Twice falling behind by a goal and playing a man down for the final quarter of the match, the Chicago Fire battled back to claim their share of a 2-2 draw with the New York Red Bulls on Saturday evening at Toyota Park.
With the tie, Chicago staved off a three-game season series sweep by its Eastern Conference foes in front of 20,586, its largest crowd of the season.
Cuauhtémoc Blanco continued his inspiring play as the Fire midfielder recorded his third goal of the year on a penalty kick in the 54th minute and assisted on Gonzalo Segares' game-tying tally in the 70th minute. Dave van den Bergh had given the Red Bulls the lead in the 10th minute, then Juan Pablo Angel sent the Red Bulls into the lead in the second half with a penalty kick of his own on a play that saw Fire defender Wilman Conde sent off.
The game started with great intensity as New York midfielder Claudio Reyna was issued a yellow card in just the first minute of play. The Red Bulls captain was called for a foul when he tackled Blanco at the midfield stripe.
Chicago tallied the first shot on goal for either team in the eighth minute. After Blanco put a corner kick in play, the ball was redirected and Fire forward Chad Barrett had a great look inside the penalty area. Barrett's point-blank shot was sent toward the left side of the New York goal but 'keeper Ronald Waterreus (six saves) dove to his right and stuffed the Chicago attempt.
Two minutes later, New York would be the beneficiaries of a Chicago miscue. On a corner kick opportunity from the right of the Fire goal, the ball was cleared, but only as far as van den Bergh just beyond the edge of the area.
The New York defender immediately sent a shot which nicked Chicago's Dasan Robinson. As the ball continued to travel toward the Fire goal, Chicago defender Diego Gutierrez tried to clear it off the line, but instead it took a favorable bounce inside the left-hand post as goalkeeper Matt Pickens (three saves) continued his dive the other way and the visitors had an early 1-0 lead.
Chicago had its chances in the first half as it tallied six shots, three from Paulo Wanchope and two from Barrett. In the 36th minute, Barrett received a beautiful leading pass from Blanco but his shot on the left side, inside of the New York penalty area, was easily stopped by Waterreus as the Red Bulls 'keeper dove feet first to knock the ball away.
The Chicago offense continued to push forward but once again came up empty in the 38th minute. Blanco placed a corner kick that met the head of Wanchope. The Fire forward tried to sneak the header past Waterreus just inside the right post, but Waterreus extended his left arm and deflected the effort.
Yellow cards were common in the first half as New York collected three and Chicago recorded one. van den Bergh (34) and Dema Kovalenko (46) each picked up a yellow while Conde picked up Chicago's lone caution in the 44th minute.
With a consistent offensive attack after the break, it was only a matter of time before the Fire would tally a goal and the Men in Red did so in the 54th minute.
Blanco was facing a one-on-one opportunity just outside the Red Bulls penalty area when he chipped a crossing floater for Barrett inside the New York goal area. As Barrett was going to meet the Blanco feed, the Chicago forward was fouled by Chris Leitch, and referee Baldomero Toledo immediately pointed to the spot.
Blanco took the shot for Chicago and the Mexican star did not disappoint, taking his long run-up before beating Waterreus low and inside the left post for his third goal this season to tie the contest at 1-1.
Yet another mistake proved costly for Chicago in the 68th minute. On a corner swung in from the left, Conde went up to challenge, and somehow reached up and slapped the ball with his hand. Toledo showed Conde his second yellow, leaving the Fire a man down and facing a penalty kick.
Angel took the spot kick for the Red Bulls and he made the Fire pay as he beat Pickens low inside the right post for his 15th goal on the season.
But the Red Bulls did not have much time to celebrate their lead as Chicago scored barely a minute from the kickoff. On a free kick 35 yards out from the right of the New York goal, Blanco directed the ball into the mixed. Fire defender Segares headed Blanco's service into the back of the net for his first goal of the season to pull Chicago even.
Over the last 15 minutes, Red Bulls manager Bruce Arena brought on John Wolyniec and Mike Magee as he tried to pull out the victory, but the Fire withstood the final 20 minutes without any real threats to their goal and the teams left with honors even.
Tim Hilton is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
