Halftime: Chivas USA v. Sporting KC

Well I've said Jimmy Conrad was over the hill and if you've watched the first 45 minutes of this game you'd be stupid not to agree. Conrad and Zarek Valentine have looked off the pace and non-MLS quality in this one. SKC's C.J. Sapong has dominated this match early on up front. He has been every where and SKC's most dangerous player. However, Chivas are only down 2-0, because of some of the worse defending you'll see all season. Terrible passing at the back and the inability to mark an opposing player are killing Chivas. Sporting have scored two on two shots on target and there's no defending in front of Zach Thorton. Though they've been the better team the scoreline does flatter Sporting at the break.

After the first goal, scored by Sapong following a Chivas player passing the ball right to him- though it was excellent control and a cool finish, Chivas started to assert themselves in the match, however, SKC weathered a weak storm and have doubled their lead through a classy little chip from Omar Bravo. Chivas should have dealt with this as the defenders gave Thorton no chance. Thorton's weight also gave him no chance to race back and make the save. SKC has dominated all phases in this one, but the backline is still untested as Chivas haven't mounted a sustained attack. I've said it a million times and disagreed with the MLS expert pundits, but Justin Braun is not that good. He seems to be farmed out on the right tonight and hasn't factored into the match. He has had pass after pass go off target as well. As a matter of fact both teams have been guilty of poor passing. I'd like to see SKC get the ball down on the floor, rather than so many long balls. They're the better team and have proved it over the first half. But Chivas haven't shown up tonight and not every match will be this easy for Sporting. Milos Stojcev has been solid in the midfield. He hasn't had to do too much and has threaded some lovely passes.

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