BC Pangie

Pachuca and Chivas will go into the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions’ Cup next Wednesday on even terms. The match finished today with the sides even at two a piece. While Chivas’ Omar Bravo netted both for his side, Pachuca spread the goals out with one from Juan Cacho, and the other from Marvin Cabrera.

The game looked to be an interesting match from the beginning as Chivas had a wonderful shot from outside the eighteen bounce off the crossbar, nick the post, and then back out into play. This happened in the first five minutes, and it was this instance that set the pace for the game.

No one side dominated heavily, and both sides saw equal opportunities, but it was Pachuca who struck first on the counterattack in the twenty-first minute through Juan Cacho. Andrés Chitiva was led from his own half and then carried the ball into the corner where he slipped in a cross to Cacho who tapped it home.

Pachuca continued to look strong moving the ball forward, but so did Chivas. Bravo, Bofo, and Medina looked good up front. Bofo had a truly wonderful game as his touches were always on, and his knowledge of the game shown through. It was Bofo who set up Chivas first goal in the forty-fourth minute as he sent his clearance from the eighteen up the line to Omar Bravo who received it just inside of his own half. Bravo had space, and took it with speed. He continued to make his forty yard run into the corner of the box where he cut it back to his left food and sent a wonderful curling ball past Miguel Calero. It was truly a world class run, evidence of Bravo’s quality.

The second half opened much like the first with both sides looking to exploit the other, and neither side really looking scared. Calero was forced to make some top saves as Bofo continued to send people through in the box. Unfortunately for Calero, his quality saves wouldn’t be enough to stop a stupendous team effort goal from Chivas. Chivas showed great control as they moved the ball in and around the eighteen, until Ramón Morales took it to touch and then sent the ball square. His cross beat Claero and an unmarked Bravo couldn’t do anything but score.

After this goal, Pachuca made some changes, and it didn’t really look to do anything for the team, as Chivas began to dominate possession, creating chances and looking the better team. Chivas couldn’t find the back of the net, and thought they were safe when they took out Bravo late in the eightieth minute. They were not safe. Bravo was what was holding the team together upfront working well with Bofo. He came out and Pachuca scored two minutes later with a spectacular shot from Cabrera.

Pachuca dominated the last ten minutes, and probably should have won the first leg if not for some poor calls from the linesman. They had two goals ruled offsides, when replays showed that neither player was offsides. The first the player was even with the ball when it was played, and the second was a wonderful diagonal run that caught defender, goalie, and linesman flat footed. If Pachuca should go on to lose the tie they will undeniably feel hard done by the referees.

New-comers to the MLS, Toronto FC, opened their first ever game with a two nil loss to play-off hopefuls Chivas USA. Overall Toronto showed good effort and good promise, but it was clear they were new. Chivas USA have ‘keeper Brad Guzman to thank as he came up with a few spectacular saves in the first half-an-hour.

The game opened with both teams looking a bit frantic, while still creating some vital chances. Toronto did well to control in their defensive end, while Chivas did well to shut down most of Toronto’s attacks. The first real chance came to Toronto in the thirteenth minute when an Andy Welsh free kick met the head of Edson Buddle. Buddle headed the ball down, but Guzman came up with his first of many spectacular saves. Three minutes later, it looked like Toronto would take the lead when former Galaxy midfielder, Paulo Nagamura ripped a shot from outside that Guzman could only perry away. Buddle came up with the rebound but was unable to sneak it by. Just shy of the half-hour mark a ball over the top of the defense found Alecko Eskandarian alone with just the keeper to beat, but volleyed his shot into Guzman who shunned it away for a corner kick that amounted to nothing.

Despite Toronto’s valiant attacks upfront, their defense seemed to be a bit lacking, and in the thirty-fifth minute Cuban defector Maykel Galindo beat the offside trap and was easily behind all the Toronto defense. Sutton came out but Galindo showed his intelligence putting the ball into space for Ante Razov to fire home his ninety-ninth career goal into a virtually empty net.

At this point the tide looked to turn, and while Toronto continued to push upfront, their efforts didn’t amount to much. The second half saw the Toronto attack basically stop as Buddle and Eskandarian seldom connected. It was as if Buddle had thrown in the towel. He was caught flatfooted often in offsides positions and it seemed that when he did get the ball, his touches weren’t enough to keep control. So it may have been expected in the sixty-fifth minute Connor Casey was subbed in he would come in for Buddle. Instead he was subbed for Ex-Sunderland midfielder Andy Welsh. Welsh wasn’t having a great game, but he was by far out-performing Buddle.

