Mariano Trujillo was shown red in the 93rd minute Jeff Golden/Getty Images
CARSON - Much like the United States national team has Ghana, and the Mexican National team has Argentina, it seems the Seattle Sounders now have Chivas USA. Coming into last nights match up, the Seattle Sounders were riding a wave of good results against MLS opposition, in the CONCACAF Champions League, as well as the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.
“They’re a team with a lot of speed that is very competitive,” said Goats midfielder Michael Lahoud. “They’re starting to get back into good form.”
At the end of the night though, the Goats defense had stifled the Seattle attack for the 4th time in their brief 2-year history and their scoreless streak against the Goats has now reached 360 minutes. However, the Goats were unable to take advantage of the situation and had to settle for the 0-0 draw.
“I’m not happy with the result because we need the points," lamented Coach Vasquez after the match. "Playing at home, overall, I thought we played a solid game, we defended very well and I think that in the second half our play was better than the first half. We were able to get good rhythm and had some chances but in the end we were not able to get a result.”
The night also marked the debut of new Goats forward, Alan Gordon, who started and went for 79 minutes, before being replaced by Jesus Padilla.
Alan was good for us," commented Coach Vasquez. "He connected, he was dangerous, he battled, he ran and I thought overall (he) had a very solid game.”
The scoreless encounter was not without its fair share of highlights though. Late in the first half, a collision between Goats goalkeeper, Zach Thornton and Sounders forward Freddy Montero stopped play for over five minutes, as medics checked to see if both were able to continue. The collision dazed Montero, and was enough to dislodge Thornton's eye contacts.
The second half saw the inclusion of a third forward in the case of Giancarlo Maldonado. Due to a Venezuelan national team call up earlier in the week, Coach Vasquez felt he'd be a better option off the bench. As the half continued, both teams had their chances to score with both Sounders Goalkeeper, Kasey Keller and Zach Thornton coming up big at the goalmouth. Keller saved a point blank shot from Rodolfo Espinoza to start off the second half, and Thornton made a leaping finger tip save in the 88th minute to preserve the draw.
The night wasn't finished though s the 93rd minute saw Goats defender Mariano Trujillo, and Sounders defender Leo Gonzalez ejected for igniting could have been a team brawl. As both benches cleared though, it was more a shoving match. Still though, both men responsible were sent off.
With the draw, Chivas is now 5-10-4 with 19 points and remain in 8th place in the West. They now travel to face FC Dallas with former US international, Jeff Cunningham, who as of last night, is only 4 goals from tying the all time MLS goalscoring record held by Jamie Moreno. Match time is at 5:30pm local time, and will be available to view on Fox Soccer Channel, and Fox Sports En Español.
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Played the full 90 in loss to Brazil Stuart Franklin/Getty Images
Earlier this week, the United States national team played its first friendly match following the conclusion of the 2010 FIFA World Cup against fellow World Cup nation, Brazil. Among the players called up or the match was the Goats own left back, Jonathan Bornstein.
“We played a good 20-25 minutes of soccer and then gave up that goal," commented Bornstein after the match. "Once you go down to Brazil, it’s hard to come back with the way they control the game.”
Brazil would go on to win the encounter after scoring two first half goals courtesy of Neymar, and Pato.
"Early on, the ball was moving quickly and we had good energy,” said U.S. head coach Bob Bradley via ussoccer.com. “The fact that we were not able to sustain that is certainly more of an indication of where the players are at this point in the year in terms of pre-seasons.
Former Goats like Brad Guzan and Sacha Kljestan also saw time on the field as substitutions to start the second half. Guzan in particular was a stalwart in goal making 7 saves, on way to being named ussoccer.com man of the match.
“Anytime you play Brazil, no matter who they put on the field, it’s going to be difficult," stated Guzan after the match. "For us, it’s a bit of a disappointment. Obviously there are different factors that go into it and we were hoping for a better showing. But, in saying that, we know that it’s a new cycle, a new four years.”
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