just minutes after the U.S. international fullback had hit the crossbar on a nearly identical play.
But the Fire hit for the equalizer four minutes before full time, Jim Curtin rising up to get on the end of a Thiago free kick swerved into the box and heading past Kevin Hartman in the Galaxy goal.
Here's Steve Sampson's team (4-4-2): Kevin Hartman - Chris Albright, Ugo Ihemelu, Tyrone Marshall, Todd Dunivant - Cobi Jones (Ned Grabavoy 60), Paulo Nagamura, Peter Vagenas (Cornell Glen 76), Josh Gardner - Landon Donovan, Herculez Gomez [Substitutes Not Used: Steve Cronin, Michael Enfield, Troy Roberts, Marcelo Saragosa, Nathan Sturgis]
Here's Sarachan's team (3-4-1-2): Zach Thornton - C.J. Brown, Jim Curtin, Gonzalo Segares (John Thorrington 89) - Justin Mapp, Diego Gutierrez (Calen Carr 82), Logan Pause, Ivan Guerrero - Thiago - Chad Barrett (Nate Jaqua 62), Chris Rolfe [Substitutes Not Used: Matt Pickens, Brian Plotkin, Dasan Robinson, Jack Stewart]
CHICAGO FIRE
The Chicago Fire returned to their winning ways, getting a 1-0 victory against a nine-man D.C. United on Sunday afternoon at Toyota Park, their sixth victory in their last eight league games. The Fire consolidated their hold on second place in the Eastern Conference with the win, now with 41 points from 28 matches, three ahead of the third-place New England Revolution but still trailing United by 11 points in the East.
LAST MATCH
The Fire and United were meeting just 11 days after a bitterly contested U.S. Open Cup semifinal that saw Chicago claim a 3-0 victory and United defender Facundo Erpen sent off. The Fire at one point had a chance to secure their postseason future with a win, but that opportunity was dashed with a midweek loss to Colorado.
Referee Terry Vaughn set the tone for the contest when he booked United's Bobby Boswell and Jaime Moreno within the first 11 minutes, though he ignored appeals for penalties at both ends when Moreno and Chicago's Gonzalo Segares were each tripped up in the area.
Andy Herron stroked home the eventual game-winner just after the hour mark. An inch-perfect through ball from Brian Plotkin sent the Costa Rican international in alone on goal, and he slotted home the ball past a charging Troy Perkins from inside the box.
After a 25-minute delay due to weather conditions, United had two players sent off over the final quarter hour -- defender Bryan Namoff for a second bookable offense after a hard tackle on Herron, then Josh Gros with a straight red after a late challenge on Thiago.
Fire head coach Dave Sarachan made two changes to the team that lost 1-0 to the Colorado Rapids the Wednesday before. Dasan Robinson returned to the team as Sarachan returned to a back three, coming in for Jim Curtin. Chris Armas also returned to the team, coming in for Justin Mapp.
Here's Sarachan's team (3-4-1-2): Matt Pickens - C.J. Brown, Tony Sanneh, Dasan Robinson - Nate Jaqua (Brian Plotkin 29), Chris Armas, Diego Gutierrez, Gonzalo Segares - Thiago (Jim Curtin 89) - Chris Rolfe, Andy Herron (Calen Carr 81). [Subs Not Used: Floyd Franks, Leonard Griffin, David Mahoney, Justin Mapp]
"It's always a good game with D.C. United. The effort, the approach, the initiative -- everything was good from our perspective. It was an odd game with the rain delay, but it's another case of getting that first goal, which is critical," Sarachan said. "I thought it was a well deserved win, a very important win and each time we get three points in the bank, it puts us that much closer to clinching a playoff berth so we're very pleased with this result."TEAM NEWS
The game was also marked by ceremonies honoring the 25th anniversary of the Chicago Sting's 1981 NASL championship, and Sarachan said some things sounded familiar.
"To hear them speak last night about the chemistry, the way they grew as a team and the commitment that pushed them through to the final I couldn't help but think about this particular group we have here. And by no means am I making any kind of predictions but the similarities are kind of eerie because they had a good blend of Americans, young Americans then with some foreign players, chemistry was right and they began to believe," he said. "I think we have a good roster, a deep roster, a good blend of veterans and young guys and it's a nice comparison."
Andy Herron was in the lineup for the second consecutive match after missing two games because of international duty, and now has scored six goals in his last eight games in all competitions in a Fire uniform.
"[Coach] Dave [Sarachan] has put his trust in me, and that means I can go out there and show what I've got," Herron said to the Chicago Tribune. "I wasn't happy when I came back from playing with Costa Rica and Dave didn't play me against [Columbus on Sept. 9]. I wanted to play. Dave sat and talked to me afterward and told me, `You're important to this team.' I needed that."
It was the first career shutout for goalkeeper Matt Pickens. He's now started five consecutive matches (four in MLS play) with Zach Thornton slowed by a quadriceps strain.
"It feels great. The guys that played in front of me played really well, so that made my job so much easier. I'm feeling more and more confident after each game and the team feels very confident after putting together some good performances," Pickens said. "The entire team is feeling pretty well right now. Hopefully we can carry this mentality into the final stretch of games. My teammates keep telling me to come out and give it all everyday, and that's what I'm doing."
