The Chicago Fire spent most of a hot, humid night at Toyota Park trying to break down the Columbus Crew defense. Over the final 15 minutes they finally started to get some chances on goal, but they weren't able to hit for the decisive goal as the teams played to a scoreless draw Saturday.
"Tonight was one of those hard nights," said Fire head coach Dave Sarachan, "against a team that sits in like they did. We did everything in this game but put one in the back of the net. We had the looks but couldn't get the goal."
For the first 75 minutes, the Fire didn't get a shot on goal. Then down the stretch, they tested Crew goalkeeper Bill Gaudette four times, but he was equal to every one.
"It was a disappointing night. We wanted to get the win and their 'keeper made great saves to prevent that," said Fire striker Nate Jaqua. "[I give] a lot of credit to him."
One high point for the Fire was the performance of their substitutes. Justin Mapp, Chad Barrett and Floyd Franks created the spark that subs should bring to the game. The Fire substitues seemed to give the rest of the team energy and more chances, but they just couldn't finish.
"I thought Chad and Justin did well in creating chances," Sarachan said. "It's important that reserves give something to the game and all three did. We feel we are deep and they made a push."
Said Barrett: "Subs are supposed to be that spark. I had my chance; I should have scored. We were aggressive trying to win and we got some good chances. It is always concerning when we don't get three points at home. If we continue this effort and energy, we're going to start winning."
Still, the Fire were in that position only because of two fine saves from goalkeeper Zach Thornton in the opening half hour.
"It's tough not winning at home. The Crew did well sitting in and slowing down the game," Thornton said. " ... The guys in front do the best they can and allow me to make saves. [The Crew] were trying to push, but we weren't falling for the counter or fast breaks."
Neither team fell for any offensive effort as the game ended in a stalemate that produced some close chances. A missed save, or better aimed shot could have changed the entire flow of the game. Instead, both teams had to settle for the draw, each club also seeing lengthy winless streaks extended.
"We had two great chances in the first half that we don't finish on Zach, and one of those two, if not both of them have to be goals," said Crew head coach Sigi Schmid. "That's just not good enough up front.
"We came up with a point, but it wasn't for the lack of trying to win the game," said Sarachan. "We put a lot of effort in getting forward and it took us a while in the first half to find the openings, but we made adjustments at halftime. It's just tough because we had the looks that we needed."
Jack Daniel Chavez is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
