Chicago Fire 3: San Jose 3

SUMMARY

The first ten minutes were dull, seeing San Jose put pressure on the Fire defense that was reeling early.  Coming off a brilliant win vs. rivals New York Red Bull the Fire looked tired and sluggish during the opening minutes and for good reason.  Last week Chicago’s lively midfielder John Thorrington received an early red card, putting the Fire a man down for the entire game.  Thorrington was missing this week’s match along with Wilman Conde, the normal starting center back.  The Fire did get back Gonzalo Segares who was missing last weeks match due to his international duty with Costa Rica.
After a sloppy opening ten minutes the match really picked up and there was quality build up from both sides.  In the 12th minute, Chicago midfielder Ward made a nice tricky run to set up a shot, but it deflected wide.  Just two minutes later San Jose forward Darren Huckerby sizzled by the Fire outside back and slotted the ball across the six-yard box and Ryan Johnson finished it easily.  This started a period of play where Chicago’s outside backs, both Prideaux and Segares, were getting beat by San Jose’s forwards.  The Fire did not get anything going consistently on offense until late in the half. 
Chicago’s opening goal came when a nice switch of play found Logan Pause in the middle of the field at the top of the box with only one defender to beat.  It looked like he would shoot, however he slipped the ball over to Marco Pappa who finished brilliantly passed the keeper to tie the game at 1.   Just a few minutes later in the 44th minute the Quakes turned the tide once again.  Bobby Convey, just back in the MLS from a long stint with English side Reading, dribbled a number of fire defenders and slotted another goal home for San Jose.
The second half started just where the first left off.  The play was quick and the tackles were harsh.  Blanco, a sub entering at half time made some crucial touches to get the Fire back into the game.  His flicked header to McBride set up the Fire’s second goal in the 56th minute.  McBride took a juggling touch to turn his defender and fired a shot into the bottom corner of the net.
Once again Chicago’s equalizing goal did not stop San Jose’s momentum.  Bobby Convey turned a dull San Jose play into a goal by drawing a penalty kick on the Fire and Alvarez put the PK away to restore San Jose’s lead.  Chicago gained some momentum in the 82nd minute when San Jose’s Salinas received a second yellow card and was sent off after playing for just 19 minutes.  The Fire didn’t back down from the challenge and in the 85th minute Chris Rolfe (substitute) drilled a shot from the top of the box past the San Jose goalkeeper, a brilliant strike.

PLAYER RATINGS

GK Jon Busch-6
Looked a little sloppy handling the ball in net a few times.  Made some bad shots look good.

D Gonzalo Segares-5
Perhaps Gonzalo was tired from playing for Costa Rica but he was not himself and was beat by Alvarez all game.

D Brandon Prideaux-5
See Segares

D Bakary Soumare-7
Bakary is a brick wall, flat out.  Nothing gets through him, but he missed his partner in crime, Wilman Conde.

D Dasan Robinson-5
He looked unaware and was fundamentally caught out of position a number of times, can’t expect much more from him though.  He was played in an unfamiliar role.

M Logan Pause-6
Pause was himself, he rarely made anything happen offensively but he was solid in getting stuck in and defending San Jose’s midfield. He did set up a goal and got an assist, but I could’ve made that pass myself.

M Marco Pappa-8
Pappa scored another good goal.  He continues to make an impact after his loan deal from Guatemala.  He continued to be a hassle for the Quakes defense, he was tricky on the ball and found some gaps in the defense.

M Justin Mapp-7
Nothing special from Mapp, but as usual nothing bad either.  He hit some good sweeping crosses into the box and defended nicely.

M Tim Ward-7
I saw a lot of potential from Ward but he was completely inconsistent.  At times he was a dangerous dribbler and set himself up for nice shots (which he missed).  At other times he was out of position and gave the ball away easily.

F Patrick Nyarko-6
Nyarko never really got involved, but did show some nice play holding the ball up.  He continues to show promise of a good young striker but he needs to find other ways to beat players besides his blistering speed.

F Brian McBride-8
McBride was left for dead in the first half.  The team never really was able to find him at the top.  The second half proved to be a different story and McBride was lively.  He was the key to holding up the Fire’s attack and scored a brilliant goal.

Sub Cuauhtemoc Blanco-8
Blanco came in at half and did his thing; he possessed the ball nicely and had a lot of good touches to find open attackers on his team.  He assisted McBride’s goal and did a lot for the Fire’s better second half attack.

Sub Chris Rolfe-8
Rolfe had one job coming off the bench, to score.  He got that job done in stylish fashion with a long shot from the top of the box to tie the game for the Fire.

Sub Mike Banner-6
Banner came in late in the game and made no impact whatsoever.  It was more of a move to rest Robinson who was troubled all game.


The Fire would have liked to get three points from this game but there is nothing wrong with getting a draw and one point on the road to remain unbeaten.  The good thing is that even with the Fire picking up points on the road they have yet to hit their full stride.  Simply put the Fire are the best team in the MLS on paper and should finish first place in the East giving them home field advantage, something that has hurt us the last two years in the Eastern Conference finals.

Next Match- Fire vs. Kansas City 4/18
The Fire will surely be looking for all three points in this game at home against mediocre opposition.