Chad Barrett just had one of those nights Saturday. He took shot after quality shot in the first half of the Chicago Fire's scoreless draw with D.C. United but could not get any of them past goalkeeper Troy Perkins.
"Everybody just has those days when you just can't seem to finish it off, to do the right thing," said Barrett, shaking his head and sighing. "I found myself in great places, I made good runs, I got great balls, great service but give credit to Perkins, he's a great keeper he came up with a bunch of good saves."
All nine of Perkins' saves came in the first 54 minutes, six from Barrett and several from close range.
"That is what they pay me for and this is a good time of the year to do that," said the United goalkeeper. "He's a guy if he gets his confidence up, he can do that. He'll get in good spots and he'll bury them most of the time but today it went my way."
Barrett set the tone early with a scintillating opportunity just four minutes into the match that was repelled nicely by an alert Perkins. After a clumsy aerial challenge with Devon McTavish only a few yards from goal, he slipped behind him and pounded a close range shot that Perkins actually corralled, avoiding a corner kick.
"But as a forward in this league, if I want to keep my starting position on this team, I've got to score at least one of those," Barrett said. "There is no excuse for it. I take the blame fully for this game. I really should have helped us win. If we had won we wouldn't have to worry about what LA was doing."
The Fire are clinging tenuously to the final playoff spot, four points ahead of Colorado and six ahead of Los Angeles, ahead of both of their games this weekend.
Despite only losing two of their last 13 games, the Fire have drawn four of the last five and not scored more than two goals in any match since a 3-0 win on July 29 at Toronto.
"We knew we were playing against the best team in the league if you look at the table and it's no coincidence D.C. has the amount of points they have," said Chicago coach Juan Carlos Osorio, who returned to the bench after sitting out the Fire's 2-1 win against New England for a red card in the previous match against Chivas USA.
"We knew we needed to take care of our business and I think we proved that because we had enough chances in the first half and even in the second half to have won this game. We knew we were playing against a good attacking team and we played disciplined in our defense and then we had our chances. Indeed I think we had enough."
This was the first match on United's new turf at RFK Stadium, installed after their Sept. 29 match with Toronto. Couple the new grass with a cool night and low humidity, and both teams came out with energy and vigor.
"I think both teams just came out flying, we had a lot of energy, the stands were packed, it was a great night for soccer," said Barrett. "The grass was amazing and it just felt good out there and everyone just tried to get after it and it got under way with that chance from me and then it was like a tennis game."
Chicago took advantage of the Jaime Moreno being out of United's starting lineup. He was called into the Bolivian national team for two upcoming qualifiers and United's normally exquisite possession was sorely lacking.
Consequently, the Fire sent several sharp penetrating balls behind a very high United defensive line. Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Chris Rolfe and Wilman Conde were the delivery men for Barrett's multiple chances.
"They were holding a really high line, the grass was thick so if you kept it on the ground it was fine but if you bounced it on it, you could see it was bouncing very much so all the balls played forward were checking up and it was impossible for Perkins to come out so I could get behind their defense," said Barrett. "If we were ever going to finish, it was going to be in the first half because they didn't have time to adjust. They came in at halftime and changed the formation and did a great job."
Rolfe provided Barrett's next crack at goal in the 19th minute, springing him into the penalty area for a left-footed shot that required a diving save by Perkins. The two combined again in the 37th minute but Barrett was thwarted this time by an on-rushing Perkins at the top of the penalty area.
"Chad did a good job of getting in position to create a lot of chances tonight and myself and Cuauhtemoc and Wilman (Conde) were doing a good job finding him," Rolfe said. "It was unfortunate, Troy had a good night, he made a lot of saves for them."
Said Osorio: "I'll keep saying to Chad and Paulo (Wanchope) and all my strikers I would rather have them in good positions and have them missing chances than not having chances at all. It goes without saying that we keep doing a lot of finishing sessions and hopefully we will be more clinical next time."
Once again, Osorio used Rolfe in the midfield to capitalize on his speed and vision, though it didn't translate into any goals against United.
"He has great vision and at times we thought we were becoming too Cuauhtemoc (Blanco) dependent. Moving him in as a second number 10, Cuauhtemoc has more freedom. He can see the pass and execute it," said Osorio about the 24-year-old Rolfe.
Not large enough to be a prototypical target player up top, Rolfe seems to have embraced the new role.
"It gives me the ability to get off the back line so I'm not playing with guys on my back," said Rolfe. "I can collect the ball and face the goal and I still have, typically have two guys in front of me in Chad and Paulo so it's easier for me to play off of them and just kind of run at guys which is one of my strengths."
Chris Snear is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
