hit me, so he hit me again and I decided to hit him back. I didn’t want to hit him hard, but my weight carried me.”
Suarez said the auxiliary referee was the one that stepped in and told referee Michael Kennedy that his hit warranted a red card.
“That’s what I don’t understand about the refereeing in this league sometimes,” Suarez said. “The fourth referee steps in and makes the decision all of the sudden, but there are times when they say they can’t step in. So I don’t understand.”
His suspension, coupled with that of Nagamura because of an accumulation of yellow cards, means two more starters out for Chivas, already without Jonathan Bornstein, Brad Guzan and Sacha Klejestan, who are playing for the U.S. in the Copa America. They will get Shavar Thomas back from his one-game suspension, though.
Chivas improved to 5-0-1 at home this season, all wins on shutouts. Chivas is 6-4-2 overall, as the Revolution fell to 6-3-4.
Chivas has outscored its opponents, 13-1, in those six games.
Preston Burpo, who faced only two shots on goal, credited the guys in front of him for his shutout, especially those that played in place of a starter.
“To be honest, I didn’t have to do much because the guys in front of me were brilliant,” Burpo said. “Everyone contributed.”
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