2009 Apr 18

Sounders blanked by Chivas USA

Chivas USA  2 - 0  Seattle Sounders FC

Home Depot Center, Carson, CA

Goals:
32' CHV: Own goal (James Riley)
84' CHV: Chukwudi Chijindu (Bojan Stepanovic, Gerson Mayen)

Chivas: Zach Thornton; Jonathan Bornstein, Carey Talley, Shavar Thomas, Mariano Trujillo; Bojan Stepanovic, Jesse Marsch, Sacha Kljestan, Alecko Eskandarian (Michael Lahoud 70'); Atiba Harris (Gerson Mayen 76'), Eduardo Lillingston (Chukwudi Chijindu 56'). Substitutes not used: Lance Parker, Jim Curtin, Jorge Flores.

Seattle: Chris Eylander; Zach Scott, Tyrone Marshall, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, James Riley (Sanna Nyassi 71'); Sebastien Le Toux (Steve Zakuani 46'), Osvaldo Alonso, Freddie Ljungberg, Brad Evans; Fredy Montero, Nate Jaqua. Substitutes not used: Ben Dragavon, Patrick Ianni, Tyson Wahl, Nathan Sturgis, Roger Levesque.


Match report by Ron Stickney

The Seattle Sounders FC suffered their second loss, falling 2-0 to the host Chivas USA at Home Depot Center. Seattle gave up an own goal in the first half and a late goal to substitute Chukwudi Chijindu.

Seattle had their best chance at 10 minutes when Freddie Ljungberg's through ball in the middle put Fredy Montero free. Montero's chip over the charging Zach Thornton curved the wrong way and went wide of the goal by a yard.

32' CHV: Own goal (Riley). Jonathan Bornstein got around the left corner and sent a hard, low cross into the goal area. James Riley was goal side of a charging attacker but the attempted clearance went off Riley's leg and into the top far corner. 1-0 Chivas.

Seattle just one more good chance in the first half when Nate Jaqua's cross from the right found Sebastien Le Toux's head on a near-post run. The shot was well taken from 5 yards out, but Thornton managed to bat the ball down to make the save.

Chivas took only one shot in the first half, a 25-yarder from Eduardo Lillingston just before halftime that was yards wide.

Halftime: Chivas 1 - 0 Seattle

Steve Zakuani replaced Sebastien Le Toux to start the second half.

Chivas first corner kick of the match nearly got them a goal, as Shavar Thomas headed the ball in front of goal for a quick shot by Atiba Harris, but Osvaldo Alonso closed in and cleared the shot.

Seattle had a series of shots around 54'. Zakuani got close on the left, and his shot/cross curled away from the goal. Ljungberg took a dropped pass at the 18 and drove it over the bar. Zakuani fed Brad Evans on a near-post run for a shot from 10 yards, but Thornton dove to push it wide of the lower near corner.

Soon after entering the match Chijindu tried a shot with his heel while facing the goal, and Chris Eylander had to push it a bit wide to concede a corner.

After about ten minutes with Chivas controlling the ball, Seattle's Zakuani and Jaqua earned shots around 70', but both missed by a yard. Then Seattle sent in midfielder Sanna Nyassi to replace right back Riley.

Chivas earned a free kick from near the top left corner of the penalty area at 81'. Sacha Kljestan took the free kick and just missed the lower far corner.

A long cross from Nyassi on the right was just a bit too far in front of Montero, who couldn't get enough of the ball to get his shot on goal.

84' CHV: Chijindu (Stepanovic, Mayen). With Seattle pressing forward, a Chivas counterattack saw Gerson Mayen serve Bojan Stepanovic on the left for a cross to the penalty spot. Chijindu slid in just ahead of a defender to send the ball into the lower far corner for an insurance goal. 2-0 Chivas.

Another long cross from Nyassi was again just a bit too far for Montero. Nyassi's header from a cross went over the bar for the final chance.

Final: Chivas 2 - 0 Seattle


Statistics:
          CHV  SEA
Shots:      6   17
Saves:      4    1
Corners:    3    2
Fouls:     17    5
Offsides:   5    2

Misconduct:
20' CHV: Lillingston cautioned
45' SEA: Scott cautioned for dissent
47' SEA: Montero cautioned
86' CHV: Trujillo cautioned

Referees: Alex Prus; Fabio Tovar, Paul Scott; Kevin Stott

Attendance: 15,463


Additional match reports: