Chivas USA Vs. LA Galaxy, SuperClasico: Chad Barrett’s Goal Stands Up As Galaxy Win 1-0

Chivas’ strong run of form came to an end on Saturday night, losing for just the second time since March 29. Even so, the Goats are on 12 points, which isn’t good enough for a playoff spot, but has them within striking distance.

The goal did not stop the Galaxy from looking to go forward. Los Angeles continued to press for the rest of the first half, but despite their chances they couldn’t get a second goal.

Stephens played a big part in the beginning of last season, helping the Galaxy off to a hot start, but he finished the season poorly. Now in his second season, Stephens has struggled for playing time, but Arena is going with him late on in this match for the fresh legs. Beckham has never been much of a defender and Stephens is a quick player who can pressure the Chivas players and the Galaxy try to kill off this match.

First came a long shot on Ricketts. It was low and hard, but should not have troubled Ricketts much. For some reason though, it did. Ricketts just blocked it and left it right in front of goal, forcing the Galaxy defense to scramble and clear it away for a corner kick. On that corner kick, Ricketts got tied up in traffic and flailed away hopelessly at the ball. It bounced around in front of the LA goal, but the defenders finally managed to get away and keep the Galaxy ahead 1-0.

It was Beckham who gave Chivas the chance, committing a foul 25 yards from goal. The Goats could have taken a speculative chance at goal or looked to play a ball in for a runner to get in ont he end of, but neither happened. Instead, the ball hit the wall and bounced away harmlessly. One of the Goats’ best chances went for nothing as they couldn’t even get a look at goal from it.

The importance of set pieces is often repeated time and time again to the point that it becomes annoying, but in this match the importance is evident. Beckham is playing the balls in for the Galaxy and getting LA goals, while Chivas isn’t even getting a look on them.

Trailing 1-0, it’s strange to see Braun come off. He is undoubtedly Chivas’ best attacking threat, but he hasn’t played 90 minutes too many times this season and could have been tiring. Cortez was just signed a week ago by Chivas so it is not as if Fraser is turned to an old hand.

Arena is hoping Lopez can take advantage of a tiring Chivas defense. Barrett scored the Galaxy goal, but began to tire and the energetic Lopez has come on strong in recent weeks. With the Goats pushing for an equalizer he could find space behind the back line.

It won’t be long before Chivas makes a substitution either. They need a goal and have nearly their entire bench up and getting warm. Head coach Robin Fraser has begun to give instructions onto his assistants, who have relayed them to the players so it looks like Chivas will make their move very soon too, although there isn’t a ton of obvious offensive talent for Fraser to turn to on the bench.

The Chivas midfield has been terrible all match. They haven’t been able to keep the ball and with the back line dropping deeper and deeper, LA has had plenty of space to work with. Juninho ran right into that space, driving towards the Chivas goal before having a go from 30 yards that just missed.

Magee got the ball and had he gotten past Elliot, would have gone into the Chivas half with support against an out of sorts defense. The veteran Elliot did what he was supposed to do, taking down Magee to stop the attack and when he was shown his card he didn’t complain. It took 50 minutes, but this match finally has its first hard. It is awfully strange for a rivalry match, but that’s been the case tonight.

Chad Barrett may have tried to convince spectators that he really was a good striker with his goal in the first half, but he has reverted back to his normal self. It’s the Chad Barrett that has a reputation all around the league for a hard worker who is strong, who can run and who can also miss the net better than anyone else in the league. That is what he did in missing a wide open goal that could have put the Los Angeles Galaxy up on Chivas USA right at the beginning of the second half.

A ball to Juan Pablo Angel in the center of the pitch was perfectly gathered by the Colombian. He controlled it, turned and spotted Barrett making a run at midfield. Chivas, trying to play an offside trap, were caught. Angel played a perfectly weighted ball into the path of Barrett who was all alone. He dribbled his way towards goal, rounded the keeper and had an open goal to shoot at. Of course he put the ball in the side netting though, missing his chance and keeping Chivas in this match with LA’s lead still just 1-0.

After that the Galaxy were flying. They dominated possession, easily holding the ball while Chivas were forced to chase. With Barrett working hard to make runs over the top and the threat of Beckham playing long balls, Chivas had to drop deeper. That opened up space for the Galaxy, who were only too happy to take advantage.

The Goats continued to play long balls to Braun, who did well to hold the ball, but he had no help. With no help for Braun up top and a midfield being vastly outplayed things look grim for Chivas. The one hope they do have is a mistake from a Galaxy back line that has committed their fair share of them this season. Even so, this one looks like it will go to the Galaxy.

It’s all Galaxy in this one. They have a defense prone to mistakes so Chivas could get back in this one, but the quality is firmly in favor of Los Angeles right now.

If any moment was a more perfect example of the Chivas USA attack than Justin Braun dribbling around looking for help in the 38th minute I’d like to see it. The anemic Chivas attack is somewhat expected. They were dependent on Braun last year and did little to help him out this season, instead focusing on building up a porous back line under new head coach and former defender Robin Fraser. Even so, Braun dribbled around looking for help was almost sad.

The tall, strong and somewhat gangly Braun is Chivas’ only attacking threat. He gather a ball five yards from the endline on the right side and proceded to spend 15 seconds dribbling around. He was double marked and had no where to go. All he wanted to do was hold the ball long enough for a teammate to come so he could pass it, but there was no teammate to be found. He did exceptionally well to keep the ball, but eventually had to play and aimless ball across that did no good. Braun could use some help in the form of another attacking player...or four.

While Beckham is aging and doesn’t quite have the ability to run like he used to, but his passing is still exquisite and LA is trying to take advantage of that. Nobody would call the Galaxy a fast team so it is easy for teams to close down space and make the Galaxy play in small spaces, which is why they try to play through Beckham. His threat to find players all over the field forces defenses to stretch out and at the very least it creates spaces in the middle that wouldn’t otherwise be there.

LA will continue to play through Beckham, but he alone cannot hold the creative responsibilities. Juninho is capable of creating plays as well and it is imperative that LA brings him into the match as well so he doesn’t get too defensive minded in covering for Beckham.

History and the table may show the Galaxy to be the better team, but Chivas are playing with confidence after a 3-2 win at New York a week ago. If the Galaxy want to continue their dominance over the team they share the Home Depot Center with, they’ll have to play like they care, something that wasn’t there in the first 60 seconds.

Could Gonzalez make the Gold Cup roster with a strong match tonight? It’s possible. It is not as if the U.S. is strong at the back. It could be nothing though. Bradley is completely obsessed with soccer and considering he lives in Southern California, he could just be at the HDC to watch the match.

So here we sit in 2011 with Chivas still the Los Angeles professional soccer afterthought. The Galaxy are still the preeminent team in the city and with the star power and money backing the Galaxy, Chivas are unlikely to make up ground in the tabloids. Where they can make up ground is on the field, where the Galaxy have been far superior of late. The Goats first chance to close the results gap in 2011 comes on Saturday night, but more important to Chivas than closing the gap on LA is moving up the table.

Under new head coach Robin Fraser, Chivas has done what is to be expected of a team now run by a former defender. They have built up their back line and it has paid off. A year after being torched at the back time and time again, Chivas have allowed the second-fewest goals in the league. That will challenge a Galaxy attack that last week aside has had trouble scoring.