playing forward as part of a new-look three-pronged attack -- collected the ball on the left and laid it square to Juan Pablo Garcia at the top of the restraining arc. He hammered a wicked blast that sailed into the upper right corner, leaving Zach Thornton rooted to his line and giving Chivas the lead.
Four minutes later, Ante Razov dribbled into the area, and after cutting back to his right to try and free himself, became entangled with Fire defender Tony Sanneh, and referee Alex Prus waved play on.
The Fire raced to the other end, and Ivan Guerrero sent Chris Rolfe in behind the Chivas defense, alone on goal. As Chivas 'keeper Preston Burpo raced off his line, Rolfe deftly chipped over him to pull the home side level.
But the fireworks weren't yet over. In the 90th minute, Bornstein ran at the Fire defense in the area, and as he tried to round Gonzalo Segares, there was contact and the rookie went down after stumbling for a step or two. This time, Prus pointed to the spot, and Chivas USA's Claudio Suarez beat Thornton from the spot to give Chivas the victory.
Fire head coach Dave Sarachan made one change to the team that played to a scoreless draw with the Columbus Crew before the All-Star break. Tony Sanneh moved into the center of the back three as Justin Mapp came in as a wide midfielder, with C.J. Brown out of the first team.
Here's Sarachan's team (3-4-1-2): Zach Thornton - Dasan Robinson, Tony Sanneh, Gonzalo Segares - Justin Mapp (Floyd Franks 85), Chris Armas, Diego Gutierrez (Logan Pause 54), Ivan Guerrero - Thiago - Nate Jaqua (Chad Barrett 70), Chris Rolfe. [Substitutes Not Used: C.J. Brown, Andy Herron, Jim Curtin, Matt Pickens]
"I'll tell you this: I think a good soccer game was ruined, unfortunately," Sarachan said. "I thought it was an entertaining game, and I thought Chivas had good stretches. We had good stretches, we pushed the game in the second half, and it was ruined at the end. That's my opinion."TEAM NEWS
Certainly, the two penalty calls - the one not given, and the one given - dominated the post-match discussion. "Critical, I would say. The first one, if it's a penalty, it isn't a penalty because he didn't call it. In the back of his mind, everybody's screaming, they're screaming and that's not how it should work. If it's a penalty, then it's a real penalty," Sarachan said. "In my opinion, it wasn't. There's probably a make-up call in the end and it's unfortunate because the game was a good soccer game. I thought a draw tonight was a fair result for both teams. Sooner or later the horseshoe will be on our side and I just hope it's sooner than later."
The Rolfe goal ended the Fire's scoreless run just seven minutes shy of the four-hour mark. "It took us a little bit of time to get adjusted to the way they play. They play a unique style, a little different from most teams in the league. They really crowd the middle of the field and they are very mobile and active. You give them time and space and they pick you apart," said Chris Armas.
After getting through the first 45 minutes, the Fire had the better of the part for much of the second half until the Garcia goal started heating things up.
"In the second part of the first half, we created a few chances, dodged a few bullets and in the second half, we really made an effort to keep our outside guys wide and move the ball. We tried to attack from the outside. We battled back and get it right away and then there's a penalty at the end," Armas said. "I'm sure the referee saw something, but at the moment it's hard to accept it; you feel that it's a make-up call, but in the end, I didn't have a great look at it, and it hurts to give one up like that in the 90th minute."KANSAS CITY WIZARDS
The Kansas City Wizards put an end to their nine-game winless streak in a big way in their last league match, extending the Columbus Crew's lengthy winless run with a 4-0 victory last weekend at Arrowhead Stadium. The Wizards moved into third place in the Eastern Conference with their first win since June 17 and now have 25 points from 21 matches, one ahead of New York and three ahead of Chicago, now trailing the New England Revolution by three points.
LAST MATCH
The Wizards were returning home after a scoreless draw at midweek with the New England Revolution, their second deadlock in a row after seven consecutive losses. The Crew resumed play after the break having not won since June 3, a span of 11 games without a victory.
It took just four minutes for the home side to take the lead. Davy Arnaud picked off a pass, took a couple of steps forward and let fly from some 25 yards, a low, skimming shot that nestled inside Bill Gaudette's right-hand post.
