CARSON, Calif. – Rookie forward Erick “Cubo” Torres stayed red-hot on Sunday night, scoring the lone goal of the evening as Chivas USA took the battle of last-place teams, pulling out a 1-0 victory against visiting D.C. United at the StubHub Center.
Torres scored his team-leading seventh goal of the season in the 51st minute to secure the three points, putting away a deflected ball to decide a tightly-fought game. The Rojiblancos have gone 3-4-2 since the 20-year-old arrived in midseason from Guadalajara.
While the Goats (6-15-7) claimed a rare win, D.C. United’s road drought continued. The Red-and-Black have not won away from RFK Stadium since Oct. 6, 2012 – a streak of 15 matches.
D.C. United (3-19-5) had the only serious threats in a scoreless first half. Forward Conor Doyle was stopped in the 15th and 24th minutes with only goalkeeper Dan Kennedy to beat, and midfielder Lewis Neal’s strike from long range skipped wide. The visitors held possession for 61 percent of the first half.
Chivas USA emerged from the locker room as the more aggressive team and it paid off as Torres struck six minutes after halftime by beating a defender for a loose ball in front of goal and sending it past D.C. goalkeeper Bill Hamid. The promising striker nearly had his second of the night on a header in the 79th minute and almost scored again in the 83rd minute, but Hamid denied him once more with a diving save.
Hamid also made a brilliant one-handed save on Eric Avila to keep the match scoreless in the 50th minute.
D.C., who were shutout on the road for the 10th time this year, had a dangerous corner kick opportunity in stoppage time, but were unable to capitalize, leaving Chivas to claim the spoils in the only regular season meeting between the two sides.
D.C. United returns to RFK to host the LA Galaxy and induct legend Jaime Moreno into the Hall of Tradition. Buy your tickets here.
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Match Stats (MLSSoccer.com)
OPTA Chalkboard (MLSSoccer.com)
