including a 3-0 decision to the Kansas City Wizards four days previous at Arrowhead Stadium.
• TFC started strong, and nearly scored twice in the first half. An innocuous looking corner kick was nearly spilled into his own goal by Wizards goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, and then Danny Dichio had a terrific chance when all alone in the area, but his shot was cleared off the line by K.C. right back Jack Jewsbury.
• But after the break it was a different story, and the Wizards deservedly took the lead in the 81st minute. A long ball from Michael Harrington found Eddie Johnson in the right side of the area, and he cut back to his left foot before lashing a low drive that took a deflection off a defender and slipped inside the near post for the game's lone goal.
• Toronto FC head coach Mo Johnston made two changes to the team that lost 3-0 to the Wizards at midweek at Arrowhead Stadium in the front end of their home-and-home series. Andrew Boyens came back into the back four, replacing Marco Reda, and Danny Dichio made his TFC and MLS debut, starting up top in place of Edson Buddle.
• Here's Johnston's team (4-4-2): Greg Sutton - Marvell Wynne, Andrew Boyens, Jim Brennan, Kevin Goldthwaite - Paulo Nagamura (Edson Buddle 84), Maurice Edu, Carl Robinson, Andy Welsh (Miguel Canizalez 68) - Danny Dichio, Alecko Eskandarian. Substitutes Not Used: Srdjan Djekanovic, Andrea Lombardo, Ronnie O'Brien, Chris Pozniak, Marco Reda
• "We came out in the first half and gave everything," Johnston said. "We had them on the rack and just couldn't get the ball over the line. In the second half, we sat back and were very nervous ... the momentum swung the other way."
TEAM NEWS
• While Johnston made two personnel changes from the game in Kansas City three days earlier, he also made a tactical switch, moving No. 1 overall SuperDraft pick Maurice Edu into the center, and the now-departed Paulo Nagamura to the right side of midfield.
• "Obviously we're still looking for that added blend, in terms of having the guys together for a long time. It was Danny (Dichio's) first game, and Maurice Edu's first time in the middle, and then obviously (Paulo) Nagamura, who doesn't play on the right-hand side," said Johnston. "We're filling some gaps and hopefully we can get Ronnie (O'Brien) back, but I was very pleased in the first half."
• While there was certainly disappointment in the loss, there was bigger disappointment after the feeling of letting down the sellout crowd for the first game ever at BMO Field.
• "For the first time in a long time, I felt goosebumps. It felt wonderful and I felt really bad sending [the fans] home losing 1-0," Johnston said. "I know once we put the best product on the field, we're going to get better, we're going to get stronger. The fans deserve it -- it's been a long time coming to them."
• Said Alecko Eskandarian: "Any time you get 20,000-plus supporting you like that, you just want to give it your all and get a good result for them, so that was my main focus before the game and even during the match. I was oohhing and aaahhhing with every chance we had. It just hurt that we couldn't get a good result for them. The fans were truly remarkable and I want to thank every single one of them."
• Still, in the cold light of reflection after the loss, Johnston felt his team needed to have a better performance.
• "My goal for this team is to develop character, a steely resolve to win and to get people working harder," Johnston said to The (Toronto) Sun. "The fans of this city deserve better than what they got. ... There are some guys on this team who just came back from playing overseas who aren't prepared to play at the level that is necessary to succeed in the MLS. They will soon learn to play better or they will be watching the game from the bench."
• Johnston also said Ronnie O'Brien should be available for the Chicago match. He returned to full training in the days immediately following the Kansas City game. "Ronnie will make a huge difference to our offense," Johnston said. "He will make both Danny (Dichio) and Alecko (Eskandarian) better, even though I thought the two of them played well on Saturday."
• While TFC is still goalless on the campaign, Johnston said the addition of Dichio will likely change that fact - quickly. "Teams are going to come in here and fear him," Johnston said to The Sun. "He had K.C. defenders talking to themselves as they left the pitch after the first half. ... There's no doubt we have to start scoring.And we will, but we will have to work harder than we have been to get it done."
