E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Despite forcing 10 saves out of New York goalkeeper Jon Conway, the Chicago Fire couldn't solve the Red Bulls' backup and lost 3-0 at Giants Stadium on Thursday night for their fourth consecutive defeat.
The Bulls were up by two before anyone on the field had time to break a sweat. Jozy Altidore struck before the game was a minute old, and Juan Pablo Angel notched another less than two minutes later.
On the first strike, Angel played a ball from the left side of the Fire's 18-yard box to John Wolyniec, who had his back to Matt Pickens' goal. Wolyniec dropped it back to Altidore, who easily beat Pickens form 10 yards.
The second was all Angel. Dane Richards beat his man on the right flank and served in a cross that was touched by C.J. Brown and stolen by Angel. The Colombian took the ball out of midair with his right foot, then volleyed it past Pickens.
The goals tied an MLS record for the two fastest goals scored at the start of the game. D.C. United scored twice in the opening three minutes in a 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Galaxy on August 9, 1997 and the Galaxy did it in a 4-4 tie with the Tampa Bay Mutiny May 9, 2001.
The shell-shocked Fire regrouped quickly, but couldn't conjure any goals during the remainder of the half. New York didn't sit back after the fast start, and with room to operate, Chicago forced six saves out of Conway. However, most of the shots were from distance and didn't really trouble the keeper.
Forward Calen Carr, filling in for the injured Chris Rolfe, was dangerous on several occasions in the first half. But it was Justin Mapp, named to the U.S. national team's Gold Cup squad earlier in the day, who had his team's best opportunity in the 27th minute. Mapp drifted away from his normal spot on the right wing. He picked the ball up on the left side of the field and cut inside before firing a 20 yard blast that flashed just wide of the frame.
Toward the end of the first 45, the Fire put together some nice possession in the attacking third. Mapp, Chris Armas and Chad Barrett switched the ball around, eventually finding Brian Plotkin alone on the right side of home side's penalty area, but he fired straight at Conway.
Altidore, playing out of position as a left midfielder, was a thorn in the Fire's side all evening. A frustrated Brown bodied the teenager on several occasions, but the 17-year-old was unfazed and managed to hold the ball up well with Brown draped on his back.
The Brown-Altidore match up got testy midway through the second half, when both players were issued yellow cards by referee Tim Weyland following a spat near the right sideline. A few minutes later, Armas and Richards had to be separated after the Jamaican shoved the Fire captain, who thought that Richards took a dive in the area in hopes of earning a penalty.
Chad Barrett had two glorious chances to get his team back in the game in a two-minute span that started in the 56th. First, Barrett made a brilliant turn and got off a hard shot from close range that was right at Conway. Then, he got on the end of another ball on the right side, but Conway made a sprawling save to keep the visitors off the board.
In the 68th minute, Angel struck again. Seth Stammler pushed up from the midfield toward the end line and cut the ball back across the face of goal to defender Taylor Graham. Graham found a wide-open Angel on his left, but instead of taking a first-time shot, Angel coolly switched the ball to his left foot. As Pickens and Armas bit hard the other direction, Angel slid the ball into the unguarded side of the Chicago net.
Three minutes after Angel's dagger, Barrett was denied by Conway again after the ball ping-ponged around the Bulls box. It was obviously not to be for the Fire, who dropped their fourth game in a row after starting the season 3-0-1.
The Red Bulls were without injured foursome Claudio Reyna, Ronald Waterreus, Hunter Freeman and Todd Dunivant. The Fire were missing starters Rolfe (ankle), Dasan Robinson (groin) and Diego Gutierrez (knee). With the loss, Chicago remains in fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
Doug McIntyre is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
