and still get a lot of help -- if they were to remain in the playoff hunt. The Fire were coming off back-to-back draws as they were trying to secure home-field advantage for their Eastern Conference Semifinal Series against New England.
• A long-range blast from Amado Guevara, from all of 25 yards, put TFC into the lead after just 12 minutes, the fourth goal of the season for the Honduran international. Then six minutes later the Reds doubled the count. Referee Jair Marrufo ruled Marvell Wynne had been hauled down as he cut into the box on the right, but Rohan Ricketts saw the resulting penalty saved by Jon Busch as the Chicago 'keeper dove to his right. But the rebound popped out right in front of goal, and Ricketts was there first to bundle it over the line.
• The Fire pulled a goal back in the 25th minute. A three-touch, crossfield passing play between Brandon Prideaux, Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Justin Mapp ended with Mapp being wide open on the left side. The veteran midfielder drilled a shot into the left side of the net past a leaping Greg Sutton for his second goal.
• Yet in stoppage time, the home side restored its two-goal margin as Ricketts completed his brace. A throw-in into the Chicago area was headed clear, but only as far as Carl Robinson, who pumped it back into the mixer. It went straight to Ricketts, who turned the ball home for his second two-goal game this season.
• The Fire pulled a goal back in the second half when a thumping, first-time strike from Cuauhtemoc Blanco from outside the area struck home for his seventh goal on the season. But Chicago could pull no closer -- though Toronto's playoff dreams were still dashed by the results later in the weekend.
• Fire head coach Denis Hamlett made one change to the team that played to a 2-2 draw with the Columbus Crew the previous Sunday. John Thorrington came back from suspension, into the midfield in place of Stephen King.
• Here's Hamlett's team (4-4-1-1): Jon Busch - Brandon Prideaux (Marco Pappa 85), Wilman Conde, Bakary Soumare, Gonzalo Segares (Andy Herron 82) - Chris Rolfe (Mike Banner 67), John Thorrington, Logan Pause, Justin Mapp - Cuauhtemoc Blanco - Brian McBride. Substitutes Not Used: Stephen King, Nick Noble, Dasan Robinson, Daniel Woolard
TEAM NEWS
• Despite the loss, the Fire still held onto home-field advantage for their upcoming Eastern Conference Semifinal Series against New England - which they will secure with a win against New York. Both games will be played on MLS Primetime Thursday.
• "We can't start to think about New England at this moment because we're setting ourselves up for failure," Hamlett said. "We have a few things that we have to address and correct before we start thinking about the playoffs, because if we continue to make these same errors we won't go very far in the playoffs."
• The Fire hold the tiebreaker ahead of New England due to their 3-0 record over the Revs this season, which includes two victories at Gillette Stadium.
• "For us it's important that we finish second. It shows our work throughout the season and we want to be able to finish with the most points next to Columbus in our conference," Hamlett said. "... We have one game left on the table now and we have to make sure we go out and work on the things that we've been getting burned at the last few games ... some simple errors in the defensive part of the field that I'm not happy with."
• However, the defensive stability exhibited by the Fire all season is showing signs of weakening. Thirteen of the 31 goals allowed by the Fire this season have come over the last six games, a stretch in which Chicago has won just once (1-3-2).
• "I think (against TFC) the first half was absolute crap, I'm not going to lie. We came out flat [and] that's unacceptable," goalkeeper Jon Busch said. "We gave them three goals in the first half, we put ourselves in a very bad hole. We've been the best team defensively all season long because we've fought together, worked hard together - mentally we've been into the games from the first minute to the 90th minute. Today we weren't in the first 45."
NEW YORK RED BULLS
The New York Red Bulls put an end to their four-game winless run and maintained possession of one of the wild card spots, getting a 3-1 win against the Columbus Crew on Saturday evening at Giants Stadium. The Red Bulls have 39 points from 29 games, tied for fourth place in the Eastern Conference but in possession of the final postseason berth.
LAST MATCH
• The Red Bulls came in after three losses and a draw in their last four games put them on the edge of playoff consideration. The Crew had already clinched the Supporters' Shield for the best overall record, unbeaten in nine consecutive league games.
• The home side broke through just three minutes after the second-half restart. Mac Kandji stripped a Crew defender and Juan Pablo Angel charged toward goal, poking the ball just under an advancing Andy Gruenebaum out of the Crew goal.
