making his MLS league debut after coming on as a halftime substitute -- sent Chicago 'keeper Matt Pickens the other way in converting his own penalty.
LAST MEETING
• The Wizards claimed a key encounter in the Eastern Conference when they defeated the Fire 3-2 on Wednesday evening at Arrowhead Stadium., overcoming a first-half lead then hanging on against the 10-man Fire.
• Just 13 minutes into the match, Justin Mapp tried to work past Jose Burciaga Jr. in the left corner of the area - and when the two tangled, referee Baldomero Toledo immediately pointed to the spot. But Cuauhtemoc Blanco shot his penalty right at Kevin Hartman in the center of the goal, who parried it away.
• But in first half stoppage time, Blanco made amends. He sent in a terrific ball over the Wizards back line for Chad Barrett to run onto, and the young striker ripped home a left-footed drive for his fifth goal.
• After the break, the Wizards came out flying and pulled level in the 54th minute. Burciaga was sent free down the left flank and drove in a rolling cross from the corner that Sasha Victorine stabbed home first-time.
• Then, in the 66th minute, Gonzalo Segares was booked for a second time in 12 minutes, and it took K.C. just two minutes to take advantage. Burciaga barely kept the ball on the touchline, and as the Fire team stopped, raced forward before finding Sealy in the area. He lifted the ball over a sliding defender with his first touch and knocked it back inside the right-hand post for his first goal since the opening game of the season.
• With eight minutes left, the Wizards seemingly put the game away. Ryan Raybould played a long ball forward, and with his back to goal, Eddie Johnson threw up his foot and sent a neat backheel to Burciaga all alone at the left post. The defender controlled before poking it high into the goal.
• Yet the Fire weren't done yet. Blanco served a free kick into the area that Kevin Hartman could only punch out, and Dasan Robinson latched onto the rebound, turning and lashing home a low shot in the 83rd minute.
KANSAS CITY WIZARDS
The Wizards put an end to a two-game losing skid with the midweek win and solidified their hold on fourth place in the Eastern Conference. They now have 32 points from 21 matches, now one point behind third place New York Red Bulls and still four in arrears of D.C. United.
TEAM NEWS
• Wizards head coach Curt Onalfo made four changes to the team that lost 1-0 to the New England Revolution the Sunday before. Coming back into the team were Ryan Raybould in the back, Kurt Morsink and Sasha Victorine in midfield and Scott Sealy up top; Carlos Marinelli was out through suspension, while Jack Jewsbury, Michael Harrington and Yura Movsisyan all returned to the substitutes' bench.
• Here's Onalfo's team (4-4-2): Kevin Hartman - Ryan Raybould (Jack Jewsbury 83), Jimmy Conrad, Nick Garcia, Jose Burciaga Jr. - Davy Arnaud, Kurt Morsink, Kerry Zavagnin, Sasha Victorine (Michael Harrington 70) - Eddie Johnson, Scott Sealy (Yura Movsisyan 75). Substitutes Not Used: Eloy Colombano, Eric Kronberg, Ryan Pore, Tyson Wahl
• "It wasn't 90 minutes of perfect performance, but it was 90 minutes of heart. Now we just need to piece together 90 minutes of intelligence and understanding how to manage the game and understanding how to manage really what is the last couple minutes of the first half," Onalfo said. "We gave that ball away and when we gave the goal away, it made our job more difficult. But you have to commend the guys for their effort and for their strength of character to find a way to really come back."
• For the 13th time this season, the Wizards allowed the first goal in the contest. But they came back to record a fourth victory after falling behind; the remainder of the league has combined for only seven wins after conceding the first goal.
• "I told them that nobody ever said it was going to be easy. We have come back before; we made our job more difficult, but if we get an early goal we will be right back in this," Onalfo said at halftime. "I told the team our service needs to be better. We need to play more balls on the ground just like the ball Jose (Burciaga Jr.) played to Sasha (Victorine). We talked about that at halftime."
• The three goals then came from similar situations. Two came down the left flank, with Burciaga playing a part in both, then he scored the third when a long ball was served in from deep on the right and flicked on to the back post.
