Chivas USA 2 TFC 0: We’ll take that as a warm welcome to the MLS

By: Sam | April 8th, 2007

Scorers:
CHV- Razov 34′
CHV- Klejstan 88′

Analysis:
Well, what can I say, it’s a bad result for our first game, but it wasn’t all bad. Our first half was excellent, it took some heroics from Brad Guzan to keep us off the scoresheet, especially on Edson Buddle’s header on thirteen minutes. Chivas got their first goal on a play that they carried through very well, with a little help from TFC’s lazy defenders. Then came the second half. What happened, I ask you? Full marks to Chivas, they did a great job of defending their lead, kept cool, and Sacha Klejstan put away their second goal pretty much flawlessly, again with a little generosity from Toronto’s defense. All in all, not a bad showing for the first match, I got a sense that it was a sign of good things to come for the team, we just need to work on our finishing and through balls.

Player’s grades:
Sutton: 6/10 - Was not at fault for either of the goals. A bit wobbly at times perhaps, but overall an impressive performanced highlighted by a few good saves and well-timed challenges.
Boyens: 5 - Not a terribly eye-opening first match for the Kiwi youngster, looked a tad unsure at times, but as it’s his first match in the pros, you can’t complain that much given the circumstances.
Reda: 5,5 - Nursing a leg injury going into the game, looked alert most of the time. Caught flat-footed on the first goal, and gave their forwards a bit too much real estate to my liking, but otherwise a brick wall. Subbed for Adam Braz on 76 minutes.
Brennan: 6 - Good game from Captain Canada. Playing right-back where he’s not in his natural element, showed that he could lead the team both tangibly and intangibly. Good marking, kept Razov and bay a whole lot.
Canizales: 6 - Great first half from the young upstart Canadian, coming in to replace the injured Ronnie O’Brien. Came back defensively a lot and helped out in every sector. His second half was sub-par however.
Mulrooney: 6 - Rumours were and still are circulating about him not wanting to play for Toronto, but that certainly wasn’t the case in this match. Strong tackles, good passing distribution, but nothing spectacular.
Robinson: 6,5 - Sportsnet’s analysts couldn’t get enough of him. Neither could I, he looked very sharp, always in position and rarely lost the ball. Had he had better help in front of him, he could’ve made a significant difference to the result.
Nagamura: 5 - Agressive yet quiet. The Brazilian didn’t bring too much to the match but played his role well overall. Was more effective defensively than offensively. Booked on 77 minutes.
Welsh: 4,5 - The Scot was very present on the right flank, but had troubles making plays when he had the chance. Looked like he was running out of steam early, but not a bad performance overall. Subbed for Conor Casey on 65 minutes.
Buddle: 4 - Looked eager to score early on, but after the first half-hour, basically invisible. Seemed as if he had some trouble with his touch, gave the ball away an awful lot. Again, it took a gargantuous save from Guzan to deny him the early goal.
Eskandarian: 4 - A little more active than his partner, but his finishing difficulties were evident. Broke free a few times and had two decent shots on net, but like everyone, his second half lacked a little bit of everything.

Chivas USA:
Strong game overall. What David said was true, Galindo is deceptively fast, he almost made us pay quite a few times. Guevara and Mendoza embellished a teensy bit on our two bookings, but that’s not what mattered. Razov was efficient as usual.

Officiating:
Not bad at all. Mr. Vaughn in the middle was very fair and in control. His assistants, however, were a bit off. Calling two offsides on Toronto when the players in question were nowhere near being in an offside position were an example. Otherwise, no complaints.

Looking ahead:
Anyone can tell, if we play like we did in the first half, good things will happen against New England next week. If I had to pick something that the boys have to work on, it’s the through balls. Too many times we saw the long ball going nowhere.

Match video from MLSNet can be seen here.