Photo by Michael Janosz/ISIPhotos.com
BY ADAM SERRANO
CARSON, CALIF–On Sunday night, the Kansas City Wizards dreams of the playoffs grew a little brighter while Chivas USA's slim hopes were all but extinguished.
Kei Kamara put in a fantastic performance notching a goal and assist as the red hot Wizards defeated Chivas USA, 2-0 in front of 15,382 at the Home Depot Center. While Kansas City maintained its torrid run of 5-1-3 in their last nine matches, the Rojiblancos dreams of making the playoffs were ended. For Kansas City head coach Peter Vermes, maintaining the clubs current run is all that matters.
"In the end of the day, we have to go play everywhere and get results andthe guys realize that we have a mission ahead of us but destiny is in our own hands," said Vermes. "If we just do our job, that is where we need to keep our focus."
Kamara's ninth goal of the season came in the 70th minute and provided shades of Roger Milla's effort for Cameroon during the 1990 World Cup for as the forward was receive a cross by Michael Harrington, head the ball up into the air and than confidently bury the second chance into the Chivas net. To cap off the amazing effort, Kamara completed his goal with Milla's infamous dance at the corner flag.
The Wizards striker would play distributor once again in the 83rd minute, this time to one of his teammates. A Kamara pass down the right side of the field allowed rookie Teal Bunbury to get alone on the keeper and fire home his third career MLS goal. After struggling in the early parts of the season, Kamara is proud of how far that he and his club has come.
"Now that we're able to play this type of games and get the results that we deserve, its very good." said Kamara. "And to score a goal like I did in front of my friends and family is just a dream come true."
The Rojiblancos struggled throughout the night to generate any semblance of offense. While both clubs only tallied three shots on goals combined, Chivas USA did not earn their first shot on goal until the 93rd minute of play. The shot came when Alan Gordon fired a ball from about 10 yards out that Kansas City goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen easily handled.
After a pair of impressive performances against Chivas de Guadalajara in San Diego during the midweek and a victory against the New England Revolution last week, Chivas once again struggled to find consistency. Forwards Justin Braun and Alan Gordon struggled to find the ball in threatening parts of the field against a stiff Wizards defense. Once again failing to find consistency doomed the Rojiblancos.
"It was just a bad performance overall, offensively we were bad and defensively we were bad," said Braun. "It comes down to consistency, tonight wasn't our night and we were poor and we did not deserve to win."
Chivas USA had been pressing for a playoff position despite being at the bottom of the table and with this loss, the club is now mired with 25 points, 11 points outside of a playoff spot.
While Chivas remains a young club with a first year manager, the Rojiblancos will now need to resort to building for the future. Following the match, Chivas USA's captain Mariano Trujillo was blunt whether or not this loss ended any hope that Chivas had to make the playoffs.
"Yes definitely, our goal was to win the seven games that we had remaining and we weren't able to win tonight," said Trujillo. "Its tough, but we still have six games and we're going to play the six remaining games like a final and at the end of the season, we'll see where we're at."
The Wizards are now the first club in MLS to sweep both matches at the Home Depot Center this year. Kansas City will continue their playoff push against the Houston Dynamo next week while Chivas USA will travel to Philadelphia to take on the Union.
Justin is correct with this. Early in the season, I heard him in an interview on local sports radio. His dad is American and he’s obviously never been capped by England so would be eligible to play for USMNT.
As for his play, good analysis from Justin. His pace is probably one of the tops in MLS and his growing up in Arsenal’s youth system definitely shows with his technical ability. He does seem to disappear at times and I do feel like he should convert on more chances. KC’s most recent match at the Union is indication of what he goes through nightly, getting fouled constantly because he’s so much faster than defenders. Love watching the guy play.
His dad is American so he should be eligible.
Hey, Justin, Ryan Smith is English. He can’t play for the U.S. It is a shame. But that’s also an indication of why he is so technically sound on the ball. I think he is still learning to play in the 4-3-3 since he doesn’t get in behind the defense as often as he probably could. Also, he needs to work a little more on defense when the ball is being played on his side of the field.
Happy that Kamara is playing well, sad that Houston traded him away 🙁
Smith is probably the most technical dribbled in mls. I have not seen a single defender that could stop him. Most teams either decide to double team him or foul him whenever they have the chance. He crosses the ball well and adds some width to the team. However he does struggle in front of goal and makes some bad decisions in whether to shoot or pass sometimes. He’s only 23 so I hope he can improve on that. I really hope bob Bradley calls him into the January usmnt camp.
Question for the board (specifically Wizard fans)…
Can anyone give an assessment of Ryan Smith’s play this year?
I’m impressed with KC’s long-term vision. The 4-3-3 can work in this league, and it’s nice to see someone like Vermes who’s willing to go out on a limb to establish a system. Also encouraging to hear about the extensive academy system RBNY’s setting up. Holla MLS!!
Kamara faces his old team on Wednesday, hope he can keep it up