FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Andy Herron gave the Chicago Fire their second league victory on the trot, his 24th-minute strike proving to be enough to lead the Men in Red over the New England Revolution 1-0 Sunday at Gillette Stadium.
The Costa Rican international snuck behind the Revolution defense after Revs defender James Riley kept Herron onside. Chris Armas' ball exposed the Revolution backline and allowed Herron to drive the ball past Reis into the upper corner.
The home side created numerous chances, including opportunities from Taylor Twellman and second-half substitute Jose Cancela, but the home side found its finishing wanting as Chicago resolutely defended its advantage in the final half an hour to ensure victory.
With the win, the Fire move into a tie with the Revolution for second-place in the crowded Eastern Conference. The clubs each have 28 points, and Wizards and Red Bulls are, respectively, just two and three points behind.
Fire head coach Dave Sarachan deployed Nate Jaqua in a wide right berth similar to the role he played against Kansas City on Wednesday night with Herron and Chad Barrett partnering up front. Revolution head coach Steve Nicol replaced the suspended Clint Dempsey with defensive midfielder Jeff Larentowicz.
The home side started the better of the two teams, applying early pressure in the Chicago defensive third but lacking the final cutting pass to break down the composed Fire defense.
Armas had the first chance of the game after a quarter of an hour after knocking Larentowicz off the ball at the edge of the box. Barrett rushed in after the ball, and Reis smothered his effort on goal but spilled the rebound, which Armas fired to the right of Reis' goal.
There would be no mistake from Herron as Armas' through ball caught the Revolution rearguard out of sorts. Riley kept Herron onside and the Costa Rican international made no mistake on his one-on-one with Reis, taking his time to line up his shot and then curling it into the far corner.
The match sparked to life in the 30th minute with a conflict between Barrett and Revs defender Jay Heaps. Heaps put his hand in Barrett's face as he went up for a header. Barrett then extended his arms and pushed the Revolution defender to the ground. The stadium erupted as Barrett was shown a yellow card for his actions, while Heaps was also shown yellow.
Tempers flared again shortly after Steve Ralston crossed the ball off Ivan Guerrero's face. As the Honduran writhed around on the pitch in pain, Ralston played a cross in to an unmarked Pat Noonan, who put his header wide of the mark. Herron raced in from midfield to exchange a few words with the veteran right midfielder.
Nicol introduced Cancela at the break in place of defensive midfielder Larentowicz in an attempt to introduce more attack-minded play.
But it was the visitors who nearly extended their lead to two after Herron was played through behind the Revolution defense by Jaqua. With only Reis to beat, Herron went near post and clanked it off the right bar to keep the lead at one.
Twellman should have leveled the scored four minutes later. Unmarked seven yards from goal, Twellman directed his header wide of the gaping goal.
In the 53rd minute, Twellman finished past Thornton but had the effort ruled out for offside, as he was adjudged to have gained an extra yard of space behind the Fire backline.
Ralston could have done better after delicate interplay with Noonan in the 57th minute, but the move was well-worked and a sign of things to come for the Revolution as it piled on the pressure.
Cancela went close from a free kick from 22 yards after being felled by recent substitute Gonzalo Segares. Thornton had to dive to his right to keep out Cancela's goalbound effort. In the ensuing chaos, Noonan pinged an effort off the cross bar after maintaining possession and turning in the box.
Thereafter, Chicago went about closing up shop, sending Segares and Jim Curtin into the fray by the 71st minute and withdrawing Barrett and Guerrero as the Fire looked to consolidate their lead.
Cancela tested Thornton again in the 83rd minute. The pace of the shot was not strong but the quick release forced the Fire keeper down to his right for a difficult save.
One last bit of controversy erupted in the 88th minute as Twellman had the ball in the Fire net again but the effort was ruled out for a foul by Twellman on Thornton. There was contact between the two players and the referee's assistant flagged from the far side to indicate the foul. There were also questions as to whether or not Twellman was initially in an offside position before the ball was played into the mixer by Noonan.
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
