Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images) 2012 Getty Images
Chicago Fire 2 - 1 Chivas USA
Berry (24') Angel (23')
Pappa (90'+3')
This weekend, Chicago Fire visited Chivas USA after their
defeat to the Sounders at Toyota Park. Looking
to get back on the right side of victory, the Fire broke out in the beginning
of the first half, pressuring the Chivas USA side. Fire almost struck home in the ninth minute
when the ball found Dominic Oduro in the box.
After settling the ball, Chivas’ Dan Kennedy launched off his line to
claim the Ghanaian’s ball.
It was Chivas, however, who drew first blood. After a controversial call from referee
Baldomero Toledo, Chivas was awarded a
penalty kick. Fire rookie defender
Austin Berry was seen making contact with Alejandro Moreno and the Venezuelan
promptly hit the ground. Chivas striker
Juan Pablo Angel took the PK and buried the ball in the corner, sending Fire
goalkeeper Sean Johnson the opposite direction.
Chivas USA was up 1-0 within 25 minutes of the opening whistle.
Not to be outdone, the Fire struck back almost immediately
as Austin Berry made up for his earlier mistake with a cheeky equalizer. The Fire scored off a long throw-in from the
hands of Dan Gargan—the ball was collected by Sebastian Grazzini who
masterfully chipped the ball over Chivas’ heads to Berry’s eager foot which
tapped the ball past the diving Dan Kennedy.
The Fire almost went up 2-1 at halftime, but a curved effort
from the boot of Marco Pappa whizzed past the left post. Teams went into the halftime break even at
1-1.
Both teams came out looking to hold the ball as much as
possible. Possessive sparring was the
name of the game until the Fire almost struck home in the 59th
minute. After a strong drive from
Grazzini, Oduro sought to connect with Patrick Nyarko. Nyarko’s cannon-shot was low and deadly, but
Dan Kennedy was in pristine form and his diving effort kept the score
equal. The Fire were keen to keep the
pressure on, but Kennedy was not to be beaten so easily. Point-blank attempts from Grazzini and Oduro fell
to the wayside as Kennedy demonstrated his dominance in net.
In the dying embers of the game, Pavel Pardo collected a
ball of the Fire’s backline and found Marco Pappa running into space. Pappa connected in a give-and-go attack with
Frederico Puppo—the two drove up the right flank until Puppo layed off a pass
just outside the box to Pappa. The
Guatemalan stole victory in stoppage time with an untouchable shot which
whizzed to the far post and just out of Kennedy’s reach.
Fire head coach Frank Klopas commented on his side’s victory
this night. Despite the dramatics, he
was happy with the turn of events in the second half, commenting, “It was one
of those games that had momentum swings and in the end I thought we had some
good chances in the second half. What can you say, it’s a great win, its great
winning some these games like this, when they go your way.” He was also quite pleased with rookie Austin
Berry’s performance. He feels Berry will
be a constant threat in set pieces down the line.
The Fire now sit fourth in the Eastern Conference of the MLS
and will face off against Western Conference powerhouse, Real Salt Lake May 9,
2012 at Toyota Park.
By Matthew Sinacore
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