Polish forward Tomasz Frankowski scored the first two goals of his MLS career as part of Chicago's four-goal first-half outburst, as the Fire earned a 4-0 victory over the New England Revolution at a rain-soaked Toyota Park on Thursday night.
Chad Barrett and Cuauhtemoc Blanco also scored for the Fire (1-0-1, 4 pts.), which took advantage of playing a man up for 83 minutes after Revolution midfielder Jeff Larentowicz was shown a straight red card for a tackle on Brandon Prideaux in just the 7th minute.
The Revs (1-1-0, 3 pts.) were playing shorthanded even before Larentowicz's ejection, as the club's two all-time leading scorers against the Fire, Taylor Twellman and Steve Ralston, were sidelined with injuries.
Barrett opened the scoring for the home side in the fourth minute, finishing Justin Mapp's cross from 12 yards out. Mapp, with plenty of space down the left, sent a low cross to Barrett at the penalty spot, and the Fire forward's left-footed shot beat Revs' goalkeeper Matt Reis to his right.
Following Larentowicz's ejection, New England responded by bringing in defensive midfielder Gary Flood for Khano Smith in the 12th minute, switching formations to a 3-4-2 from a 3-5-2.
Chicago doubled its lead in the 22nd minute, however, following a scramble in the box. Blanco's long through ball sent Barrett into the right side of the 18-yard box, and the Fire forward sent a hard cross into the box that was mishandled by the Revs' defense. Frankowski pounced on the loose ball to score his first career MLS goal from six yards out.
New England had chances to cut the lead in half through Kenny Mansally and Sainey Nyassi in the 28th and 29th minutes, respectively, but neither player managed to finish.
It was 3-0 to the Fire in the 37th minute, when Blanco scored his second goal of the season from the penalty spot. Justin Mapp was taken down from behind in the box to set up the spot-kick for Blanco, and the Mexican's shot was perfectly placed into the upper left corner.
Just two minutes later, Frankowski rounded out the scoring with his second goal of the night. Blanco's long cross-field pass was chested down by Chad Barrett, whose cross was drilled high into the net from six yards out by Frankowski.
New England switched to a 4-4-1 formation for the second half, and the move almost paid off with a goal right after the restart. However, both Adam Cristman and Mauricio Castro saw their early chances saved by Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch.
After the Revolution's two early second-half opportunities, neither team seriously threatened to score for the final 40 minutes.
New England held an 11-1 advantage in corner kicks for the game despite playing the majority of the contest down a man.
The Revs will return to action on Wednesday, April 9, when they will travel to Kansas City to face the Wizards at 8:00 p.m. ET.
New England Revolution at Chicago Fire
April 3, 2008 - Bridgeview, Ill. (Toyota Park)
Scoring Summary
CHI - Chad Barrett (Justin Mapp) 4
CHI - Tomasz Frankowski (unassisted) 22
CHI - Cuauhtemoc Blanco (penalty kick) 37
CHI - Tomasz Frankowski (Chad Barrett, Cuauhtemoc Blanco) 39
New England Revolution: Matt Reis, Jay Heaps, Michael Parkhurst, Chris Albright, Khano Smith (Gary Flood 12), Shalrie Joseph ©, Jeff Larentowicz, Mauricio Castro, Sainey Nyassi, Adam Cristman (Kheli Dube 72), Kenny Mansally (Chase Hilgenbrinck 39)
Substitutes Not Used: Doug Warren, Amaechi Igwe, Rob Valentino, Sam Brill
STATS: Shots 7; Shots on Goal 5; Saves 4; Corner Kicks 11; Offsides 0; Fouls Committed 8
Chicago: Jon Busch, Gonzalo Segares, Diego Gutierrez, Bakary Soumare, Brandon Prideaux, Justin Mapp, Logan Pause, Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Chris Rolfe (John Thorrington 86), Chad Barrett (Calen Carr 72), Tomasz Frankowski (Stephen King 46)
Substitutes Not Used: Nick Noble, Wilman Conde, Andy Herron, Dasan Robinson
STATS: Shots 10; Shots on Goal 8; Saves 5; Corner Kicks 1; Offsides 5; Fouls Committed 15
Misconduct Summary:
NE - Jeff Larentowicz (ejection) 7
NE - Shalrie Joseph (caution) 7
CHI - Justin Mapp (caution) 17
NE - Kenny Mansally (caution) 23
CHI - Chad Barrett (caution) 50
CHI - Diego Gutierrez (caution) 89
Referee: Baldomero Toledo
Referee's Assistants: Robert Fereday (SAR), Jason Cullum (JAR)
Fourth Official: Ricardo Salazar
Time of Game: 1:55
Weather: Rain, 40 degrees
Attendance: 15, 553
NOTES
• Matt Reis has now started 72 consecutive regular-season games for the Revolution, which represents the highest active streak in MLS ... the all-time record is held by Kansas City goalkeeper Kevin Hartman (93) ... Reis has also started and played every minute (including overtime if played) in each of the Revs' last 80 MLS matches - regular-season and playoffs - dating back to Sept. 2005, a span of 7,090 minutes.
• Left back Chase Hilgenbrinck, who celebrated his 26th birthday yesterday, made his MLS debut upon entering the match in the 39th minute for Kenny Mansally.
• The match marked just the fourth time in the seven seasons that they've been together that both Taylor Twellman and Steve Ralston were unavailable for the same game ... Twellman is out 6-8 weeks while recovering from surgery to repair a tear in his right medial meniscus, while Ralston is expected to miss 4-6 weeks while recovering from a dislocated left shoulder.
• The last time New England gave up four goals in a game was May 26, 2007, when the team lost, 4-3, to Kansas City at Gillette Stadium.
• The last time the Revs gave up four goals on the road was at FC Dallas on May 20, 2006, when they lost 4-0 ... that match also marked the last time the Revolution gave up four goals in one half.
• With the Fire's win, the all-time, regular-season series between the two teams is now even at 13-13-6.
• New England has now lost five consecutive games at Toyota Park, including a 2-1 loss in a U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinal on Aug. 23, 2006 and a 1-0 loss in the first let of the 2006 Eastern Conference Championship Series on Oct. 22, 2006.
• The loss was the Revs' first in a match televised on ESPN2 since 2005 ... the club had been 6-0-2 in its previous eight games on the network.