• "I told them that we're doing a good job of creating two-v-ones wide [but] our service needs to be better. We need to play balls on the ground ... and understand their mechanism of attacking. They do a really good job of keeping a guy on the weak side and they play that long ball, switch the point of attack. They're a very well-coached team," Onalfo said.
• Having seen the Eastern Conference - and playoff race - tighten up, the Wizards put real emphasis on claiming the full three points and reestablishing the gap.
• "We're at home, and it's a huge game. That opportunity to get a goal, tie the game back up, changed the pace of the game," said Victorine "The game opened up from that point."
• Said Kevin Hartman: "I thought it was a good result and that our character showed through during the match. But hopefully in the future, instead of showing great character, we're able to play better soccer and we're able to get results and we continue to learn lessons from these. I think there are some games where we get out by the skin of our teeth and I think as we mature as a group and head toward the playoffs, we're going to have to take advantage of those lessons we learned in the past."
CHICAGO FIRE
The Chicago Fire saw their three-game unbeaten streak - all since the arrival of Cuauhtémoc Blanco - come to an end with the midweek defeat. The Fire still have 23 points, now from 20 matches, still three points behind the Columbus Crew who sit in eighth place in the overall table.
TEAM NEWS
• Fire head coach Juan Carlos Osorio made four changes to the team that defeated Real Salt Lake on the road the previous Saturday. Jon Busch came in between the posts, replacing Matt Pickens. Justin Mapp came back into the team at one wide midfield spot, Diego Gutierrez returned from suspension to fill the other, and Chad Barrett returned to the team in attack, as Ivan Guerrero, Chris Armas and Paulo Wanchope all went to the substitutes' bench.
• Here's Osorio's team (3-4-1-2): Jon Busch - Dasan Robinson, C.J. Brown, Gonzalo Segares - Justin Mapp (Ivan Guerrero 75), Bakary Soumare, Logan Pause, Diego Gutierrez - Cuauhtemoc Blanco - Chad Barrett (Paulo Wanchope 46), Chris Rolfe (Calen Carr 59). Substitutes Not Used: Chris Armas, Thiago, Bruno Menezes, Matt Pickens
• "I think we created enough chances to be up 2-0 in the first half, but we lacked the final touch," said Osorio. "The game went end-to-end in the second half. I have to credit our players with their effort tonight, but we didn't get the result we wanted."
• After three consecutive shutouts, the Fire allowed three goals. In Osorio's first game, he saw his team concede four to Houston. There has been nothing in between. "We don't want to be part of games with high scores," he said.
• Osorio also said he felt the game changed when Segares was sent off with a second bookable offense within 14 minutes, which affected the tight defensive stance his team had displayed.
• "I think that overall it was a very disappointing performance. I think we deserved to get out of here with at least one point. I felt we dominated the first half in creating most of the chances including the penalty kick. In the second half we let them off the hook," he said.
• Since Cuauhtemoc Blanco has joined the Fire, they've now scored seven goals in four league games. Of the seven goals the Fire have scored, Blanco has been a part of five (one goal, three assists). He also scored the lone Chicago goal in his club debut, in a friendly against Scotland's Celtic FC.
• "I think it makes me and everyone else better. He just brings so much experience and talent that everyone just feeds off of it. I try to learn from him as well as playing off of him," said Barrett. "The balls that he plays makes all the strikers think that they will get the ball from him. It makes everyone run harder."
• It was the fifth goal of the season for Barrett, matching his career high scored a year ago, his second season in the league.
• "I'm not sure how it came to (Cuauhtemoc) Blanco, but he played a great pass to me. I was thinking it was going to be in the air because it was such a tight squeeze. After I got it (Ryan) Raybould tried to cut me off, so I just took a touch with my outside foot and slid it in," Barrett said.
• For Justin Mapp, it was just his second start in a Fire uniform since May 27, when he had started seven of the Fire's first nine games on the year. He last started July 12 v Houston Dynamo.
• "I think we did well for the majority of the game. It was tough getting the red card in the second half. It got a little chaotic after that point, but we kept our heads," Mapp said. "I think we gave up some unlucky goals but we have a quick turn around Saturday. I think we are going to have another tough battle then as well."
