Guevara goal leads TFC past previously unbeaten Chivas USA

Soccer Betting Lines

04/22/2009 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto FC hadn't won since its 2009 Major League Soccer opener on March 21.

Chivas USA hadn't lost in five league fixtures yet this season.

Current form should say that when the two teams squared off at BMO Field on Wednesday night the Goats should come away with a road victory over the Reds, right?

Wrong.

TFC earned its first-ever win over Chivas USA, 1-0, in front of almost 20,000 screaming home fans to jump into third in the Eastern table.

Amado Guevara scored the game's only goal in the 36th minute as TFC (2-2-1) hung on for its first home victory of the season in three tries.

Chivas USA (4-1-1) suffered its first taste of defeat on the young season, but still holds a four-point lead on Seattle - which hosts San Jose on Saturday - in the Western table.

TFC actually played the game without head coach John Carver on the bench because he was disgusted with the officials after receiving a fine from the league about comments he made last week. Assistant Chris Cummins ran the bench.

"John has his reasons [for not being on the bench] and I don't want to get into it," Cummins said.

The Reds, playing without attacker Dwayne De Rosario because of a hamstring injury, controlled the momentum in the game from the get-go, limiting Chivas USA to just one shot on goal the entire match.

Guevara gave the home side the first-half lead with his third goal of the season after collecting a loose ball in the Goats penalty area and volleying it past goalkeeper Zach Thornton. The chance was made possible by striker Danny Dichio, who pounced on the loose ball and headed it into the area for Guevara, who eluded three defenders before firing the shot home.

"Dichio made the ball just right for me," Guevara said through an interpreter. "I made my way to the net and he put the ball just right for me to put into the back of the net."

That was how the score stayed as TFC locked down the midfield, not allowing any real legitimate scoring opportunities the entire game.

"It felt more like 30 minutes," Cummins said of the last 10 minutes of the game. "[Goalkeeper Stefan Frei] didn't have to do a lot. I just told the lads to just try and enjoy the game. Don't take chances but pass the ball."

Both teams will be back in action this weekend, with Chivas USA hosting Dallas on Saturday night, while Toronto hosts Kansas City on Sunday.

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FOOTBALL TRASH TALK

NFL Football Trash Talk

Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).

Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.

Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).

Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.

Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.

The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.

What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.

Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.

But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.

In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.