E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Chivas USA was full of confidence heading into their MLS Primetime Thursday tilt against the struggling New York Red Bulls.
After all, the Red-and-White had won their last three contests, while the home team was coming off back-to-back losses and was missing two vital attacking cogs.
However, one vital error a quarter-hour from time cost Chivas all three points, as New York striker Juan Pablo Angel was left alone in the box long enough to nod home the winner off a Dane Richards cross from the right side.
"We had our moments," said Chivas USA coach Preki afterward. "I thought we were starting to dominate the play. We had had few decent opportunities. We didn't connect and then we make one mistake and the game is done."
Despite the fact that regulars Ante Razov and Jonathan Bornstein were dressed following their respective injury layoffs, Preki used the same starting XI that had proven successful during the three previous outings. Meanwhile, the Red Bulls were missing captain Claudio Reyna (tight hamstring) and teenage standout Jozy Altidore, who is awaiting the completion of his transfer to Spanish side Villarreal.
So it was no surprise that Chivas looked the better of the two teams during the first half. They dominated possession and had a few opportunities, but couldn't find the all-important opener.
"I think we needed to put one away early," said midfielder Sacha Kljestan, who was at the heart of most of the Chivas attacking threats in the opening period.
"In the first half I was finding spots," said Kljestan. "In the second half they played me tighter. It was tough. It was a back-and-forth game with a lot of running, so we might have died down a little in the second half."
They certainly died down when it came to marking Angel on the decisive play. The Colombian forward has struggled so far in 2008 after lighting up the league with 19 goals last season. But few would argue that he remains one of most dangerous players in MLS.
"That's the one guy we don't want to leave open and next thing you know, he's way, way open and he gets the goal," said Preki. "Richards puts a decent ball in the box but we lose track of Angel. We talked all week about him."
Goalkeeper Brad Guzan had no chance on the goal, but nobody would have been surprised if he was less than his best Thursday. Guzan was playing his second game in just more than a day on two separate continents, after going 45 minutes for the U.S. national team against Spain on Wednesday afternoon.
"I felt all right, no different than normal," said Guzan. "Once you get out there, the adrenaline kicks in and you just want to help the team. Unfortunately, we came up a little short."
Still, despite the result, the mood was cautiously optimistic in the visiting locker room after the match.
"We're continuing to work on the little things to fine tune our team," Kljestan said. "I'm not worried."
More significantly, his coach also seemed content to shrug off the loss. "We had quite a few moments I thought we could have done better," said Preki. "I guess it wasn't our night."
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