After Monday's victory in the U.S. Open Cup against the Kansas City Wizards, the Chicago Fire made it very clear that the important victory would come Wednesday, when the teams faced off again in league play.
The Fire used the lessons they learned two nights earlier and built on that triumph, rolling to a 3-0 victory against the Wizards and putting an end to a five-game league winless run.
"Right from the opening whistle it was pretty clear that these guys had a concentrated effort both with the ball and without the ball and [we] made it real hard on Kansas City," said Fire head coach Dave Sarachan. "In games like this where it's going to be tight and you've got to get that first goal, which we did, that really was important because it made [Kansas City] have to play, which opened up the field for us."
It was a new-look attack for the Fire, and it paid off well. Sarachan paired Chad Barrett with Chris Rolfe in attack to start, putting Nate Jaqua in a wide midfield role.
"Chad had some great active movement. He was chasing down in the defense and was holding first touches well, setting up movement. With his communication with Rolfe, we wanted him up front," Sarachan said.
"We also wanted to keep Jaqua in so we put him at right midfield; we really haven't had a right midfielder in some time. Nate has a great engine and he's a handful for the defense so he was a good option for us there."
Even with the loss of Rolfe to a hamstring injury after just 20 minutes, which then saw Andy Herron come on in his place, Sarachan said his front-runners contributed a lot of movement which opened up space and led to a three-goal game for just the second time this season.
"I thought all three of our goals were terrific goals. Those were the kinds of things you talk about -- balls are moving, near-post runs, back-post runs, early balls slipped across," Sarachan said.
"That was a lot more like it. You saw a team tonight that realized the urgency of where we are in the season and it was a real reflection of what our better soccer can look like."
Justin Mapp set up the first two goals, then knocked home the third one himself.
"I'll take anything right now. I think it helped the team and we got the win," he said. "It's definitely [my biggest offensive night] as far as I can remember. It feels good that I was able to produce tonight."
On the other flank, Jaqua was in a slightly unfamiliar position. Still, he enjoyed the changed role.
"I like it," he said. "I'm facing the goal and don't have people whacking me from behind."
Jaqua nearly knocked home the second goal, but couldn't quite reach it. Still, Barrett was on hand to knock it home and take quick advantage of a red card shown to Wizards defender Ryan Raybould 14 minutes earlier.
"As a forward, you'll take what you can get. Those back-post runs; you tell someone to go near [post], someone to go far [post]. Andy was already there, and I was far post and 'Sippi [Justin Mapp] did a great job again to beat his guy," Barrett said.
"I don't know if [Mapp] saw me at the back post or if he was playing a blind pass, and all of a sudden it was there. It was a great ball and it was inside the post, a yard out, and I knew I wasn't offside. Easy finish. A forward's dream."
The victory moved the Fire into a three-way tie for third place in the Eastern Conference, along with New York Red Bulls, both of which have two games in hand over the Wizards as all three teams are on 25 points.
"As a team, it was really refreshing to see us play like that. Tactically, everything was sound and everybody was playing well," Barrett said. " ... Everyone was making it so easy to press up top, lay back, go. Everything was just sound tonight."
Jack Daniel Chavez is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
