The Chicago Fire are once again kings of the U.S. Open Cup. Playing on their home field at Toyota Park, they got two goals within six minutes early on before cruising to a 3-1 victory Wednesday against defending champion Los Angeles Galaxy. It was the fourth U.S. Open Cup title for the Fire, the most of any club in Major League Soccer.
Nate Jaqua and Andy Herron scored first-half goals to give the Fire a comfortable halftime lead. Alan Gordon pulled a goal back for the Galaxy to make a game of it in the second half, but Thiago provided the final touch on the victory with a late goal.
Just five days earlier the two teams had met in league play at Toyota Park, and just as in that contest, where the Fire opened the scoring after just 33 seconds, the home side nearly broke through again in the first minute. It was Herron who got onto the end of a long ball in the penalty area, but he had a poor touch just before he shaped to shoot and Galaxy 'keeper Kevin Hartman raced off his line to get to the ball.
The Fire were rolling from the outset. In the fifth minute, Hartman came well off his line to deflect a ball headed for Herron. The ball ended up with Ivan Guerrero who had the goal at his mercy, but after taking a couple of touches forward to get a better angle, it allowed Hartman time to retreat back to the goal and make the save.
Chicago finally broke through in the 10th minute. Justin Mapp swung in a free kick from the left, and C.J. Brown was first to it in the packed goalmouth. It came down to Herron, who hit a bounding ball back across the goal off a defender where Jaqua stooped to easily nod it home from point-blank range.
Just six minutes later the Fire doubled their lead. After dribbling down the right flank, Mapp was closed down by left back Ante Jazic. But he quickly cut back, and even more quickly drove a cross into the area, where Herron was marked by three defenders. The Costa Rican was able to send a glancing header inside the far post, eluding Hartman as it rolled home.
Almost in their last breath in staying alive for a league playoff spot, for the Galaxy, the Open Cup Final was their entire season. And after falling behind two early goals, they needed to respond. First, Chris Albright put in a good cross from the right and Alan Gordon put good pace on his header, but it was over the bar, although the flag then went up for offside.
Then in the 22nd minute Albright had a glorious opportunity of his own. Landon Donovan curled a cross to the back post where Albright snuck in completely unmarked, but with Fire 'keeper Matt Pickens flat-footed, Albright side-footed his volley over the top.
Chris Rolfe should have made it 3-0 for the Fire in the 35th minute. After a series of short passes in tight spaces in the area, Rolfe momentarily lost the ball, only to see it bounce off a defender back into his path in front of the goal. With only Hartman to beat, he hooked his shot well wide of the left post.
After the halftime break, the Fire again came close to adding to their margin. First Rolfe broke through the center and headed toward goal. After his path was closed off, he found Guerrero overlapping on his left. The Honduran international juked past a defender and took a shot, but Hartman was able to get down quickly and deflect the effort off the base of the post.
Two minutes later the Galaxy made the Fire pay for their misses. After Pickens had made a terrific save on Santino Quaranta, Gordon was all alone in front of goal as a cross was put back in, and again the Chicago 'keeper somehow denied him with an acrobatic stop. But this time the rebound bounced back to the tall striker, and with the entire goal open he blasted the ball to the back of the net to cut the margin to one.
With 40 minutes remaining, the Galaxy had life and renewed hope to become the first team to repeat at U.S. Open Cup champions in more than two decades. But the Fire settled into a tight defensive block and allowed the visitors few chances.
Then in the 89th minute, the Men in Red put the game away. A wonderful pass out of midfield found Tony Sanneh in acres of space on the left flank. He drifted toward goal with all the time in the world to decide what to do, and he was able to bide his time while Thiago streaked in on the right. Sanneh hit a perfect pass between Hartman and a retreating defender, and Thiago had only to tap into the empty goal for the insurance goal.
There were some tense moments when Diego Gutierrez was sent off a minute later after a hard tackle in midfield, receiving a second yellow card on the night.
But the Fire were able to survive the closing minutes and win the Dewar Trophy for the fourth time in the nine-year history of the club.
Jack Daniel Chavez is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
