Down a goal in the 68th minute when lightning delayed their match Wednesday with Real Salt Lake, Chicago Fire coach Dave Sarachan took the opportunity to rally his troops.
Sarachan told his team that no one would beat them at their new Toyota Park home. With that thought on their minds, the Fire came out determined to overcome the 25th-minute goal from Jason Kreis.
That they did, getting two goals from substitute Chad Barrett -- who entered the game after the 45-minute delay -- and the Fire claimed a 2-1 victory.
"I guess I would say we regrouped a little bit. We always believed we could get back in this game in the remainder of the first half or early in the second half," Sarachan said. "I was really, really proud of my guys. They came out of the locker room with all the energy we needed. I put on the board some ideas and they saw that executed to perfection. Chad came in and gave us two very critical goals. It was a great team effort and a unique night."
Barrett said, at first, it wasn't a big rah-rah scene in the Fire locker room. "At first it was very quiet, then coach spoke to us," he said. "With five minutes left in the delay, everyone got riled up."
Barrett's addition gave the Fire an attacking bent as they looked to first get the equalizer. "We didn't want to lose," he said. "We put two in the back and played attacking soccer. Justin [Mapp] put perfect passes on me both times and I helped the team."
Barrett also said the timing of his entrance into the game was the biggest factor of all.
"I came on after the rain and the ball wasn't sticking or anything, it was playing true. It's better when it's wet because the ball moves quicker and it becomes a faster-paced game," he said. "When the ball sticks in the grass you can't really judge it, but when it's wet players know what to expect."
Sarachan started Calen Carr in attack with Nate Jaqua in place of Andy Herron.
"[Herron] was a late scratch. We knew from Sunday that he was a little sore," Sarachan said. "He ruled himself out and we made the proper changes to the lineup. The bench has done really well."
Carr, in particular, had his share of chances in his first MLS start. But even with that inexperience, the delay didn't faze him.
"The rain did help us to regroup, but it can go either way," he said. "It can lead to adversity or opportunity. We took the opportunity, became very aggressive and got two."
In a match that started with domination of possession by the Fire, the defense also played a major part in the game. Kreis scored the game's lone goal after the Fire closed down Jeff Cunningham, but didn't stop his pass. Just minutes earlier, Thornton made a quality save from a Cunningham blast.
"Jeff Cunningham is always a priority and he is everyone's priority," defender C.J. Brown said. "As a team we played very, very well."
The defensive effort in holding Real to just the single goal allowed the Fire to regroup and get the two goals in the final 10 minutes that kept them unbeaten at Toyota Park.
"We don't want to lose any games at home, and obviously we've lost a lot of games and tied a lot so far," said Mapp. "Hopefully we can keep this going; it wouldn't have been good being the [third] home game and losing already. This was a good win and everybody is happy."
Jack Daniel Chavez is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