• The Crew pulled level, though, in the 62nd minute. Guillermo Barros Schelotto served up a free kick from out on the left and Steven Lenhart headed it home. It was the 19th assist of the season for Schelotto, matching the second-highest single-season total in league history.
• But Angel stepped up once again to pull the Red Bulls in front. A cross was bounced into the air by Seth Stammler and the Colombian international brought it down on his chest before ripping home a dipping volley in the 76th minute, his 12th goal on the year.
• Then, seven minutes from the end, came history. From a free kick just a few yards in front of his own penalty area, goalkeeper Danny Cepero -- making his MLS debut -- launched a long ball that bounced once at the top of the Columbus penalty area and caught out Gruenebaum, sailing over his head into the goal. It was the first goal scored by a goalkeeper in the 13 years of MLS history.
• Red Bulls head coach Juan Carlos Osorio made three changes to the team that tied 1-1 with Real Salt Lake the week before. Juan Pietravallo, Jeff Parke and Jon Conway were all suspended, so Danny Cepero came between the posts, Andrew Boyens into the back four and Matthew Mbuta into a wide attacking role.
• Here's Osorio's team (4-2-3-1): Danny Cepero - Chris Leitch, Andrew Boyens, Kevin Goldthwaite, Diego Jimenez (Jorge Rojas 70) - Seth Stammler, Dave van den Bergh - Macoumba Kandji, Mike Magee (Carlos Mendes 79), Matthew Mbuta (Dane Richards 66) - Juan Pablo Angel. Substitutes Not Used: Terry Boss, Gabriel Cichero, Luke Sassano, John Wolyniec
• "(I'm) extremely proud of the guys today, I think (it was) a fantastic effort considering all the circumstances. The most pleasing thing is that we displayed throughout the 90 minutes great chemistry," Osorio said. "The desire and the willingness to play adversity and at the end, I think we got what we deserved."
TEAM NEWS
• Ten of Juan Pablo Angel's 12 goals have come in the last half of the season (since Game 16, on July 10), and he's scored five goals with one assist in the last six games.
• "I think sometimes we sacrifice him because we play him by himself," Osorio said of Angel. "I think with the right service he is the top striker in this league."
• The Red Bulls moved into a playoff spot on Aug. 10, and despite having been limited to 14 points over their last 10 games, and just one win in their last seven, they've managed to keep hold of the spot since.
• "It was a matter of getting the job done. We're very pleased. (This) is the night to enjoy, but we have a big match on Thursday," Angel said. "It is far from over, we still have a job to do. We have to enjoy today after a very difficult week. I think the team stood up and we played really well today. We deserved to win."
• Cepero's goal was, of course, the first scored by a goalkeeper in 2,276 league games and 167 games in the MLS Cup Playoffs. There have been goals by goalkeepers in penalty kick shootouts, but never a counting goal in a game.
• "I had no idea. I just put it in the general area with no intention of scoring and kind of hit it somewhere where my teammates could do something with it," he said. "I didn't even know it went in until I had to ask Kevin (Goldthwaite) and be like, 'Uh, did that go in?' and he said, 'Yeah.' I go, 'Do I get credit for that?' and he says, 'Absolutely.' It wasn't until right then."
• It also came in Cepero's MLS debut - which could well be a first in world soccer history, where a goalkeeper has scored in his league debut. Cepero had spent the season on loan with Harrisburg of the USL Second Division (third tier), recording six clean sheets and posting a 1.00 goals against average in 18 matches with the City Islanders. His first save came just before halftime.
• "I don't know if it was on camera, but I took a huge sigh of relief when I saw that I can get this one, I can finally make a save and get it out," Cepero said. "There's nothing like getting that first save and breathing that sigh of relief and being like I've been here before."
• While Osorio made just the one change in the back, with Jeff Parke suspended, he showed his usual tactical tinkering throughout the match.
• "That backline kept a clean sheet at home against Houston, on the game that we won 3-nil, and away at D.C (United) nil-nil," Osorio said. "I think that was probably a good backline to give Danny (Cepero) confidence, Seth (Stammler) did a magnificent job as an anchorman, so we changed it when the game was 1-1. We took some chances, we went three on the back, and immediately after we scored the second, I changed it again. We went with back four and Carlos (Mendes) came in the middle and did very good for us too. So, very pleased with the adjustments that we made, I think they all paid off."
