Chivas USA Notes (2-3 Loss vs. Chicago Fire, Toyota Park, Chicago, IL, 9/17/11)
 
·         Chicago, IL – With the temperature at 68 degrees, 15,246 fans in the stands and just a great afternoon for soccer in the windy city, the Goats and Fire squared off. The match had playoffs on the minds of both teams and by the end of the game there would be a total of five goals scored, two yellow cards, a red card and a twenty-eight fouls between the two teams. The physical game saw two goals for the visiting Chivas USA and three for the home team Chicago Fire. The loss keeps the Rojiblancos in seventh place in the Western Conference with 31 points and a record of 7-12-10 for the season.
 
·         The scoring in the tightly contested match began early for the Fire in the 2nd minute as defender Cory Gibbs received a service from midfielder Sebastian Grazzini. Goal number two for Chicago would come in the 26th minute by way of an own goal off Chivas USA forward Juan Pablo Angel. 11 minutes later Fire defender and scorer of Chicago’s first goal would be ejected by way of a red card for a serious foul play against Goats defender Michael Lahoud. The half would end with a score of 2 nil in favor of the home team.
 
·         The second half would see a determined Red and White team to take over the match with their first score coming in the 61st minute from Columbian striker Juan Pablo Angel assisted by Mexican defender Mariano Trujillo.  The equalizer for the Goats would be delivered by All Star midfielder Nick LaBrocca just two minutes later with an assist from defender Zarek Valentin. The goal now gives LaBrocca a total of 8 on the season and puts him atop of scorers for Chivas USA.
 
·         As the match would progress both teams had opportunities to take the lead until the 85th minute when the Fire’s Dominic Oduro assisted by Patrick Nyarko and Diego Chaves would land the definitive go ahead goal.
 
·         The Red and White now continue on the road as they travel to our nation’s capital and take on DC United at RFK Stadium next Wednesday September 21 in a match lined with playoff implications. The match set to kick off at 4:30 pm PT, will broadcast on Prime Ticket and KWHY Channel 22 as well as W Radio 690 AM. For information on the game, please visit  cdchivasusa.com
 
THE WORD FROM THE TEAMS:
 
·         CHIVAS USA – HEAD COACH ROBIN FRASER
           
On what he said to the team in the locker room at halftime: “We just talked about obviously being up a man, and down two goals, that we have no choice.  It’s fight or go home, basically.  They came out with the right instinct, the right initiative in the second half, and we were able to push the game a little bit.  We get two goals to tie it up, and we did very well to get to that point with a lot of time left in the game.  At that point, we just proceeded to turn the ball over too many times and allowed Chicago back into the game.  Credit to them, they hung in there being down a man for a long time and were able to find ways to get to a win, but for us it was absolutely not good enough.”
 
On whether he thought the game was physical (including Gibbs’s red card tackle): “I don’t think it was a physical game to be honest, not really.”  [But] that was a ridiculous tackle.  It was a terrible tackle.  I’ll leave that alone and won’t say anything more than that.  It was a terrible tackle but I don’t think it was a tremendously physical game.  Certainly you’d like to think that’s what’s driving both teams, to get into the playoffs.  But for us today the performance wasn’t good enough.”
 
On the team’s attack-minded lineup: “Our intent was to get the players on the field that we felt could make a difference this particular day.  Certainly we did have a number of attacking players on the field and I think at times it looked very good and it looked like a good attacking group.  Certainly there’s always going to be risks not having more defensive players on the field but we felt like with the group we had we could sway the game in our favor.”
 
On what he will say to the team when they return to Los Angeles: “To be honest, it’s time to look at yourselves and ourselves and be honest about what we need to do to be better.  In terms of what I have to tell them, I’ve told them a lot of things all year long and we as a group just have to accept that these things aren’t good enough, these mistakes aren’t good enough, and they’ve been too consistent.  If we do want to get into the playoffs, if we have any hope of getting into the playoffs we really, really need to be sharper, more focused all over the field for 90 minutes.  I thought we had moments today that were quite good but we had moments that were horrible as well.  Good teams don’t have horrible moments.  Good teams have great moments, good moments, and maybe fair moments.  But good teams don’t have horrible moments.”
 
