One is enough for Chivas USA
Chivas USA managed only one shot on goal Wednesday night against Santos Laguna, but that was all it needed.
Forward Ante Razov’s goal in the 73rd minute lifted Chivas to a 1-0 victory over Santos Laguna at Home Depot Center and kept it in contention to advance out of Group B in the SuperLiga tournament.
Razov’s goal, his fifth in five games, came off a header set up by a cross from midfielder Sacha Kljestan.
Kljestan controlled the ball on the right side of the field while Razov made a run toward the near post. Once the cross came in, Razov sent the ball toward the far post and beat Santos goalkeeper and Mexican national team member Oswaldo Sanchez.
“Sacha and I have developed a pretty good chemistry as of late, and I just wanted to set my guy up and get to the near post,” Razov said.
With the win, Chivas earned its first three points of the tournament and will now face the New England Revolution-- which earned its sixth point of the tournament with a 1-0 win over Pachuca -- on Sunday.
Chivas will probably advance with a win over New England, but it might not be in that position if not for an offside call and a little luck.
Santos Laguna’s Oribe Peralta appeared to score in the 89th minute, heading in a ball off a free kick, but an offside call wiped away the goal. Despite the protests of many Santos Laguna players, the call stood.
Santos Laguna ended up with four shots on goal, and had one of its best opportunities in the 12th minute, when Santos forward Christian Benitez made a run that beat the Chivas back line.
Benitez had a one-on-one with Chivas goalkeeper Dan Kennedy, and moved to his right to get past Kennedy. With Kennedy on the ground, Benitez was alone, eight yards away from the goal, with an empty net in front of him. However, his shot hit the crossbar and was cleared by Chivas.
“We got lucky on that play,” Chivas Coach Preki said. “Basically, we survived.”
Chivas struggled on offense partly because Razov and midfielder Jesse Marsch, two of its offensive leaders, sat out the first half. Chivas took six shots in the half but none threatened Sanchez.
Jonathan Bornstein took three of those shots himself, all of them from outside the box, with two sailing over the net and one going wide left.
Before the match, Chivas announced that midfielder Raphael Wicky underwent surgery on his right ankle. Chivas said Wicky, a member of Switzerland’s 2006 World Cup team, could be out three to four months. In five games for Chivas, he recorded one assist.
Chivas’ match against New England on Sunday will take place at Titan Stadium on the campus of Cal State Fullerton.
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