There are very few rivalries as intense in MLS as that between the Chicago Fire and the New England Revolution. Thursday night at Toyota Park, the Fire took control early as they tallied four early goals for a commanding halftime lead on their way to a 4-0 victory on MLS Primetime Thursday.
Tomasz Frankowski scored twice, Chad Barrett added another and Cuauhtemoc Blanco scored one and set up one. The score marked the largest margin Chicago has ever won a home opener by or topped New England in 32 regular-season meetings. It was also the first time in nearly three years the Fire hit for four goals in a game.
The Revolution started the game with two starters missing. With four minutes gone, they found themselves behind 1-0. After just seven minutes, they were a man down.
Not only was there a cold rain falling persistently through the first half of the match, there was a stiff wind blowing from the north, and the Fire had the wind at their back to start the game. The Revolution had possession for less than 30 seconds before the Fire scored its first goal.
In the fourth minute, Fire midfielder Justin Mapp had an open look into the box from the left side. He had plenty of choices as Chad Barrett, Chris Rolfe and Tomasz Frankowski raced into the box. Mapp sent a pass to Barrett at the penalty spot and Barrett turned a left-footed shot past New England goalkeeper Matt Reis for a 1-0 Fire lead.
The game took a nasty turn for New England in the seventh minute when referee Baldomero Toledo sent off Revolution defender Jeff Larentowicz with a red card for a tackle on Fire defender Brandon Prideaux.
The Revolution were already without injured starters Taylor Twellman and Steve Ralston. Twellman underwent knee surgery on Wednesday and will be out 6-8 weeks. Ralston is expected to miss 4-6 weeks after suffering a dislocated shoulder in New England's first game. Down a man, Revolution coach Steve Nicol called on Gary Flood as a substitute for Smith in the 12th minute.
But it didn't take long for the Fire to add to their advantage. In the 22nd minute, Fire midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco sent one of his trademark passes forward to Chad Barrett on the right side. Barrett battled defender Michael Parkhurst deep, then got around him to bring the ball toward the six-yard box. Frankowski scored on his second touch as the Revolution could not clear the ball out of the goalmouth, and the Fire had a 2-0 lead.
Finally, for about two minutes midway through the first half, the Revolution had chances to score. But two corner kicks resulted in one shot on goal by Sainey Nyassi, the first for the Revolution in the match, 30 minutes into the game, and there were no real close calls.
In the 35th minute, Mapp found himself with the ball racing one step ahead of Nyassi into the penalty box with Reis waiting. Nyassi fouled Mapp from behind and Toledo called for a penalty kick. Blanco's shot was driven powerfully into the left upper corner as Reis fell to his left and the Fire were up 3-0.
Two minutes later, Blanco again started a scoring play with a long ball from right to left to the foot of Barrett, alone just outside the 18-yard box. Barrett had an easy pass to Frankowski in front of Reis and the former Polish international tapped home his second goal of the match.
The Fire were credited with five shots on goal while the Revolution had three. But the Revolution had seven corner kicks in the first half to none for the Fire.
With the wind at their back, the Revolution came out strong to start the second half. Cristman and Castro had shots on goal in the first three minutes of the second half but Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch made the save both times.
Facing the difficult 4-0 deficit still down a man, there was little in the way of a comeback from New England. In fact, on two occasions midway through the second half, the Fire had a pair of scoring opportunities in the box but played around with the ball rather than take shots.
Kent McDill is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