CHICAGO FIRE
The Chicago Fire lost for the first time on the season, seeing the New England Revolution score twice over the final quarter of the match on their way to a 3-1 victory at Gillette Stadium last Sunday afternoon. The Fire have 10 points from their five matches on the season, now in third place in the Eastern Conference, a point behind New England and the New York Red Bulls and two behind division-leading Kansas City.
LAST MATCH
• The Fire had yet to lose on the season, with three wins and a draw in their four games, while the Revolution were riding a four-game unbeaten streak - after losing the season opener to Chicago at Toyota Park.
• The home side got off to a dream start, taking the lead after just 16 minutes. Steve Ralston banged in a corner and Jeff Larentowicz acrobatically jumped forward to poke a volley home at the near post.
• But the Revolution failed to clear their lines from a corner just before the half, and the Fire took advantage. After a couple of attempts to quell the danger, the ball came out to Chris Rolfe just outside the area. He sent a low shot skimming toward goal through the goalmouth scrum and it slipped past an unsighted Matt Reis; for Rolfe, it was his third goal in as many games.
• New England regained the lead at the midway point of the second half. Larentowicz found Khano Smith alone on the left, and he drove in a low cross across the top of the goal area where Ralston nipped in ahead of a defender and stabbed it home (68).
• The Revolution then capped off the victory with another goal from close range in the 81st minute. Ralston tried to slip Adam Cristman through, and the rookie was able to slide the ball through the legs of a Fire defender. Another rookie, Wells Thompson, came running on and took control before beating Fire 'keeper Matt Pickens from the corner of the six-yard box for his first professional goal.
• Fire head coach Dave Sarachan made no changes to the team that defeated Houston Dynamo 1-0 the previous Sunday at Robertson Stadium.
• Here's Sarachan's team (3-4-2-1): Matt Pickens - C.J. Brown, Jim Curtin, Dasan Robinson - Ivan Guerrero, Chris Armas, Diego Gutierrez (Pascal Bedrossian 80), Gonzalo Segares - Thiago, Chad Barrett (Justin Mapp 75) - Chris Rolfe. Substitutes Not Used: Jon Busch, Calen Carr, Logan Pause, Bakary Soumare, Osei Telesford
• "I think we beat ourselves tonight. We had a lot of time and space to play tonight and it was a little frustrating giving up corners," Sarachan said. "But, then getting them back at the half we had a lot of room to play and we forced some things. Against the run of play the ball gets served across the box and there's Ralston on the back post, so, as quickly as those things happen it can change. I didn't think New England beat us, but we beat ourselves a little bit tonight."
TEAM NEWS
• The Fire didn't expect to stay undefeated forever. But three-quarters of the way through the New England match, they thought they were certainly in good position to remain that way for another week.
• "We weren't going to go undefeated I didn't think, as much as we wanted to. It's days where you feel as though you can come away with points and when you don't it's frustrating," Sarachan said. "Obviously, I feel very good about my group and I think we are going to bounce back. New England is a good side, but we need to take this game, learn from it, and move on. It's early and we've just got to clean up some things."
• "I'm not necessarily sure," said Rolfe on how the team slipped to defeat. "It felt like we were doing just fine. There were two plays that we just slipped."
• One thing that was a real concern is that all three Revolution goals were scored from inside the goal area.
• "There's no secret to how New England plays. When the ball gets wide it's getting whipped in the box and it wasn't like they surprised us on that end. Why that allowed itself to happen is what you go back to the drawing board to take a look and see. We've got to see where Matt's [Pickens] positioning was and where our defenders positioning was."
• After setting up the Fire's first two goals on the season, Rolfe has now scored a goal in each of the last three, after banging the poorly cleared corner for the lone goal against New England. He has been involved in each of Chicago's six goals on the campaign.
• "We switched it around and I was up top on the corners," Rolfe said. "I tried to anticipate the clear and got in a good first touch. I tried to keep it low because it looked like (Matt) Reis couldn't see. I just tried to find that space. I didn't hit it as well as I'd like but he couldn't see it."
• One positive for the Fire was the return of Justin Mapp. The midfielder missed the1-0 victory against Houston with a left hamstring strain but came on against New England as a substitute. Mapp played 15 minutes with the first team before starting the reserve contest played after the game, where he played 63 minutes in a 1-0 Fire loss. "Justin's a quality player and we wanted to get him onto the field," Sarachan said.