·         CHIVAS USA – GOALKEEPER DAN KENNEDY 
 
On the match: “Obviously I think we are extremely disappointed in ourselves and we were in a situation where we fought back and we had them on the ropes and we let them back into the game.”
 
On scoring two goals in the second half to tie the game: “We were a player up and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t have them pinned in and really putting them under pressure.  We did that but the last twelve to fifteen minutes we lost control of the game and that’s what cost us the match.”
 
·         CHIVAS USA – FORWARD JUAN PABLO ANGEL
 
On his goal: “First of all, we are disappointed for the result.  The own goal was something that happened that was an unlucky play.  I was in the air when I think the ball was touched by a defender, then the ball hit me and I didn’t have anything to do with it.  I think [the goal] was poorly defended by us.  It was a poor goal to concede.  I am disappointed obviously.  But the goal [I scored] was good; it was a good play by Mariano [Trujillo], I think he was the one that played the ball back but with the result in general I am extremely disappointed.”
 
On regrouping as a team: “There’s no choice.  We have to be able to just get out of this.  We have to know we are competing for our lives and we are competing for the chance to make the playoffs.  We are competing for our jobs.  What has happened in the last couple of weeks has not been good enough and we have to be able to look at ourselves and find a solution within the group. This is it. This is the group that we have the players we have and we just have to manage the situations and be smarter in certain situations during the game.”
 
On battling frustration for not scoring while being up a man for 53 plus minutes: “I think, honestly, in the second half I felt that as soon as we came back and managed to tie the game, that there was a chance to get the goal, and to put the game away.  I was very optimistic that at some point we are going to find a break because we were having the better possession, we were having the better chances, we had a man up and then eventually we stopped doing the things that allowed us to find the spaces like we did [during the beginning] of the second half.  It would have allowed us to be a better team in the second half.  When we stopped doing that, Chicago found a second wind and capitalized on our mistakes.  The disappointing part is going on the road and managing to tie the game up and being in control and not being able to just get more out of the game, that’s extremely disappointing.”
 
·         CHICAGO FIRE – (INTERIM) HEAD COACH FRANK KLOPAS
 
His response to Cory Gibb’s red card: “I have to see it again. Maybe he went hard in, studs up. I didn’t see anything different than from the one when Patrick went down. The studs were up on that one too. I thought it was a bit harsh. I thought it was maybe a yellow. But I have to see it again. It changed the game a lot. In the end, there are those kinds of games that are very exciting and memorable, and you can build on them. Like I said, in the past maybe the team would not be able to find a way to pull this one out. I left players on the field that I knew were going to make plays. And they did. They found a way to win, which is huge. Now we have to look forward to the next game.”

On Oduro’s collapse after the final whistle: “Oduro was cramping up. With players like him, they sprint so much during the game that I think they need more days to recover than guys that are in the midfield, with more of an anaerobic fitness. He ran so hard today. I told him to keep pushing, telling him it’s all in his mind. We will miss Cory with the red card. He brings so much leadership on the field. We have to work through this week and prepare for the next match at home.”

On Sean Johnson’s performance: “He’s maturing and playing with a lot of confidence. He’s got a lot of upside and he’s getting better. That position is about living and playing. He played very well today and he’s played very well for me all season.”

