Although the playoff future had been all but decided for both teams, the Columbus Crew still left the final makeup of the Eastern Conference standings in doubt after a stunning 4-1 victory against the Chicago Fire on Saturday night in the final home game of the season at Toyota Park.
After an early goal from Chris Rolfe, the Crew got first-half goals from Eddie Gaven and Jason Garey and second-half goals from Ricardo Virtuoso and Joseph Ngwenya to provide a positive memory for the end of the season after being eliminated from playoff contention last week.
With the loss, the Fire fell one point behind the New England Revolution in the Eastern Conference; the teams will face off in the conference semifinal series, but who holds home-field advantage for the two-leg series will now be determined in the final game of the season.
The attempts on net came quickly for both sides. Three minutes into the contest, Ngwenya nearly volleyed home a beautiful cross deep into the box, only to put it wide.
The Fire took the lead just a minute later. Chris Armas collected the ball in the penalty area, spun around one defender, and carried the ball to the endline. He somehow wriggled past two more defenders with some spin moves in the area before sliding the ball back to Rolfe, who buried the ball into the back of the net to again give the Fire an early lead.
But despite the early Fire lead, the Crew rebounded well and put the home side on the back foot. In the 21st minute, a nice pass went to the top of the box where Crew midfielder Ned Grabavoy turned and blasted a shot just wide of the dive from Chicago goalkeeper Matt Pickens.
Then the Crew leveled the score. Ngwenya put in a great cross from the right flank, and Garey trapped the ball yards from the goal line. He laid back a quick pass to Gaven, who blasted the ball home from the corner of the goal area to tie the game at 1-1.
With the game heading into first-half injury time, Ngwenya again played provider. This time he whipped in a hard, low cross across the top of the goal area and Garey came rushing in to volley the ball first-time past Pickens for a devastating last-second goal before halftime.
After the break, the Fire won a free kick in the 54th minute on a foul that had defender Gonzalo Segares needing medical attention off the field. But the restart was poorly taken, and after a poor touch the Crew launched a fast counter attack. A resulting cross found Ngwenya, but he could only head the ball into Pickens' arms.
Although their postseason place was secure, down a goal, the Fire were looking to get back in the game. After coming on as a substitute, Thiago began to make his presence felt. Armas had the ball in the area and couldn't get off a shot, but found the Brazilian on the far side, only to see his shot sail high and wide.
The Fire were dominating possession, and head coach Dave Sarachan brought in Calen Carr for defender C.J. Brown. But the move didn't pay off when Columbus added a third in the 76th minute, despite having had almost no possession in their attacking third.
Virtuoso took the ball after Gaven dispossessed a Fire defender in the Chicago half, and raced into the penalty area. He fired a low, angled shot inside Pickens' left-hand post to make the score 3-1.
In the 82nd minute, Columbus was on the attack again. Virtuoso put in a long cross and Gaven deflected it goalward, only for Pickens to make a diving save. But Ngwenya was first to it and tapped in for a deserved goal to make it 4-1 for Columbus.
The Fire nearly pulled a goal back in the 87th minute. Thiago was in the corner and sent in a low cross to Andy Herron, who took sent a volley goalward -- only to see it curl straight at the far post before deflecting out of bounds. It was the epitome of the Chicago effort on the night, who now head to D.C. United next weekend needing a win and hoping for anything but by New England against Columbus, if the Fire are to claim home-field advantage for the conference semifinals.
Jack Daniel Chavez is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
