Welcome to the 30th post of the month, tying this month with February 2008 as the most posted month in LSF history!
Much love to Fox Sports Prime Ticket for bringing the battle of Chivas USA and the reigning MLS Champions into my home on Saturday night. It was an exciting match which showed why Brandon should be proud that Dan Kennedy is his favorite Goat, not to mention showing the same thing for Karen and Jesus Padilla. DK the GK stood tall, making 7 saves in the match, and El Gringo subbed in and scored the game tying goal one minute later, in Chivas USA's big 1-1 draw with rivals Real Salt Lake. Doing it on the road, in the home of HBO's Big Love (Sandy, UT), made in that much better.
The first half of this game kind of reminded everyone that these teams don't like each other. Back from family leave, Paulo Nagamura was a force to be reckoned with. Pushing and shoving, hard challenges, and eventually coming to blows with RSL Supreme Prick Kyle Beckerman (or, Peckerman, as I was calling the dirty dreadlock douche). Despite that, it was Rodolfo Espinoza getting the yellow in the 28th as it was an all around chippy match (Beckerman would get shown the card in the 51st). It was a sluggish first half, filled with poor passing and little opportunity for either side to score. First half fun facts: Rio Tinto Stadium, home of RSL, is 4,707 feet above sea level, and has only seen their beloved Mormons lose twice in it's last 75 MLS matches (with just 12 draws). That's an 81% win percentage at home for Las Monarcas, and tied nillers after 45 made me nervous.
In the 66th, it would get worse. After a Mariano Trujillo yellow, which makes him a bench player for our next MLS match, RSL's Beckerman got subbed out for Ned Grabavoy. After a new goal in the 65th, only stopped by an amazing Kennedy save, RSL got a corner that would work out. The set piece play kind of failed, but the ball came out to Grabavoy, just outside the box, and he sent a long line drive right into the back of the net. With DK set up to defend the corner, it all happened to fast for him to really pull anything off, and RSL was up 1-0. What was with the punching his own arm celebration? I didn't get that. Three minutes later, Jesus Padilla would come in for Nagamura after a hard fought return for Naga, and it wouldn't take long for El Gringo to make his presence known. Giancarlo dropped a header to Padilla's feet way out, but Padilla had plenty of room. He wound up and sent the long ball in, right into the fists of the RSL keeper Nick Rimando. The spin on the ball, however, led to the ball bouncing off Rimando's fists and then back behind him into the net for the goal. Why not, right? The Chivas road crowd went nuts, and we were tied. In the 82nd, Chivas subbed in defender Carlos Borja for Maldo-gol, showing the were interested in going for the draw, and they got it, a 1-1 final after 90+.
Let's take a look at the lineup, what worked, and what didn't:
G- Hard to imagine Zach Thorton being hurried back from injury the way Kennedy has been playing. The changing of the guard continues.
D- Trujillo, Umaña, Delgado, and Jaziç: I've gained some new respect for Dario Delgado, as he impressed the heck out of me in the game. Tough to have The Trujth out due to yellows for next week, and even tougher to see Bornstein's last Chivas season hampered by injury. My pre-game picks were Trujillo, Umaña, Jaziç, and Borns, but I Chivas was holding back the extent of his injury. Big ups for Delgado.
M- Lahoud, Nagamura, Gavin, and Espinoza: Again, Paulo was a great unknown, being that he was away with family for the previous games, and I had slated Lahoud, Gavin, Zemanski, and Espinoza to start. Zemanski eventually got out there for Lahoud in the 46th to reunite the Zip Twins, and I think leaving Padilla as a sub seems to have worked out fairly well.
F- Braun and Maldonado: Just as I called it, Braun and Maldo-gol worked some pressure up front. I think it's pretty clear that Giancarlo still needs to work some kinks out, as Braun seemed open with a path to the net more than once without getting that pass, but I think they'll get there.
Chivas are now 4-9-3 (15 points), still last in the West. However, we have really been turning things around, and are making this season a lot more worth watching as of late. After a much appreciated week off, El Rebaño will return to the HDC on Saturday to go toe to toe with Columbus. Fox Sports Prime Ticket will again be the hero on the TV side, as Chivas goes up against the top team from the East. At 10-3-4 (34 points) and with a +12 goal differential, The Massive (real Columbus nickname, along with "The Fighting Canaries" and "America's Hardest Working Team") are on point this season. El Rebaño will have to come out with their top flight players, not allow anything early on, and grind out another tough MLS test.
Now that you're all dying to read the LSF predicted lineup every pre-game, I'll bless you with it without further delay.
G- Dan "Gauchohollic" Kennedy. I think it's time for the Fullerton native's first MLS clean sheet of the year. El Do pride?
D- Jaziç, Cuesta, Umaña, and Delgado: With Born Identity most likely still out to injury, and The Trujth out with too many yellows, the opportunity for Yamith Cuesta to get going again is there. The 21 year old Columbian has shown his stuff, and hopefully he can hang with the Beast from the East. Let's be real: no Borns and no Trujth will be tough.
M- Espinoza, Gavin, Nagamura, and Padilla: Big guns! This is the first time I think I haven't called for the Zip Twins to start together, but having these four on the middie would be exciting, and we need exciting for a test with the Massive. Having Naga and Gringo out together would be clutch, and we all know Espinoza has the corner kick magic.
F- Braun and Maldonado: This is a must score game for one of these guys. It's time to figure it out and make some magic happen.
Subs- Lahoud, Zemanski, Borja, Chijindu, Flores, Galindo, Gerson Mayen, Romero, Saragosa, Zamora, and Zotinca: My three most likely o be used are Lahoud, Zemanski, and Osael Romero (who has kind of felt the squeeze since tallying his first Chivas goal some time ago).
Just to keep you posted on the numbers, Chivas' leaders look like this:
Goals-
Braun with 6
Padilla with 4
Gavin with 2
5 players w/ 1 (12 is league lead)
Assists-
Braun and Trujillo with 3 each
Lahoud with 2
3 players w/ 1
Yellows-
Trujillo with 5
Osael Romero with 3
Delgado/Padilla/Umaña/Zemanski with 2 each
Minutes-
Braun, Delgao, Umaña, Trujillo, and Gavin are the 5 players with 1,000+ on the minute counter.
¡Arriba Las Chivas!
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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