After his team's 3-2 victory against the Columbus Crew on Sunday at Toyota Park, Chicago Fire forward Chad Barrett felt that a burden had been lifted.
Not only had the Fire been in the midst of a five-game winless streak, but Barrett had not scored since the third game of the season when they faced the Crew. His breakaway goal in the 79th minute gave the Fire a 3-1 lead late in the game and was the eventual game-winner.
"The win was very important; it was an important day for us to get three points. Honestly, I couldn't be more proud of our group," Fire head coach Dave Sarachan said. "You saw a team today that had one thing in mind, and that was to win this game. Whatever it took, we were going to do it."
Barrett showed his speed and tenacity as he stole the ball from Columbus forward Kei Kamara in Chicago territory and raced some 65 yards for the game-winner.
"Did you ever have those dreams where you're treading water?" Barrett laughed. "That's how I felt on that play. Coach (Dave Sarachan) thought I only had a few minutes left in me before that play and when I was running down the field toward the goal, I felt I was cramping up. It was good to get the win and it was good to get the goal because it has been a long time since I had scored."
Fire newcomer Willian Oliveira started just his second MLS game and his offensive abilities were on display Sunday. The Brazilian midfielder had an assist and a goal for the Fire.
"He has great foot speed and has a terrific left foot and he really came to play (Sunday). His showing was much better than in his last start," Sarachan said. "I think last time he was nervous and it looked like he was more relaxed."
The 22-year-old was signed May 24 from Trinidad and Tobago's W Connection and assisted on Jeff Curtin's goal in the 25th minute before tallying one himself in the 61st minute.
"I have to thank God and thank the coach for working me during the week and letting me be a part of this game," Oliveira said. "Now we have to think about next week when we face Chivas USA. It's an important game for us and it will be good to have this week to work on it."
Oliveira sent a deep, curling corner kick to the far post to assist on Curtin's goal. The Chicago defender extended his body on the pass from Oliveira to head it into the Columbus goal which gave the Fire an early 1-0 lead. Not only was it Oliveira's first career MLS assist but it was also Curtin's first career MLS goal.
"Willian showed what a great left foot he has and he made a great corner kick," Curtin said. "We work on that in practice and we were pleased to see it work out in the game."
Unfortunately for the Fire, their practice on the corner kick could be a setback for them during their upcoming schedule.
"We were working on that play Saturday during practice and Jeff and Logan (Pause) collided," Sarachan said. "Logan got pretty banged up on that and he could not start for us (Sunday) because of it so we'll see how he feels in the next couple of days."
Pause suffered a concussion and will be out for an indefinite amount of time.
One Fire player who did return from injury Sunday was Calen Carr. The Fire forward made his return to the starting lineup after missing last week's draw against Real Salt Lake with a left ankle sprain. He had four shots but some of them were not Carr-like attempts.
"I'm trying to get back into the swing of things and I think my timing is not what I want it to be," Carr said. "It feels great to get the win and that's the most important thing."
Tim Hilton is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