After a loss and a draw in the first two meetings between the clubs this season, the Fire have now defeated United in two consecutive meetings (one in the U.S. Open Cup). They face each other in the final game of the league campaign, and could be on a collision course for a meeting in the Eastern Conference Championship.
"It's always going to be a competitive battle because you've got two teams who are prideful and we think we can beat D.C. United, they come in wanting to beat us and it's always a hard game," Sarachan said. " ... From our perspective there isn't (any carryover from the Open Cup game) but maybe it's spilled on their level because they're the ones that had two red cards today. So I think they're a little frustrated with us. There's no question."
On Wednesday, when the clubs meet in the U.S. Open Cup Final, it will be the fourth they've done so in the competition - all in the semifinals. The Fire won in 2000 and 2003; the Galaxy in 2001. In each case, the winner went on to claim the Dewar Trophy.
"We are going to take it one game at a time. We need to take a little break - we've had a really tough schedule the last few weeks and it's gong to be hard, playing L.A. both next Saturday and in the U.S. Open Cup. They are a very good team and the defending U.S. Open Cup champion," Herron said. "But like I said before, if we keep playing like we are playing and building on our mentality, it's going to be hard for any team to play us."
LOS ANGELES GALAXY
The Los Angeles Galaxy saw their playoff hopes put into serious doubt after a scoreless draw with the Colorado Rapids last Saturday at The Home Depot Center. The Galaxy now have 33 points from 28 matches and sit in sixth place in the Western Conference, trailing Real Salt Lake by three points for fifth place and the third-place tie between Chivas USA and the Colorado Rapids by six.
LAST MATCH
The Galaxy were finishing a three-game homestand where they had split the first two games, while the Rapids were beginning a three-game road swing that will see them play just once in Denver over their final five games.
Despite the necessity of taking the full three points, the Galaxy struggled to break down the massed Colorado defense over the entire night. The home side put just three shots on goal for the contest, none really testing Rapids goalkeeper Joe Cannon.
The best chances in the game fell to the Rapids. Thiago Martins shot weakly into Galaxy 'keeper Kevin Hartman from point-blank range in the opening half, then Jacob Peterson put his clear header wide of the post midway through the second half.
Galaxy head coach Frank Yallop made no changes to the team that lost 2-1 to Houston Dynamo the Sunday before at The Home Depot Center.
Here's Yallop's team (4-4-2): Kevin Hartman - Chris Albright, Ugo Ihemelu, Tyrone Marshall, Ante Jazic - Cobi Jones, Paulo Nagamura (Stefani Miglioranzi 85), Peter Vagenas, Santino Quaranta (Quavas Kirk 61) - Landon Donovan, Alan Gordon (Herculez Gomez 69). [Substitutes Not Used: Steve Cronin, Michael Enfield, Josh Gardner, Kyle Veris]
"Obviously it is a disappointing result for us with the state we are in at the moment. I can't fault the guys for their effort, but I think better clinical play in the final third really wins the game tonight," Yallop said. "We worked all week on it, but we couldn't seem to pull the trigger at the right time. The effort was there, and I will give them full credit, they kept going right until the end. We are disappointed."TEAM NEWS
Since a dominant 5-2 victory against D.C. United at RFK Stadium, the Galaxy have lost three of four league matches, and have scored three goals in that time, two coming in the lone win (2-1 v Kansas City on Sept. 2).
"I was very frustrated. The last two games I have been frustrated. Just when you want the team to hit a bit of a purple patch and score goals, we have hit a bit of a mean streak and we can't seem to create real chances," Yallop said. "We created some against Houston, but tonight we never really had a time where we looked like we were going to carve them up. They came in here looking to get a point, and I think they played like that is all they wanted. That certainly made things a bit difficult for us."
The Rapids concluded the league season series unbeaten against the Galaxy, getting three 1-0 victories and a scoreless draw. The Galaxy defeated the Rapids 3-1 in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals.
"We probably didn't put enough into it to get a win," Landon Donovan said. "It's a business. Colorado understood that and just killed the game. I like playing soccer because it's fun to play, not battle out to a zero-zero draw. We shouldn't be in this position, period. If we had taken care of business in the first half of the season, we'd be fine right now. But you sleep in the bed you made, and that's where we're at."
The Galaxy now have a tough road ahead if they are to book a place in the postseason. After the trip to face Chicago, second place in the East, they play host to arch-rival Chivas USA, then have a home-and-home series against West leader FC Dallas to close out the season.
"You can't sit around all week and have steam coming out of your ears about the game on the weekend," said Albright. "You have to approach it like a professional, and approach it as a playoff game. The bottom line is that what happens during the 90 minutes is all that matters."
New signing Stefani Miglioranzi made his Galaxy and MLS debut, coming on in the 85th minute for Paulo Nagamura.
"It wasn't much of an outing. I think when the manager decided to put me in, we were desperately trying to get a goal, so he put me in there to crowd the box, really: Miglioranzi said. "I tried to get something to drop in the box for us. Not much of a debut for me, but it is nice to get my feet wet."