The Crew seemed to have pulled level in the 10th minute, but Chad Marshall's header from a corner kick was ruled out when he was adjudged to have fouled his marker.
It proved vital seven minutes later. Jack Jewsbury floated a chip down the left flank and Dave van den Bergh received it, driving a low cross into the area that Scott Sealy streaked ahead of his defender to get onto the end of, poking it high into the goal first-time.
The Wizards put the game away with two goals over the final 12 minutes. A low corner kick from right slipped through Gaudette at the near post, and Sasha Victorine was in the right place to bang it into the net. Then a minute from time, Ryan Pore intercepted a pass outside the Crew area, carried to the center of the field and ripped a low drive that sailed inside the right corner.
Wizards interim Brian Bliss celebrated his first victory as a head coach. He made three changes to the team that played to the scoreless draw in New England. Jimmy Conrad will be out for 4-6 weeks with a broken jaw suffered in that game, while Ryan Raybould and Josh Wolff returned to the substitutes' bench. Jose Burciaga Jr., Sasha Victorine and Scott Sealy all returned to the first team.
Here's Bliss's team (4-2-1-3): Bo Oshoniyi - Alex Zotinca (Ryan Raybould 54), Nick Garcia, Shavar Thomas, Jose Burciaga Jr. - Jack Jewsbury, Sasha Victorine - Davy Arnaud - Scott Sealy (Ryan Pore 73), Eddie Johnson, Dave van den Bergh. [Substitutes Not Used: Will Hesmer, Sergei Raad, Tyson Wahl, Josh Wolff, Kerry Zavagnin]
"The goal scoring was the most important thing tonight. I think we have defended well over the past three or four games and that is indicative of the two shutouts or the games where we only allowed one goal. Tonight's goal explosion was the most important confidence-wise, to show the rest of us that we can still win games and win them by putting the ball in the back of the net. On the psychological end it was good, on the standings end it was good, but there is still a lot of work to get done here. It gives you a boost of confidence.TEAM NEWS
Expect a significantly changed team from the one that played Monday night in the Open Cup match. "With two games in four days, the guys are going to get some minutes. Plus, we have an injury or two with Jimmy [Conrad] and [Alex] Zotinca, but some guys are going to have to pull their weight and when guys are asked to play, they are supposed to go out there and perform," Bliss said. "We'll try to divvy the minutes up and try to divvy the roster up somehow that it makes sense for both games."
Bliss finally was credited with a first victory after four games in charge. He had seen the Wizards lose in his head coaching debut on July 22, then gain two draws in a row.
"It feels good because [assistant coach John Cone and former head coach Bob Gansler] and I joked about it. There were a couple of times during my assistant coaching tenure that I had to take the reins for whatever reasons, coach [Gansler] was absent two or three times," Bliss said. "We laughed about it because there were a couple of occasions that we had a couple of goofy things happen that didn't allow the win to come. Tonight was great though. It was at home in front of our fans and in the manner that we did it, it was exciting and it was a great feeling."
The Wizards hadn't scored four goals all season, hitting for four once last year, in a 4-2 victory against Real Salt Lake nearly one year to the day, on Aug. 13.
"We changed it up a little bit and went to more of a 4-3-3 tonight. It was maybe taking a little more risk but it obviously worked for us. We got four goals and we got a lot of chances," said Davy Arnaud. " ... It felt great, especially not only to go up early like we did in the first five minutes, but tonight was a big game for us. We're about ready to go on the road to Chicago which is a big game, and for us to come out tonight and get three points was really important because we're trying to get in the playoffs."
It was also the first shutout in 10 games for the Wizards, and just their fourth of the season. "We talked here at the beginning of the week that everybody is responsible for their own job. Some guys are responsible for carrying the ball up top and scoring. Some guys are responsible in the midfield for helping create. And we in the back are responsible for putting out fires making sure guys don't get a good look at goal," said Nick Garcia. "I think for the most part we've been doing that. That's been a good thing for us, and we just limited their opportunities and it's been a lot easier for us to have confidence, especially when the other teams don't put goals in the back of our net."
