Chivas USA 0 – Houston Dynamo – 1. The score line obviously doesn’t give an accurate reflection of what happened in this game. People will perhaps look at it though and think it was probably the same old story for Chivas USA. Maybe it was, but only for a split second deep into stoppage time. Chivas USA lined up against Houston Dynamo in their opening game of the 2012 season and were just minutes away from claiming a point in what would have been classed as a decent opening day performance. However, it just wasn’t to be. Dynamo defender Andre Hainault was in the right place at the right time two minutes into stoppage time and stunned the 14,564 fans inside the Home Depot Center.
The game started with Chivas USA unfortunately having to announce they were dealing with injuries to some key players. John Alexander Valencia, Alejandro Moreno and Michael Lahoud were all missing through injury and The Goats had to start their season without arguably their preferred line-up. Houston, on the other hand, was able to field a strong team on the day and one that would therefore dominate most of this match. Nevertheless, Chivas USA still fielded a group of players that I believe was capable of getting a result out of this match. Here is how they lined up:
Starting XI: Kennedy; Riley, McKenzie, Pearce, Jazic; Minda, Vagenas, Zemanski, LaBrocca, Courtois; Angel
The first half saw Houston create the better chances and Dan Kennedy made a couple of good saves to keep the score line at 0-0 especially from Will Bruin in the 25th minute. As the 1st half drew to a close The Goats managed to find some rhythm and their best chances fell to debutant Oswaldo Minda and veteran Juan Pablo Angel. Unfortunately, Minda saw his header, from a Laurent Courtois cross, go well wide and Angel could do no better than strike the right post. Chivas USA weren’t lighting up the Home Depot Center but going in at the half without conceding was definitely a relief. With a fairly defensive line up the team was doing its job and now had the opportunity to try and win it in the 2nd half with some good options on the bench.
The second half kicked off and it didn’t take long before Houston Dynamo took control of the match though. Chivas USA needed to make some changes. The Rojiblancos were not offering very much in attack and it was time for some other new signings to make their debuts. Cesar Romero and Ryan Smith were introduced in 58th and 65th minute respectively. Not long after Smith’s introduction Angel found himself in a good position, once again, but put his header over the bar. Chances for Chivas were clearly scarce but they were matching Dynamo as they also failed to hit the back of the net. Houston were dominating at points and in the last 20 minutes could have secured the points earlier of it wasn’t for the outstanding Dan Kennedy. He, once again, produced some of his best to save from Adam Moffat and Bruin to keep the game goalless and showed why he was undoubtedly Man of the Match. Kennedy kept Chivas USA in the game but 90 minutes of top class goalkeeping was about to be undone. 90 minutes flashed up on the scoreboard and the fans were extremely upbeat. Holding the Eastern Conference Champions to a tie on opening day of the season was a respectable and satisfactory result despite the lack of goals. Houston Dynamo certainly waited long enough but they eventually got their goal. A 92nd minute corner kick dropped to Hainault after a deflection from the defense and he turned and fired the ball past the faultless Dan Kennedy. Dynamo fans will argue their play throughout the match deserved the win but Chivas USA fans were clearly devastated. Working hard for 91 mins this revamped team was just a minute or so away from breaking a poor opening day record and securing a valuable tie.
The post-match comments from Chivas USA are all focused on finding the positives in yet another defeat. This was the case last year and also for much of the preseason games. Houston Dynamo’s goal, however, will not make me draw too many comparisons to last year. The Goats were unfortunate and sometimes these things just happen. There is a clear improvement in this Chivas USA side and there are definitely positives that can be taken from this defeat. Firstly, all credit, once again, has to go to the heroic Dan Kennedy. He continued to show why he is a top class goalkeeper and someone who Chivas USA rely on heavily. Despite losing a goal late on it could have been worse if he hadn’t made some great saves earlier on in the match. Of course Chivas can’t rely solely on him; but the team as a unit is new and defending will improve with more game time. Also, the attitude of the team was fantastic. They fought hard throughout and echoing Coach Robin Fraser at the end they put in an ‘encouraging’ performance.
If it had stayed 0-0 the Chivas USA fans would have been delighted. No win and no goals on opening day may not be everyone’s idea of a good result but it would have been a victory of sorts. The previous game, albeit in preseason, saw them beaten comprehensively by San Jose and the Houston Dynamo are a very good side who are once again hoping to make that MLS Cup Final. The majority of headlines this morning, therefore, tend to highlight it was yet another Chivas USA defeat in front of a rather low opening crowd. It was more encouraging than that. The fans played their part and backed their team to the end and it was so close to being a different story.
(image courtesy of Getty Images)
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