Game 25: RSL vs. Chivas TST: The Third Time's A Charm

Ah yes, the third time's a charm. After blowing two games on the road, RSL broke their undefeated streak at home with yet another beautiful choke at home. This one courtesy of a Rimando/Borchers miscommunication where Little Nicky ran out of the box after a ball that Borchers was tracking back to. No one called the other off, the ball bounced off of Borchers's chest, right to Esky, who escorted the ball into the net after Rimando ran into Borchers, taking them both out of the play. Very much like earlier this year against TST. You gotta learn from your mistakes boys!
Other than that, the game was pretty uneventful, with Findley's touch being even worse than usual and Movsisyan showing his uncanny ability to screw up a finish no matter how easy it is. Throw in Morales turning the ball over every chance he got (and not once hitting a free kick anywhere useful) and you've got another disappointing loss. Yes, RSL outplayed TST for much of the game, but since they couldn't finish, it didn't show on the scoreboard. Worse yet, the loss takes RSL out of playoff position; a loss to San Jose this week and you can say goodbye to the 2008 postseason. At least my Chicago Cubs are doing well...

Game grade: F
They blew their third straight winnable game. Could the grade be anything else?

Player grades:
Nick Rimando-6 Had a great game up until "the play"
Chris Wingert-6 Quiet but solid
Nat Borchers-5 Decent until "the play"
Jamison Olave-6 A decent game for big J
Ian Joy-6 Played pretty well, got into the attack
(Robbie Russell 82)-6 Didn't have a lot of time to effect the game
Andy Williams-6 Played well early on, but faded quickly
(Clint Mathis 55)-6 OK but nothing special
Kyle Beckerman-6 A pretty solid game for Kyle
Javier Morales-3 Terrible. Tons of turnovers, free kicks were useless.
Will Johnson-6 Probably his worst performance in an RSL kit, but still decent.
Robbie Findley-4 His touch killed him in this one
(Kenny Deuchar 70)-6 Aggressive
Yura Movsisyan-4 As usual, can't finish

Coaching grade (Kreis): 4 Team didn't really come out very aggressive in the 2nd half. What in the hell is the Russell for Joy sub when you are down late? Is Nunez hurt? He's no Pele or anything, but he is a striker and has scored before.
Ref grade: 6 Fairly even, but let the game get a bit out of hand.

RSL Man of the Match: Kyle Beckerman
No one really stood out, but Becks was solid and kept himself involved in the game.

Assclown of the Match: Alecko Eskandarian
Seriously? You're going to give the crowd the "quiet" gesture after scoring a goal like that? You'd think he'd have hit the top corner from 45 yards or something from him showing off. Certainly not a cheap goal that a drunk monkey could have scored.