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Chivas USA Falls 1-0 in Opener Against Houston

March 12, 2012 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Club Deportivo Chivas USA News Release


Carson, Calif. (Sunday, March 11, 2012) - The Houston Dynamo took advantage of every minute of stoppage time as they pulled out a 1-0 victory over Chivas USA (0-1-0) in the season-opener before a crowd of 14,464 at The Home Depot Center, Sunday evening. Dynamo defender, Andre Hainault's strike inside the box in the 90th minute changed what appeared to be headed for a draw.

- Locked in a scoreless tie in the first half, Red-and-White goalkeeper Dan Kennedy twice came out of his net to make crucial stops - one a point-blank challenge on a solo Dynamo breakaway in the 25th minute.

- Colombian forward and team captain, Juan Pablo Angel, nearly broke the scoreless tie in the 41st minute when his tap-in off a corner hit Dynamo keeper Tally Halls' left post.

- Chivas USA continued to press the action forward in search of the game's first goal, but could not capitalize as two of Angel's headers soared just over the crossbar in the second half. The Goats did, however, share in a bit of goal-post luck when Dynamo forward Brian Ching's shot deflected harmlessly off Kennedy's right post in the 79th minute.

- After a deflection near the penalty area, Hainault gathered the ball, squared up and powered the shot past Kennedy's left side for the one goal victory at the minute 90+2.

- The Goats now look to bounce back Saturday, March 17 at 7:30 pm (PT), when they play host to Vancouver Whitecaps FC (1-0-0) at The Home Depot Center. The match will broadcast on television, live on KDOC in English, and KWHY Channel 22 in Spanish. For Season Seats starting at just $9 per game visit cdchivasusa.com or call 1-877-CHIVAS-1. Follows us on Twitter @cdchivasusa and Facebook.com/chivasusa

THE WORD FROM THE TEAMS:

CHIVAS USA HEAD COACH - ROBIN FRASER:

Thoughts on the game... "I thought we controlled the tempo for a while, we had about a ten-minute period late in the first half where we turned the ball over quite a bit and as a result defended had to deal with some dangerous crosses. In the second half we had some good moments created a few chances, seemed like we lost midfield a little bit again some turnovers put us in trouble, the game was pretty back and forth, and just when you think we've put on a number of fresh attacking players hopefully we can get something on the other end and obviously an extremely disappointing finish to the game."

"With 33 games to go, we look at the fact that we did a number of things well and throughout the game we had some very good sequences and created some very good chances. The work rate was very good and for long spells in the game we were quite good, these are definitely things to take out of it. However, you do look at the fact that we don't close a game out, we have to make some critical and decisive plays late in the game to win or lose games. Obviously, we have to address the end and what led to the corner kick and dealing with the corner kick. I definitely feel that we did a lot of things well, we created some chances, and we controlled tempo for a long period of time. "

On Dan Kennedy's performance... It was definitely a good night for Dan, and probably the best we've seen in 2012 for sure, he was engaged and made a number of good saves, came off his line very quickly and alertly, certainly a good day for him.

On Casey Townsend... Casey has had a very good preseason, he's a determined and talented kid and it was an opportunity to get another good attacking player on the field, certainly in a game we're trying to win. There are certain things that he does quite well, athleticism, timing, and you can never fault his effort. He came in and he put in a good honest shift."

On Cesar Romero... "Cesar is a kid with a good pace, I thought early on he helped us play and helped us get out the back, his possession was good, he was very active and he's a good young athletic player who gives us a spark when he comes on."

On the loss... "At this point we have to look at the positives because there were many positives, and we have to go out and continue to build on that. There is no need to and no sense in hanging our heads, we are a group that is building, and if this game is a starting point for what is relatively a new group, I'm encouraged about where we are going to be."

CHIVAS USA FORWARD - CASEY TOWNSEND

On his first match... "It was a lot of fun, a little bit of nerves a lot of excitement. I was really excited to get on it [the pitch] and once I got on it, it was fun. I thought we played well, we battled, it's just unfortunate we gave up a goal at the very end there but we gave it our all and the bounces just weren't going our way."

CHIVAS USA MIDFIELDER - RYAN SMITH

Impressions on the game... "It could have gone either way, I thought we hit the post, they hit the post that was bound to happen at the end it's just bad luck. Someone was going to do it, it was us or them but we deserved more from the game I think."

Expectations of the season... "I feel positive, this is only the first day it would have been great to start off with a win but there's still a long way to go, I'm positive about the season"

CHIVAS USA FORWARD - JUAN PABLO ANGEL

Impressions of the game today... "There were some good moments, it could have gone either way. Disappointing because we had our chances although they had theirs too. A draw would have been a favorable result for us. It's just the beginning we have to try to get it right, start seeing results and our objective is to pick it up one game at a time and see where we go."

HOUSON DYNAMO HEAD COACH- DOMINIC KINNEAR:

Overall team performance ...Played pretty good, created some good chances we could have scored more than the one at the end I think. Brad [Davis] did ok, overall it was a good performance; we could have kept the ball a little bit better to be picky.

Thoughts on Dan Kennedy... I thought he had a good game; his save on Will was pretty brave I'm a fan of Dan Kennedy as a goal keeper. He came out, closed some angles down made it easier for himself, his shot stopping was really good.

HOUSTON DYNAMO DEFENDER - ANDRE HAINULT:

Thoughts on the game...Do I think they outplayed us, no I don't think so. They had a chance where they hit the post, we had chances too, and we hit a post and missed a breakaway. Had to keep an eye on Angel because he was dangerous every time the ball was wide we knew that. I don't think we stole a victory but it always feels nice when you score in stoppage time. It's one game and there's thirty three, we got a long win. Tried to put myself at a good spot, I knew Adam [Moffat] was going to hit it and it came to me and I turned and shot.

HOUSTON DYNAMO CAPTAIN- BRIAN CHING:

Thoughts on Montreal and return to Houston...Not knowing anything weighs on you a little bit, the longer I was up in Montreal the more I was beginning to accept the fact that I might be up their It grew on me love the guys, staff was great, fans are fantastic. As happy as I'm to be back with Houston it was a little bit of a bummer that I did leave.

Thoughts on the game...Feel we made it more difficult than we should of, created more opportunities than they did with two break always at the beginning, we hit the post, couple close headers. I definitely feel we deserve this one we should have put it away sooner. It was a good win for us after a tough loss last year and kicks off a good foot for the rest of the season.



Major League Soccer Stories from March 12, 2012


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