On Marco Pappa’s performance: “Marco’s a very talented player. He’s the kind of player that can make a difference in a team. He’s so creative. Out of nothing he can create opportunities for other players. He also makes a lot of runs but doesn’t end up getting the ball. That’s normal because he wants to do well for the team and for himself. There was a couple times where we should have played him the ball because he was in better position. But I think after Marco’s international appearances and travel, it is starting to catch up with him. I know he’s tired. But he played 70-80 minutes and left it all on the field. You can see the difference when he comes off. You do lose something when you take guys like him and Grazzini off the field.”
·         CHICAGO FIRE – DEFENDER CORY GIBBS
 
On receiving a red card and ejection: “I don’t want to express how I feel about it, but it was a hard tackle.  Would I have given it a red? No. But it was definitely a yellow but that’s the referee’s discretion.  It was just unprofessional of me at the time and I take all the responsibility for it.”
 
On the result: “It’s a great feeling seeing Oduro score that goal in the 85th minute, I was really down on myself.  The team was relentless for that whole time.”
 
·         CHICAGO FIRE – GOALKEEPER SEAN JOHNSON
 
On defending against Angel: “He’s a great player.  I was able to put myself in good positions to make some saves today.  I feel like I was reading the game pretty well and I was able to help my team come out with a result.”
 
On the team’s performance as of late: “I think now is the time for the team to get strong.  We’ve progressively been getting better and the results have been getting better, but now is the time to turn it up and get three points every time out.  We have six games left and we need all six, that’s our attitude.  You could see that today, with ten men we were tied 2-2 and we still had to push to win the game.  We can’t afford anymore ties or loses and I think everybody understands that and is ready to get after these final six games. “
 
·         CHICAGO FIRE – FORWARD DOMINIC ODURO

On the result: “We played well even though we were obviously a man down.  We came out strong in the final minutes of the game were able to earn three points, which is what we need going forward.  We need to keep that momentum.”
 
On being the first player to score 10 goals in a season in seven seasons: “I can’t take credit for that. I think all my goals have been coming off of hard work from my teammates; they’ve made it possible for me to be where I am right now.  I thank all of them and the fans for helping to make this happen for me.”
 
On the late comeback: “It was a little hard for us to digest being up 2-0 and then letting them tie that game.  But at the end of the day we were able to lift ourselves up and get three points, which is what we needed.”
 
           
Chivas USA (7-12-10) vs. Chicago Fire (5-8-15)
 
September 17, 2011- Toyota Park
Scoring Summary:
CHI — Cory Gibbs 3 (Sebastian Grazzini 3) 2
CHI — own goal (Juan Pablo Angel) 26
CHV — Juan Pablo Angel 5 (Mariano Trujillo 1) 61
CHV — Nick LaBrocca 8 (Zarek Valentin 1) 63
CHI — Dominic Oduro 10 (Patrick Nyarko 7, Diego Chaves 1) 85
Misconduct Summary:
CHV — Michael Lahoud (caution; Reckless Tackle) 5
CHI — Cory Gibbs (ejection; Serious Foul Play) 37
CHI — Josip Mikulic (caution; Reckless Tackle) 73
Lineups:
Chivas USA — Dan Kennedy, Michael Lahoud (Mariano Trujillo 46), Michael Umana, Zarek Valentin, Ante Jazic, Nick LaBrocca, Alejandro Moreno, Simon Elliott (Blair Gavin 46), Justin Braun (Laurent Courtois 61), Juan Pablo Angel, Marcos Mondaini.
Substitutes Not Used: Andrew Boyens, Jorge Flores, Ben Zemanski, Zach Thornton.
Chicago Fire — Sean Johnson, Jalil Anibaba, Josip Mikulic (Daniel Paladini 80), Cory Gibbs, Gonzalo Segares, Marco Pappa (Diego Chaves 80), Sebastian Grazzini (Yamith Cuesta 46), Pavel Pardo, Logan Pause, Patrick Nyarko, Dominic Oduro.
Substitutes Not Used: Orr Barouch, Baggio Husidic, Victor Pineda, Jon Conway.
Referee: Jorge Gonzalez
Referee’s Assistants: Greg Barkey; Kermit Quisenberry
4th Official: Andrew Chapin
Time of Game: 1:53
Weather: Sunny and 68 degrees
cdhivasusa.com