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US: MLS Preview- FC Dallas v Chivas USA [Sat Aug 27th, 2005]
FC Dallas (10-7-5, 35 pts) v Chivas USA (3-17-4, 13 pts)
When: 8:30 pm ET, Saturday, August 27, 2005
Where: Pizza Hut Park, Frisco, Texas
The Hoops have whupped newbies Chivas USA since the beginning, taking all the points in their first three meetings. But this is a different Chivas squad from the one that gave up 10 goals and only scored 4 in those games. This is a Chivas side with new weapons in Juan Pablo Garcia and Paco Palencia.
FCD have been on a long summer slide, winless in their last seven MLS fixtures. They haven’t earned three points since June 25, and have given up top spot out West to San Jose and now sit tied for second with a revitalized Los Angeles Galaxy. Much can blamed on the long injury absence of stgriker Eddie Johnson, who is playing again but still not in form.
Carlos Ruiz has 10 goals on the season, including three in his last three MLS matches. However, dazzling midfielder Ronnie O’Brien has not made the scoresheet since July 16. FCD’s Achilles heel is a backline that has been in flux all season, but the reinsertion of Steve Jolley provides some much needed veteran stability.
An unexpected injury-time equaliser from Ruiz and subsequent PK victory over DC United in Wednesday’s US Open Cup match should provide a confidence boost to a team mired in the doldrums for more than two months.
Chivas USA have been dragging all season. But the cavalry arrived in the form of Paco Palencia and Juan Pablo Garcia, and they look every bit as capable as the hype said they were. In a 3-3 draw with the MetroStars last week, Palencia notched two goals and Garcia got the other.
But Chivas’s defending has been horrible all season, and that was no different last weekend, when they allowed the Metros to recover from a 3-1 deficit, including an injury-time equaliser. Ezra Hendrickson and Douglas Sequeira are only mediocre, at best, and they lose their concentration toward the game’s end. And the same will most likely hold true here.
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