Chivas starts game trailing by one goal
Yura Movsisyan has come through in a big way for Real Salt Lake in the last two weeks, having scored game-winning, 90th-minute goals in Real’s regular-season finale and its first-ever playoff match.
So Chivas USA’s Alecko Eskandarian -- the only other Armenian player in Major League Soccer -- figures that tonight it could be his turn.
Chivas plays Real at the Home Depot Center in a game (7:30 p.m., FSC, FSE) that Chivas not only has to win, but win by two goals to advance in the playoffs.
If Real Salt Lake scores a goal, Chivas will have to score three because the two-game series is decided on total goals and Real won the opener, 1-0, on Movsisyan’s last-minute strike in Utah last weekend.
If Real scores twice, Chivas will need to bang in an unlikely four goals in order to advance to the Western Conference final against the winner of the New York-Houston series. Chivas has not scored four goals in any game this year.
A one-goal Chivas win would bring about a 30-minute overtime followed, if need be, by the unpredictability of penalty kicks.
So stopping Real from adding to its advantage is the first order of business for Chivas Coach Preki’s squad, getting back on level terms is the second task, and grabbing the winner is next.
That is where Eskandarian comes in. Whether he starts or comes off the bench, Chivas is counting on the 26-year-old from Montvale, N.J., to find the back of the net and knock Real Salt Lake out of the playoffs.
There would be some irony if he did, because Chivas acquired Eskandarian from Real Salt Lake in January. Since then, though, the season has not gone according to plan.
A groin tear went undetected for a long time until it was revealed by exploratory surgery. That limited Eskandarian to 11 games, including eight starts, but did not stop him from scoring five goals and assisting on two others.
Then came a knee injury in the season finale against Houston that kept Eskandarian out of the playoff opener and the chance to match Movsisyan stride for stride or goal for goal.
“I know him very well,” Eskandarian said. “I met him when he was with Kansas City and I actually helped to get him to Salt Lake last year. We were looking forward to playing together, but the off-season kind of changed my route and I moved out here with Chivas.
“He’s a big body [6 foot, 180 pounds], he’s strong, he’s fast. He can play a couple of different spots, but he’s most comfortable just being the high guy, the top guy.”
Preki is aware of the danger Movsisyan poses. “He can shoot with both feet. He has a tremendous pace. He can give you trouble either way,” playing wide or centrally, Preki said.
But so can Eskandarian.
“They both have good pace,” Preki said. “Esky is feisty, a good competitor, knows where the goal is. Hopefully, he’ll be ready to play and by Saturday he can give us something.”
Eskandarian, fellow forward Ante Razov and midfielder Sacha Kljestan lead Chivas with five goals apiece in 2008, and an Eskandarian-Razov strike duo is probably Chivas’ best bet.
“I have to change my game depending on who I’m playing with,” Eskandarian said, “but I think Ante and I, just experience-wise, has been the best partnership, because we’ve been playing for a few years now and we can just kind of read each other.”
Chivas USA dropped from 46 goals in 2007 to 40 in 2008, mostly because of injuries that ruined Maykel Galindo’s season and curbed Razov’s.
So where are the goals coming from tonight? “That’s part of my job,” Eskandarian said. “That’s what I pride myself on.”
What about Movsisyan?
“I wish him good luck next season, but hopefully this weekend will be the last game of his season.”
--
--
MLS Playoffs
Real Salt Lake
at Chivas USA
Today, 7:30 p.m.
Game 2 of aggregate-scoring two-leg series. (Chivas lost Game 1, 1-0)
