Posted on September 16, 2012
CARSON, Calif. — Chivas USA’s season of despair continued on Saturday night with a 2-0 loss to the San Jose Earthquakes at The Home Depot Center.
The defeat left struggling Chivas (28 points) with a 7-13-7 and one foot out of playoff contention. The Earthquakes, on the other hand, continued their march to the Supporters Shields crown with a 17-6-5 mark and 56 points.
“It’s frustrating,” Chivas midfielder Shalrie Joseph said. “We didn’t do enough to come out tonight with points. Offensively we created a little bit of chances; we just weren’t able to score.”
The Grenadan international, however, still was optimistic that the Major League Soccer side could reach the post-season.
“The good thing about it is that the possibility is still there,” he said. “We just have to pick our heads up and keep working hard. We have a quick turn around next week in Columbus; we just have to pick our heads up and try to win the next one.”
The Earthquakes scored the first goal on a controversial penalty kick call in the 40th minute. Alan Gordon was pulled down just inside the edge of the box by John Valencia, who was slapped with a yellow card. What made the call controversial was that at the time, the ball was well outside the penalty area. Wondolowski converted the spot kick for a league-best 19th goal of the season before a crowd of 11,317.
“The referee changed the game with a call like that,” Joseph said.
“I don’t know what to say to be honest, I’m going to have to look at it again and I’m sure coach [Robin Fraser] is going to do the same. You don’t change a game like that; you don’t just make a call like that. The game was going fine until he [the referee] made a change like that. It was frustrating to have a penalty called with the ball not even close to the goal line. It’s frustrating, but the guys kept battling, the guys kept fighting and we weren’t able to pull it off tonight but we will be better next week.”
Gordon scored his 12th goal in the 49th minute for an insurance goal.
“After that we were in a hole and we were just trying to push numbers trying to create more opportunities and get a goal, but it didn’t come for us tonight,” Joseph said. “We need to hold our heads up and try for next week.”
Fraser was red-carded by referee Chris Penso at halftime for continuing to argue the call. Assistant coach Greg Vanney ran the show over the final 45 minutes.
“Robin has been there on and off the field, and Greg Vanney has done a great job being assistant coach,” Joseph said. “He can replace Robin like that, they work off each other. I understand why Robin had to do what he did, that’s just part of being a coach, sticking up for your players.”
Photo: Shalrie Joseph: “It’s frustrating. We didn’t do enough to come out tonight with points. Offensively we created a little bit of chances; we just weren’t able to score.” Scott Bales/YCJ
Categories: Caribbean, Grenada
Tags: Chivas USA, Greg Vanney, Major League Soccer, Robin Fraser, San Jose Earthquakes, Shalrie Joseph, Supporters Shield
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