The addition of Casey proved to be futile as the Toronto attack couldn’t seem to foil the Chivas defense. Chivas’ attack kept getting caught a offside by only a fraction and Galindo appeared to have scored but it was called back for offsides, a questionable call by the referee. Chivas’ continued to push forward and work the Toronto defense and they were rewarded in the dieing minutes of the game when Sacha Kljestan netted his first ever. It was a powerful shot from outside the box that found the side netting, and saw Sutton stare in what might be considered disbelief.

Overall Chivas looked to be a slightly better side. They hope to continue onto the play-offs yet again this year, and it could be in their future with a beefing of their back line. Toronto’s back four will need some work on the offsides trap. Numerous times it looked to be broken if not for a few favorable calls from the referee. Their midfield will develop once Andy Welsh settles down from his transfer overseas, and if Ronnie O’Brien ever recovers from injury. For all the star forward players they have, Toronto couldn’t seem to connect upfront, and it is this disconnect that will be their demise in their initial season.

Sutton: He wasn’t really tested all that much, and I’m not sure about the second goal. The first I didn’t think there was really much he could do, but the second seemed to catch him flat footed. His 6′6′’ presence should probably have been able to reach that one if you ask me, or at least it should have made an attempt. His foot skills make me nervous for some reason. Every time the ball went back I was cringing inside.

Buddle: I didn’t like Buddle when he played for the MetroBulls, and I still don’t like him. He’s lazy. His touch isn’t good enough to allow him to be lazy. He should have finished earlier in the match, but didn’t, and for some reason Mo let him stay on and pretty much be useless.

Eskandarian: Just like Buddle, he should have put Toronto up one - nil, but failed to aim his shot at anything but the goalie. However, Alecko didn’t really seem to get as out of it as Buddle. That doesn’t mean that he played well either. He failed to link up with Buddle, and while that may be Buddles fault, Alecko didn’t seem to be working too much with the midfielders.

Andy Welsh: I’m not sold on Welsh like Mo, but I’m willing to give him sometime to get acclimated to the MLS style of play. He worked a bit harder than the forwards but there were also times he just decided to give up and drag-ass. If anything Welsh needs to work on his attitude as he came off as a really negative player.

Ronnie O’Brien: He’s injured yes, and as I mentioned earlier somewhere, he’s injury prone. I really doubt he’ll play much more than half the season.

Casey Connor: He came in late for Welsh. He looked okay trying to play with his back to goal, but no one could really support him and work with him.

Chivas USA 2 - 0 Toronto FC

With DC United losing to Chivas on Tuesday the Houston Dynamo were MLS’ last chance of having a finalist in this years CONCACAF Champions’ Cup.

Houston went in with a two goal lead that was, unfortunately, not enough to see them through to the finals. It was a game that saw some nice goals from either side, but it was also a game that showed some questionable refereeing.

The Dynamo started without stand out Ricardo Clark who had damaged his knee in their previous encounter. This forced Kelly Gray to move out of the defense and into the middle, while Alejandro Moreno dropped back a bit to help cover for Gray. This changed things up for the Dynamo, but I don’t think it was what caused them to fail. They came out and it was clear they had a two goal lead that they were looking to preserve, that or they were incredibly lazy to start. Covering the defensive end, and banging balls upfield for someone to chase every chance they had.

This technique seldom works, and it wouldn’t work for the Dynamo as Pachuca struck in the fourth minute from a Christian Giménez free kick. Giménez whipped the ball in and it was flicked on to Gabriel Caballero on the back post. Unfortunately it looks that Caballero was offside. He was on when the ball was initially kicked but the flick on put him in an offsides position. This was only the first of a few semi-questionable calls.

Pachuca would bring the game back to level terms only eleven minutes later when Craig Waibel had a nasty hack in the box. The penalty was rightly given and Giménez converted to the right side. Zach Wells, the stand-in goalie who blocked a penalty earlier in the quaterfinals was able to get his hand to it, but not enough to keep it out of his net.

You would think two goals in a quarter of an hour would wake a team up, and maybe it did as Houston was to score next, although it wouldn’t come until the next half. Houston played the remainder of the first half on their heels. Giving Pachuca too much time to trap a pass and turn. While Pachuca gave Houston no time to control the ball at all. Due to this slacking defense, Pachuca were able to move the ball freely into the box and create plenty of chances. It was a surprise that the two sides went into the half even on aggregate.

