Preki, Chivas dissatisfied with effort

HOUSTON -- Chivas USA extended their winless streak to five games with a disappointing 4-0 loss to Houston Dynamo at Robertson Stadium on Wednesday evening.

Chivas head coach Preki was extremely dissatisfied with his team's performance.

"I don't think we had any strong points tonight," Preki said. "The better team won, they were sharp from the first minute, and that's the end of that."

"Tonight was a bad night overall for all of us," Chivas defender Shavar Thomas said. "We let them get on top of us very early, we didn't get a chance to play our usual game, get the ball down and play around."

The Red-and-White managed only five shots during the contest, compared to 13 launched by Houston. Backup Dynamo goalkeeper Tony Caig was forced into only two saves.

"I thought in terms of our chances, we didn't create very much," midfielder Jonathan Bornstein said. "When we did, it was a half-chance, if that. Basically, we didn't play very well and it didn't go our way."

Chivas also struggled defensively, allowing all four of Houston's goals in the space of 25 minutes during the first half. That total matches the most goals the Red-and-White have allowed in one half of play this season, tied with the four allowed during the second half of Chivas' April 26 match against the Los Angeles Galaxy.

"We came out in the beginning, and they jumped on us right away," Bornstein said. "I think the first two plays of the game were in our half. From the beginning, I don't think we defended very tightly."

"We weren't defending as a team properly," Thomas said, "and as a back four we need to start doing some of the things we did last year to protect the goal, because four goals in one half is not good."

The team felt that some encouragement could be taken from their second-half performance.

"I think in the second half we showed a little pride, we didn't give up much," Thomas said. "We came out there and we pressed in the second half."

"In the second half, we tightened down a little bit more," Bornstein said. "It was like defense first, don't give them another one because that would look pretty bad. We tried to get one to lift our spirits a little bit. We just played hard, and I thought we did a good job of not letting them score again."

While disappointed in his team's overall effort, Preki also complimented the Dynamo on their play, who lengthened their lead atop the Western Conference to five points.

"They were better," Preki said. "They came on the field ready to play, they were aggressive and they made plays when they needed to make plays.

Moving forward, the Red-and-White are focused on improving their play for the match against the San Jose Earthquakes this weekend. With 10 games remaining in the season, Chivas are sitting in sixth place in the West -- but are just two points out of third and the automatic qualification spots for the MLS Cup Playoffs.

"We have to move on," Bornstein said. "We have a game on Saturday we have to prepare for. We need a result, that's all there is to say."