The war of words over the BMO Field turf dominated headlines in the leadup to Saturday's game between the Chicago Fire and Toronto FC. After it was over, however, Fire coach Dave Sarachan has fewer problems with the artificial surface than he did with how his players performed on it.
The Fire lost 3-1 to become the first club ever to lose to the first-year Toronto MLS team. The game was marked by -- finally for Toronto -- some goals, as well as some physical play, and Chicago ultimately came up short on both ends of the ledger.
The turning point in the game came near the end of the first half with the score tied 1-1. Chicago goalkeeper Matt Pickens got into a shoving match with TFC forward Danny Dichio in front of the net, which resulted in multiple players on both sides piling into the Fire goal.
"It was a play where I felt I got hit," Pickens said. "I got a little emotional about it and things got a little out of hand."
Dichio and Fire midfielder Diego Gutierrez were both sent off to put each side down a man, and when play resumed in the second half, it was Toronto FC who looked better adjusted.
"We had a good meeting at halftime talking about what we wanted to do," Sarachan said. "We felt really confident we could exploit Toronto with only 10 men. It actually worked against us. I thought Toronto did a good job of possession and they limited our chances."
Chicago couldn't seem to find its scoring touch in the second half. Players either couldn't connect with or couldn't receive passes, and four offside calls prevented the Fire from getting into a good attacking flow. Toronto, on the other hand, scored twice and outshot Chicago 5-2.
"They got chances and they scored them," Pickens said. "They brought in that extra guy [striker Andrea Lombardo, who substituted for Edson Buddle in the 70th minute and recorded an assist] and we didn't go a good job taking care of it."
The loss comes on the heels of a 3-1 defeat to New England last Sunday. Chicago has now lost two in a row after a 3-0-1 start, and Sarachan is looking for answers.
"Defensively, we've given up six goals in two games, and that's disturbing," Sarachan said. "On the flip side, we've got to iron things out with our attacking players as well. It's not good enough at the moment."
The Fire will next play on Thursday night at home against FC Dallas. It will be a welcome return to Chicago for Sarachan. The coach commented to the Chicago Sun-Times earlier in the week about his displeasure about his club playing on three artificial surfaces on the road (in New England, Toronto and New York) within a three-week span.
Toronto coach Mo Johnston took Sarachan's remarks as a criticism of BMO Field, and defended the safety and condition of the Toronto stadium. Sarachan insists his comments were interpreted more harshly than he intended.
"I never had an opinion about [the turf]," Sarachan said. "There wasn't a controversy. Everything was blown out of proportion."
After actually playing on the FieldTurf surface, Sarachan had praise for BMO Field's conditions and the Toronto fans.
"For an artificial surface it's as good as you're going to get," Sarachan said. "I thought it played very well. The environment was very loud and passionate. If you're a player and you don't get excited playing here, you must be dead."
Mark Polishuk is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
