Chad Barrett struck twice, Cuauhtemoc Blanco had a goal and three assists and the Chicago Fire scored four second-half goals to rout the New York Red Bulls 5-1 on a glorious Sunday afternoon at Giants Stadium.
Chris Rolfe and Gonzalo Segares also scored for the Fire, while second-half substitute Jozy Altidore picked up a late consolation goal for the home team. Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio was suspended for the match against his former team, watching the game from a suite after receiving a red card against Kansas City last weekend.
Chicago was the better team from the opening kickoff. The visitors dominated possession during the first 20 minutes, with Blanco, Rolfe and Justin Mapp combining to keep the ball with series of neat short passes. Blanco, operating mostly on the right side of midfield, also kept New York's back line honest with his long-ball threat.
Blanco first showed off his pinpoint passing accuracy from distance in the sixth minute with a brilliant through ball to Mapp. After collecting on the left side, Mapp danced past his man and found front-runner Barrett inside the 18, but Barrett's shot was well off target.
Seconds later, another Blanco pass from distance picked out Barrett and this time the Olympic team candidate made no mistake. The Mexican superstar started the play with a ball over the Red Bulls defense. Barrett got body position on the retreating Hunter Freeman, held him off and coolly slotted past 'keeper Jon Conway to give the Fire a lead they would never relinquish.
Shortly after, Barrett squandered a pair of chances to double his team's early advantage. First, he did well to round Jeff Parke but rolled his shot wide. Then, after Blanco had picked him out again, Barrett sent a 15-yard attempt over the crossbar.
In the 20th minute, it was Blanco's turn to get on the end of a long service. The Fire captain raced past Parke, headed the ball down to his left foot and was just about to pull the trigger when the New York center back lunged in, sending him to the turf. Much to Blanco's chagrin, referee Ricardo Salazar waved away what replays suggested were justified appeals for a penalty.
The home team enjoyed all the decent opportunities for the remainder of the half. First, Juan Pablo Angel beat Brandon Prideaux at the top of the area but pulled his effort wide.
Red Bulls captain Claudio Reyna, back after missing two games with a left calf strain, found speedy Dane Richards on the right on a quick break, but Segares snuffed the threat by picking the Jamaican international clean with a perfectly-timed challenge.
Richards and Reyna linked up again when Richards found the U.S. World Cup veteran the box with a head-high cross, but Reyna, still looking for his first MLS goal, nodded it high.
New York got two more chances to equalize before the half was over. Jeff Parke sent a Reyna cross wide in the 40th and a minute later, Danleigh Borman, who has scored in his last two outings, put Kevin Goldthwaite's pass inches over Jon Busch's goal.
Chicago started the second half the way it began the first. Less than three minutes after the restart, Bakary Soumare lofted a long pass up the right touchline for Blanco to run onto. He glided past Goldthwaite and served a cross to an unmarked Rolfe, who easily headed past Conway.
Six minutes later, the game was essentially over. Barrett played Mapp into the box where New York defender Andrew Boyens took him down, and this time Salazar didn't hesitate to point to the spot. Blanco took his patented long run-up and blasted home, sending Conway the wrong direction.
Not satisfied with the 3-0 lead, Chicago struck twice more within the next eight minutes. Barrett got his second off a Mapp pass, as the diving header slipped under Conway's body. The fifth goal was more deserved, as Segares potted a header after the ball had rebounded off the woodwork from a Wilman Conde shot on a corner.
The home side managed to pull one back in the 74th, with Altidore knocking Freeman's corner kick past Busch at the near post. Other than some half-hearted penalty cries when Altidore went down in the box, it was the last, best chance of the game and far too little, too late for the Red Bulls as the Fire took all three points and moved into a tie with the New England Revolution and Columbus Crew atop the Eastern Conference.
Douglas McIntrye is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
