Chivas gets Quakes’ goat — again

Darren Huckerby and the rest of the Earthquakes created a number of scoring opportunities but couldn’t find the back of the net against Chivas USA. Photo: Joe Nuxoll, centerlinesoccer.com, isiphotos.com.

Complete coverage includes our photo gallery and post-game audio. Para este articulo en español, haz clic aquí.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – When the San Jose Earthquakes look back on their expansion season in MLS, they’ll have more than a few regrets. Starting the season with a paucity of attacking players will be one. But a bigger disappointment will be the team’s inability to get more points at home, a weakness that was exposed once again during Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Chivas USA before a standing-room only crowd at Buck Shaw Stadium.

The loss marked the third consecutive home match where San Jose failed to secure maximum points, and the result has all but knocked the Quakes out of the running for this year’s playoffs.

Chivas rookie Justin Braun scored the game’s only goal, and the visitors’ defense made it stand up, clinching a playoff spot for the Goats in the process.

Given the way the Quakes dominated the match, the loss was especially tough to take. So much so in fact that the normally voluble Joe Cannon made a quick exit from the locker room for the first time in living memory. For those players that stuck around, the sentiments were the same.

“It was in our hands to make the playoffs, and we could have made it pretty easily with a couple of good results,” said midfielder Ronnie O’Brien. “Now it’s an uphill battle.”

Added midfielder Darren Huckerby, ““We’re disappointed. We didn’t play as well as we can do, but we were the attacking team all the way through the game. It’s like a smash-and-grab, really. They started to time-waste just before half-time. It’s very frustrating.”

San Jose received a boost prior to kick-off when Huckerby passed a late fitness test after struggling all week with a calf injury. Chivas USA weren’t as lucky. Not only were the Goats without Sacha Kljestan and Shavar Thomas due to national team commitments, but last week’s hero Dejair was ruled out with a groin injury. The Quakes were somewhat shorthanded, as supersub Ryan Johnson was sidelined by a left hamstring strain.

Chivas were first out of the blocks, with a goal that was eerily reminiscent of the one scored by Real Salt Lake’s Yura Movsisyan two weeks ago. A San Jose cross was easily cut out in the seventh minute, and a simple ball over the top by Alecko Eskandarian sprung Braun on a clear breakaway. The Quakes’ frantic appeals for offside were ignored – correctly as it turned out – and Braun rifled his shot past Cannon, just inside the far post.

“It was always going to be a tough game, and giving up the goal we gave up, we made it tougher,” said O’Brien. “They’re a good side, and we gave them, from our perspective, a terrible breakaway goal.”

As the last defender back, it was Garcia’s decision to apply the offside trap, and the Quakes’ defender admitted his culpability on the goal.

“It’s a game of mistakes, and for me I felt like [Braun] was offside,” said Garcia. “For us, we got punished for it. I take responsibility for the hiccup, and for us to make the playoffs and continue forward we can’t have those kinds of mistakes, whether it’s me or anybody else.”

The visitors proceeded to carry the play for the next 15 minutes with Jonathan Bornstein and Eskandarian each threatening the San Jose net. The Quakes did have one chance when a mix-up between defender Claudio Suarez and goalkeeper Dan Kennedy allowed Arturo Alvarez to pounce on a loose ball, but the San Jose forward could only shoot tamely right at Kennedy.

San Jose eventually got their passing game on track, although Chivas were pressing them every step of the way. A quick combination in the 32nd minute involving Eric Denton and Alvarez nearly put Huckerby through on goal, but a well-timed challenge from Panchito Mendoza broke up the play.

The Quakes ratcheted up the pressure, forcing a slew of set pieces. One such opportunity saw Ronnie O’Brien threaten the Chivas goal in the 35th minute, but Chivas keeper Dan Kennedy touched his free kick around the post.

San Jose picked up where they left off to start the second half. Scott Sealy appeared to have a clear look at goal in the 47th minute, but Chivas’ Suarez was on hand for a vital block. The Quakes’ Francisco Lima had a similar shot from inside the box just a minute later, but this time it was Alex Zotinca with a goal-line clearance. It proved to be San Jose’s last on-target shot of the evening.

“It was just one of those games where we seemed unable to put…not so much the final pass but the shot on target that would have made a difference in the game,” said manager Frank Yallop. “So we’ve come away with no goals tonight.”

As the half went on an air of desperation crept into the Quakes’ game. The home side seemed oddly out of sync with Huckerby, forcing the ball to him at inopportune times, while also failing to recognize those occasions when he was wide open.

Chivas meanwhile were content to soak up pressure, and when they weren’t dawdling on free kicks and throw-ins, they were looking to spring Eskandarian and Braun on the break. Braun nearly doubled his tally in the 65th minute, but could only hit a weak shot straight at Cannon.

O’Brien picked out Huckerby with a long cross-field pass in 67th minute, but the Englishman’s volley went wide.

Yallop brought in Jovan Kirovski and Shea Salinas for Denton and Sealy and in the process switched to a 3-4-3 formation. The Quakes’ fortunes didn’t change initially however, and the more desperate the home side became, the more Chivas were content to milk the clock.

O’Brien nearly equalized in the 77th minute when his mazy run from the right wing saw him cut into the box, but his shot curled just wide.

Chivas responded with one of their few chances in the half. Bornstein’s teasing cross was met by Braun, but his header was tipped over the bar by Cannon.

Salinas delivered a dangerous cross of his own in the 84th minute, but it just eluded Kirovski in the box.

Yallop’s last throw of the dice was to bring on Davide Somma for Ned Grabavoy, and with just two minutes remaining the South African won a free kick just outside the box.
But Alvarez’s pile driver flew wide, and Chivas held on for the victory.

Now it’s left to the Quakes to try and figure out where their once promising season went wrong. And they’ll need to find the magic potion quickly, as they’ll play the Houston Dynamo this Wednesday in a game originally postponed due to Hurricane Ike.

“It’s probably the little things,” said Garcia when asked to pinpoint the Quakes’ problems. “It’s not something earth-shattering and new to us. But especially with us older guys we need to keep plugging away and keep everybody positive.”

That may only be necessary for one more game.

• • •

San Jose Earthquakes (7-11-9) vs. Chivas USA (12-10-6)
October 11, 2008 – Buck Shaw Stadium
Attendance: 10,502

Scoring Summary: CHV – Justin Braun (Alecko Eskandarian) 7.

Misconduct Summary:  CHV – Atiba Harris (caution) 70; SJ – Jovan Kirovski (caution) 78; CHV – Alecko Eskandarian (caution) 80; SJ – Francisco Lima (caution) 81; CHV – Dan Kennedy (caution) 91+.

San Jose Earthquakes — Joe Cannon, James Riley, Nick Garcia, Jason Hernandez, Eric Denton (Jovan Kirovski 64), Ronnie O’Brien, Ned Grabavoy (Davide Somma 82), Francisco Lima, Darren Huckerby, Arturo Alvarez , Scott Sealy (Shea Salinas 69).

Statistics:  Shots 13; Shots on Goal 2; Saves 5; Fouls 12; Offsides 7; Corner Kicks 10.

Chivas USA: — Dan Kennedy, Alex Zotinca, Bobby Burling, Claudio Suarez, Francisco Mendoza, Jonathan Bornstein, Atiba Harris, Jesse Marsch, Sasha Victorino, Justin Braun, Alecto Eskandarian.

Statistics:  Shots 8; Shots on Goal 6; Saves 1; Fouls 16; Offsides 5; Corner Kicks 3.