Toronto FC 1 - 0 Chivas USA - Match Report

What a way to bounce back that was! We deserved those three points. We full deserved them. We outplayed Chivas USA for the entire 90 minutes, and were a completely different team than the one we saw in the last few matches.

Game Recap

It was all us from minute 1. Amado Guevara scored the match's only goal on 36 minutes. Danny Dichio headed a ball into Chivas' 18 yard-box that two defenders couldn't handle and Amado hit home for his third goal of the year. It was a deserved lead at that point, and we never looked back. Chad Barrett had a golden opportunity to add a second right before halftime. He was sent in alone on Zach Thornton, however the big goalkeeper got a block on the shot. One negative from this match was that Chad Barrett squandered yet another good scoring chance. We wouldn't rue that miss though, as the second half yielded no goals, giving us our first home victory of the season.

Starting Eleven and Player Ratings

This was a weird starting eleven and a weird formation. It was also an awesome starting eleven and an awesome formation. It worked. We passed that ball around Chivas like they were in last rather than first. Danny Dichio and Marco Velez made their first starts of the season, while Pablo Vitti slid back into the starting eleven. Both Fuad Ibrahim and Kevin Harmse sat on the bench, with Dwayne De Rosario of course out with injury. Here is how we lined up...

Frei

Wynne        Velez      Serioux       Brennan

Robinson

Cronin                Guevara

Vitti                                       Barrett

Dichio

When we were attacking, this was a 4-3-3, with Vitti and Barrett shifting forward, and Guevara running the attack from the middle. When we were defending, Robinson and Cronin defended from the centre of midfield, with Vitti, Dichio, and Barrett each helping out defensively when necessary.

Frei 7, Wynne 6, Velez 6, Serioux 8, Brennan 6, Robinson 7, Cronin 6, Guevara 8 (Ricketts NR), Vitti 7 (Ibrahim NR), Barrett 6, Dichio 6

Man of the Match: This is a tough one. We won because of a great team effort, not because of a great individual performance. Guevara was all over the place last night, and he took his goal really well. I'll give it to him, with Serioux a close second.

Overall Thoughts

If we had played against Dallas the way we played last night, we would be six points to the good right now. I don't want to get ahead of myself here, but we dominated the league leader's last night, who came into the game 4-0-1 - that counts for something. 

Danny Dichio was a pleasant surprise not only in the starting eleven, but also that he was able to go 90 minutes. The team seems to play better with him on the pitch, and even though he did show some rust, he had more of a positive effect than a negative one. Though he is not credited with an assist, he was a big contributor towards the chance that lead to our goal.

I would love to see Pablo Vitti in a scoring position. Last night, he was all over the place, but never really in front of goal. Despite this, I thought he was great. Everything he does on the ball seems to be like it's a last-second effort, but he pulls it off, and was usually able to link up well with the players around him. He showed a really great work rate too, defending whenever it was needed and always pressuring the Chivas defenders. I've never seen a striker with so many well-timed sliding tackles.

Marco Velez is better than Kevin Harmse at centre half for us. I know that Velez is not the answer, but after seeing him play against Columbus, and now Chivas, he's been more impressive than Harmse.

Sacha Kljestan is widely considered as one of USA's top prospects for the future. Our midfield shut him down brilliantly last night. He's the difference-maker for Chivas, and he wasn't able to make any difference in the outcome of this one. Full credit to Robbo and Cronin there.

It's pretty safe to say that if Amado Guevara was not on Toronto FC, but on another MLS team, we would all hate him. He's doing exactly what we need him to do offensively this year - he has three goals and two assists. On the flip side, he was stretchered off last night, and for what? Muscle cramps? There is a bit of a downside to his play, but I think he is more good than bad.

This Sunday brings about a rematch of our season opener, as we host the Kansas City Wizards. They are 2-2-1, and we are 2-2-2, so this game already does mean something in this young 2009 season. We beat them away. Let's beat them at home now.