Hard-fought Chivas-Houston Match Readies Teams

CARSON, Calif. – If Sunday’s game is any indication of how the playoffs will go, both Houston and Chivas USA will be prepared to battle in their respective first-round series.

Houston, though, stands a better chance – at least on paper – to go through deeper in the postseason. Thanks to a 3-2 win over Chivas, Houston finished in second place in the Western Conference standings and will host their decisive second leg against expansion Seattle Sounders FC.

Chivas, meanwhile, will play the Los Angeles Galaxy in a matchup that figures to heavily favor the Galaxy.

Chivas players and coaches, though, said the fight and effort displayed against Houston will have to count for something at some point.

“The way we played, the way we fought, our energy, hopefully they will get rewarded because there was only one team on the field who played soccer, there was only one team on the field who had chances and that team lost,” Chivas coach Preki said. “Quite a few times the game can be cruel. We are not putting our head down.”

Chivas had several early opportunities to open the score but could not find their finishing touch. Justin Braun had an attempt in the fifth minute as he walked in alone on Pat Onstad but instead of testing the veteran ‘keeper, who was well off his line, placed the ball right at him and watched the ball knocked away for a corner kick.

“I saw it come through and my first concern was (Maicon) Santos and whether he was going to go,” Onstad said. "But I saw Braun out of the corner of my eye and at that stage I was probably a little higher than I would have liked. but I just held my ground and kind of got a little bit of a read on it and got my finger to it.”

Santos had a chance of his own in the 22nd minute when he had a breakaway as well but also did the same thing as he shot right at Onstad.

Houston did not have similar luck on their first two scoring chances. Andrew Hainault knocked a corner kick into the back of the net in the 26th minute after Ryan Cochrane knocked the initial cross from Brad Davis back to the front of the goal. Then, Davis sent Oduro a well-placed through ball and Oduro ran past Chivas’ defense and beat Zach Thornton from inside the box.

Chivas could not counter and went into the break down 2-0.

“I really thought our group came out of the locker room pretty good. It’s very disappointing that we didn't score at least one goal,” Preki said. “Out of just careless play, we go into the half 2-0 but anybody who is in the stadium (knows) it's no way that's 2-0 down.”

Old habits died hard for Chivas as the Houston again scored early in the second half when Abe Thompson found himself alone in front of the net and knocked in a pass from Geoff Cameron.

“The same thing happened in the second half, the first time they go down they scored a goal,” Preki said. “But you could see in the group, they never quit, the group pushed forward and the group really wanted to get a result.”

Michael Lahoud scored in the 59th minute and Eduardo Lillingston added a penalty-kick goal in the 88th minute but could get no closer.

Now, Chivas must face their nemesis in the first round. Still, players were upset over not being able to finish in a higher position, not necessarily having to play the Galaxy.

“I wish it would have worked out to where we were the highest-seeded team,” Chivas defender Carey Talley said. “I probably wouldn’t have wanted to go to Seattle if I had my choice. Playing the Galaxy at home, Clasico, two in a row, it’s going to be an exciting couple of weeks for this franchise.”

For Houston, the scenario was not the best, said coach Dominic Kinnear.

“I’m worried about how many games they've played. Now we're playing on Thursday and the league didn't take into account that we played in CONCACAF on Wednesday. It's unfair,” he said. “I'm kind of worried about the games we've played so we’re going to stay in town, try to get as much rest as we can, but I think (it’s an) oversight on the league's part.”

Goal.com

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