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Chivas fail to hold lead, tie Galaxy

Jul 11, 2008 - 7:36 AM CARSON, California (Ticker) -- Despite taking an early lead, Chivas USA failed to exact revenge against their crosstown rivals.

Chivas and the Los Angeles Galaxy played to a 1-1 tie Thursday night in their second SuperClasico meeting of the season.

Chivas (6-6-4) lost the first meeting with the Galaxy this season, 5-2, on April 26 but appeared to be on its way to retribution after Ante Razov produced a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute.

"Well, I thought it was a crazy game. It could have gone either way," said Chivas coach Preki, who was ejected in the second half for arguing with the referees. "We had a decent start and a good goal. We were playing our game, moving the ball around, then we dropped deep, and that was an invitation for trouble. But overall, I thought we were better in the first half. I'm OK with the result."

Razov, who began his career with the Galaxy in 1996, stroked a left-footed shot from outside the box that bent into the top left corner of the net past goalkeeper Steve Cronin. All-Star Sacha Kljestan notched the assist on Razov's fourth tally of the season and third in as many contests.

It also was the 113th career goal for Razov, the second-leading scorer in MLS history.

"Sacha laid off a really good ball," Razov said. "We set up the play, he knew where I was and I give him credit for that. ... I was able to swing through it and caught it pretty clean and, fortunately, picked out a corner nicely."

However, after Chivas held the lead for the majority of the game, Edson Buddle evened the score in the 72nd minute with his 11th goal of the season - all of which have come in the last nine games.

"Until the goal, I thought we were OK," Preki said. "We were disciplined, organized and didn't give the Galaxy anything in the second half until they scored."

Landon Donovan, who recorded a hat trick during the teams' first meeting, found Buddle cutting through the right side of the 22-yard box. Buddle snuck his shot between the legs of goalkeeper Brad Guzan to tie Donovan for the MLS lead in goals this season.

"I'm out there playing with David (Beckham) and Landon, and they take a lot of pressure, and that gives me the chances I need to find space," Buddle said. "I've always had the ability to play like this, but it's only now with the help I get from these guys that I'm getting the service and opportunities to make things happen. They elevate my game. They do all the work and I get the credit."

Kljestan appeared to put Chivas back on top in the 78th minute, when his centering pass was deposited in the net. However, the ball was called out of bounds after Kljestan pushed a dribble over the end line while trying to get around a defender.

Chivas had another chance to reclaim the lead in the 87th minute, but Kljestan's header slammed into the right goalpost.

"We might have been lucky at the end that we got a draw," Preki said. "We opened up the game, we opened up the spaces behind us and they could have scored a goal or two. We had one chance with Sacha where he hits the post and that was it."

Beckham, who was named to the All-Star team earlier Thursday, was happy with the final score.

"I think a draw is a fair result," he said. "It was back and forth the whole game. It was an enjoyable game. I'm happy that we got back into it after that beautiful goal in the first half. I think we showed a lot of character in the second half.

"When you play in a (rivalry) game, you never want to lose it. Tonight was tough, they're a technically gifted team. We knew that they would come after us in the first few minutes. We know this team now and need to hold back the pressure they put on us and wait for our chances and try to maximize them when we can."