The second half didn’t look much different with Houston really playing back on their heels while Pachuca played to win. However, Houston found the back of the net in the fifty-fourth minute after another questionable call by the referee. Brian Ching was chasing the ball out of bounds with a Pachuca defender in front of him. The defender went down and in retrospect it looks as if he fell without contact, and this was a good call from the referee, however, the ball looked to cross the line completely into the out of bounds. Ching continued playing it, as he should, and crossed it to Dwayne DeRosario who touched it on to Brian Mullan who converted. At this point Houston was back in the lead on aggregate (there are no away goals in CONCACAF).

Houston’s lead wouldn’t last long as yet another questionable call was given leading to a goal. Brad Davis was working one on one in the box near the end line with his back to the referee. He half-stepped into get the ball, but realized he wouldn’t get it and so pulled out. Unfortunately the Pachuca forward knew this would be a good time to take a dive and won yet another penalty. Should it have been a penalty? Maybe, but the referee was in a really poor position to see what had happened. The penalty was taken by Giménez again. Wells dove the same direction as the first but Giménez went left and converted easily. Once again the teams were on level terms.

The rest of the game was rather bland. Houston didn’t provide many chances, and Pachuca couldn’t convert despite their running at the goal all game. It looked to go into overtime, but then Houston magically got their second of the game. Once again it was Brian Ching involved in another goal. A free kick was taken Kevin Goldthwaite, who had just came on as a sub, ten yards outside the box. Unfortunately for Pachuca only two of their three back line pulled up for the offside trap. The remaining defender left Ching wide open with a free header that he did well to convert. This goal took the wind out of the fans. They looked as if they had resigned themselves to defeat. Dominic Kinnear, the Houston coach, looked down at his watch. Houston went into a shell. Ten minutes left in the match and they were going to hold on for the win. Or were they…

Pachuca would score a phenomenal goal in the eighty-sixth minute. Houston once again allowed for too much space when they were defending. Allowing passes in and out of the box, and attackers to turn and cross. Leobardo López got a pass in the box, dribbled towards the edge of the box, turned and crossed it in to Gabriel Caballero, the man with the first goal who had a beautiful touch off his head into the back of the net. There was no question on this goal. One of three legit goals in this game of seven.

Regulation time finished with the teams even on aggregate, and so it went to overtime. Pachuca had the momentum from the second half, and they had the fans behind them. Houston still had a chance, but it would be a tough battle if they were to win it.

DeRosario looked to get the first of extra time, but a phenomenal save from Miguel Calero kept the teams even. The game continued with Houston looking slow and tired, while Pachuca just kept hammering. It was amazing that this game even went to overtime. To most, it was no question who the better team was. Finally Pachuca picked up another goal - another questionable goal.

The first half of extra time went smoothly, there wasn’t any stoppages, and injury time didn’t look to be a factor. There was no clock held up by the fourth official, and everyone expected the whistle on fifteen. This was not to be the case. At about fifteen-twenty, Houston looked to clear the ball and the referee looked to blow his whistle. But he didn’t, he only put it in his mouth ready to blow it, but the ball landed at the feet of Giménez who took a few touches and sent his hat trick rocket home into the upper ninety. Zach Wells just stood there, unmoving, watching the ball find the back of the net. There was really nothing he could do about it. Should the referee have blown his whistle? He had it in his mouth, he was ready to blow it, but poor clearance and a Pachuca chance saw him take the whistle out of his mouth. Once the ball was in the back of the net, he blew the whistle. Of course this caused some hard feelings between Houston and the referee at this point.

The refereeing for this game was rather poor. He missed an obvious handball a few times, once in the box that would have given Pachuca their third penalty of the game. Houston came out slow, and finished slow. It was obvious Pachuca was the better team and deserved to win. Their were times it looked like Houston was a pub team that had no idea how to play against such skill. Giménez was easily the man of the match. He was in both ends of the field, showing skill, power, and intelligence. Also it should be noted that the Pachuca keeper seemed to try to get into it with the Houston coach at the end of regulation time. A rather interesting talking point if anyone saw it.

First Leg: Houston 2 - 0 Pachuca
Second Leg: Houston 2 - 5 Pachuca
Aggregate: Houston 4 - 5 Pachuca
Houston: 5/10 | Pachuca: 8/10