Fire chased victory in opening leg
Attack-heavy strategy in New England backfires as Chicago takes defeat
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- Fire can't fend off Revs' rally
- Highlights: NE 2, CHI 1
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- Rolfe scores first
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- Husidic strikes one to crossbar
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- McBride sends it into the post
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- Quotes: NE 2, CHI 1
- Full MLS Cup Playoffs coverage
Sunday afternoon's 2-1 first-leg defeat to the Revolution made it abundantly clear that the Fire weren't particularly interested in that tactical approach.
"We went out with the mindset that we wanted to get a win," Fire coach Denis Hamlett said.
It showed from the opening whistle. With Cuauhtemoc Blanco in the lineup for the first time since Sept. 20, the Fire started brightly and broke the Revs down consistently in the opening 20 minutes. Brian McBride couldn't find his range on a couple of early headers as the Fire pinned the Revolution back in their defensive third and caused them significant problems.
"I thought when we got the ball down on the ground and started passing the ball, we looked really dangerous," Fire defender Brandon Prideaux said.
Chris Rolfe turned all that danger into a goal after 17 minutes. Blanco started the play by turning at midfield and dumping a ball down the right wing for Marco Pappa. Pappa's low cross forced Matt Reis to push the ball into Rolfe's path and Rolfe slotted home the inviting rebound to hand the Fire an early lead.
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McBride nearly added a second goal three minutes later as he hit the post with a one-time effort as the Fire looked like they could add to their advantage. Instead, the carom off the post signaled the end of Chicago's first-half dominance as New England finally worked its way into the match.
"I thought we started very well," Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch said. "We got the goal and we had a couple of other chances. It's disappointing to give up that goal right before halftime."
The goal in question provided a turning point in the game, according to Busch. Emmanuel Osei equalized a minute into first-half stoppage time after he headed home Kenny Mansally's cross from the right wing. Osei's first MLS goal handed the Revolution the momentum heading into the break and left the Fire wondering whether more could have been done to prevent the free kick or the goal.
"Once (Osei) gets a touch on it and he deflects it, you have no chance on it," Busch said. "We'll look at it again and see what we can do differently on it. If that runner doesn't come through, I catch that."
The second half didn't offer as many chances as the first, as the Fire had to soak up pressure and search for an opportunity to counter. Fire midfielder Baggio Husidic hit the post with a one-time effort from distance in the 71st minute in a rare second-half chance.
It looked like the Fire might hold out until they couldn't hack away Mauricio Castro's 75th-minute corner kick. Jeff Larentowicz corralled Fire substitute Gonzalo Segares' attempted clearance and drove it across the face of goal. Revs substitute Pat Phelan flicked it to Shalrie Joseph in front and Joseph guided it home from close range to dash the Fire's hopes of a draw.
"They're throwing everything at us," Busch said. "For the most part, we handled it, but then there was a ball in there bouncing around, they're keeping it alive and Shalrie gets on the end of it."
Joseph's goal ensured the Fire would return home with their first defeat against the Revs since Nov. 8, 2007 and created a must-win situation in Saturday's second leg at Toyota Park.
Hamlett said his side understands the task ahead of it and maintained he is "100 percent" confident that the Fire can turn the tie around to advance to a second consecutive Eastern Conference final.
"They did what they were supposed to do," Hamlett said. "They're the home team. We came here and we made a good push. We went for a win and we made some chances. Now it's our turn to go home and take care of business."
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
