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Chivas USA Two Good For Visiting Toronto
Sacha Kljestan scored his first two goals of the season to give Chivas USA a 2-0 win over Toronto FC.
Aug 23, 2009 1:35:31 AM
CARSON, Calif.--Following a six game winless slide, Chivas USA has won its last two matches. In front of 15,165 in the Home Depot Center, the Goats rode two Sacha Kljestan strikes to victory over Toronto FC.
The visiting side was missing captain Jim Brennan due to yellow card accumulation, so Adrian Serioux slid over to the leftback spot.
Chivas boasted two new loan signings in attack. Mexican attacker Jesus Padilla and Brazilian striker Maicon Santos both arrived midweek for the Goats and started the match.
First Half
The new players were the first to create chances, despite a brighter start by Toronto. A quarter of an hour in, Carey Talley arced a cross from deep. Maicon Santos rose and connected with a picturesque header, but was too far out to trouble Stefan Frei in the TFC net.
Three minute later, Jesus Padilla bored in on goal. He dragged the ball past two defenders before finding himself on his weaker left foot. The 22-year-old scuffed his shot wide from the top of the box.
On the other end, Dwayne DeRosario was running the offense for Toronto. He drifted from flank to flank connecting with players to break down the Chivas USA backline. It came as no surprise that he had the best chance of the early going for TFC. Marvell Wynne crossed over the defenders in the box and DeRo smacked his volley off the ground and over the goalmouth.
Two minutes later, DeRosario tried again. Amado Guevara launched an exquisite ball out of a congested midfield into the path of DeRosario, who sprinted at Mariano Trujillo. Throwing a brief stutter, he uncorked a doozy which rammed into the ribs of Talley, leaving the defender on the ground gasping for air.
Perhaps the signing of Padilla spurred Kljestan on. The American, who last season tied for the lead on Chivas in goals scored, had yet to score or assist in 2009. It had been a dour and unproductive year for the United States international thus far. However, in this game, he shone.
On the hour mark he rose to power a header high.
Then, two minutes later, he finally got rid of the goose eggs in his statistics sheet. Maykel Galindo turned quickly on a ball and powered towards goal, pushing a narrow shot on frame for Frei to spill out for a corner. The corner slipped over the mass of bodies to the endline, where Jesse Marsch recovered. Galindo rose to power Marsch's scooped cross on net, and the ball pinged off Kljestan's knees before opening the scoring.
Kljestan continued to impress with the Chivas USA offense running through him. On the stroke of half, he cut in from his left flank with the ball and sliced through the Toronto backline with a pass. Galindo looked confident on the ball in the box before ripping his shot into the side netting when he really should have tested Frei.
Second Half
Six minutes in, Kljestan added his second. Santos dribbled, halted, then played a smooth throughball through to Kljestan. The midfielder tucked a sidefooted shot into the lower corner of the goalmouth to double his team's lead.
It's likely the two new additions to the Chivas attack knew they weren't ready for a full 90. Both Santos and Padilla spent the next several minutes shooting on sight of goal, and even sometimes when their vision was obscured. Most of these shots rebounded harmlessly wide. Santos went off with cramps in the 65th minute, and Padilla followed shortly.
Toronto had its chances. A corner from substitute Chad Barrett fell to Serioux, but the defender's swinging leg connected with air molecules as the ball sputtered past. DeRosario dropped deeper and began unleashing venomous shots whenever he collected within 35 yards of goal.
Paulo Nagamura returned from injury to replace the exhausted Galindo in the 77th minute. He almost found glory with his first touch of the game as he helped along a corner. Marsch shot wide from two yards in front of the TFC goal.
Ten minutes later, the Brazilian nearly scored himself. Substitute Bojan Stepanovic extended a toe and hit the ball into space. Nagamura latched onto it and cut back to shake Serioux. His left-footed blast was well parried by Frei.
With the clock about to expire, substitute Ali mimicked DeRosario by firing a 40-yard blast. The ball fizzled a foot wide of the post.
Zac Lee Rigg, Goal.com
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com's MLS page
The visiting side was missing captain Jim Brennan due to yellow card accumulation, so Adrian Serioux slid over to the leftback spot.
Chivas boasted two new loan signings in attack. Mexican attacker Jesus Padilla and Brazilian striker Maicon Santos both arrived midweek for the Goats and started the match.
First Half
The new players were the first to create chances, despite a brighter start by Toronto. A quarter of an hour in, Carey Talley arced a cross from deep. Maicon Santos rose and connected with a picturesque header, but was too far out to trouble Stefan Frei in the TFC net.
Three minute later, Jesus Padilla bored in on goal. He dragged the ball past two defenders before finding himself on his weaker left foot. The 22-year-old scuffed his shot wide from the top of the box.
On the other end, Dwayne DeRosario was running the offense for Toronto. He drifted from flank to flank connecting with players to break down the Chivas USA backline. It came as no surprise that he had the best chance of the early going for TFC. Marvell Wynne crossed over the defenders in the box and DeRo smacked his volley off the ground and over the goalmouth.
Two minutes later, DeRosario tried again. Amado Guevara launched an exquisite ball out of a congested midfield into the path of DeRosario, who sprinted at Mariano Trujillo. Throwing a brief stutter, he uncorked a doozy which rammed into the ribs of Talley, leaving the defender on the ground gasping for air.
Perhaps the signing of Padilla spurred Kljestan on. The American, who last season tied for the lead on Chivas in goals scored, had yet to score or assist in 2009. It had been a dour and unproductive year for the United States international thus far. However, in this game, he shone.
On the hour mark he rose to power a header high.
Then, two minutes later, he finally got rid of the goose eggs in his statistics sheet. Maykel Galindo turned quickly on a ball and powered towards goal, pushing a narrow shot on frame for Frei to spill out for a corner. The corner slipped over the mass of bodies to the endline, where Jesse Marsch recovered. Galindo rose to power Marsch's scooped cross on net, and the ball pinged off Kljestan's knees before opening the scoring.
Kljestan continued to impress with the Chivas USA offense running through him. On the stroke of half, he cut in from his left flank with the ball and sliced through the Toronto backline with a pass. Galindo looked confident on the ball in the box before ripping his shot into the side netting when he really should have tested Frei.
Second Half
Six minutes in, Kljestan added his second. Santos dribbled, halted, then played a smooth throughball through to Kljestan. The midfielder tucked a sidefooted shot into the lower corner of the goalmouth to double his team's lead.
It's likely the two new additions to the Chivas attack knew they weren't ready for a full 90. Both Santos and Padilla spent the next several minutes shooting on sight of goal, and even sometimes when their vision was obscured. Most of these shots rebounded harmlessly wide. Santos went off with cramps in the 65th minute, and Padilla followed shortly.
Toronto had its chances. A corner from substitute Chad Barrett fell to Serioux, but the defender's swinging leg connected with air molecules as the ball sputtered past. DeRosario dropped deeper and began unleashing venomous shots whenever he collected within 35 yards of goal.
Paulo Nagamura returned from injury to replace the exhausted Galindo in the 77th minute. He almost found glory with his first touch of the game as he helped along a corner. Marsch shot wide from two yards in front of the TFC goal.
Ten minutes later, the Brazilian nearly scored himself. Substitute Bojan Stepanovic extended a toe and hit the ball into space. Nagamura latched onto it and cut back to shake Serioux. His left-footed blast was well parried by Frei.
With the clock about to expire, substitute Ali mimicked DeRosario by firing a 40-yard blast. The ball fizzled a foot wide of the post.
Zac Lee Rigg, Goal.com
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com's MLS page
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