Facing a team fighting for its playoff life, the Chicago Fire knew they would be in for a battle Saturday night against the Los Angeles Galaxy.
But thanks to a first-minute goal from Chris Rolfe and a goal six minutes from the end from the penalty spot by Andy Herron -- and surviving an onslaught in between -- the Fire dealt the Galaxy's playoff hopes a serious blow with a 2-1 win at Toyota Park and clinched their own place in the postseason in the process.
"We were obviously thrilled with the result that puts us into the playoffs," said Fire head coach Dave Sarachan. "This was a hard game. It is a hard game when you play an opponent that we know needs to win the game. They were going to throw a lot a numbers forward."
The Galaxy were coming off a game where they were frustrated by a Colorado Rapids massed defense for 90 minutes in a scoreless draw. The Fire presented a completely different situation when they scored after just 38 seconds.
"They came at us with a little different alignment on a heavy field, where there's a lot of dirty running. I felt our guys did a good job," Sarachan said. "We put a lot of pressure on them with the early goal. First they have to equalize and then try to take the lead."
Sarachan credited Tony Sanneh with making the play that started the goal, sending a long pass to Justin Mapp on the left. Mapp then found Rolfe in front of goal and he had an easy tap-in.
"They really needed this win and threw a lot of numbers at us. Getting the goal early made things tough, it came pretty early this night," Mapp said. "We had a one-goal lead for quite some time and then the good shot by Landon (Donovan), give him credit."
In between the early goal and the late penalty, the Galaxy laid siege to the Fire goal. Matt Pickens was called upon to make 10 saves in between the posts.
"Overall, everybody dug in and withstood a little bit of a barrage at times, and Matt Pickens, I thought, came up big tonight," Sarachan said. "It was just a great team effort. And I couldn't be more proud of our team. Hopefully we can keep this thing going."
It was the fifth league game in a row for Pickens in goal. Whether he starts on Wednesday, when the teams meet again in the U.S. Open Cup Final, is still to be seen.
"Zach has been training lately. After Wednesday, he should be clear to play full out," Sarachan said. "Like I've said all along, we don't have a controversy. Matt's been a hot goalie right now, and we'll take it one day at a time."
Although the teams will be familiar with each other, playing for the second time in five days in the Open Cup championship, Sarachan said he isn't sure if things will be similar.
"Will it be as wide-open? Will it be as aggressive? I don't know," he said. "I guess we use this as a platform. We have to be prepared. I hope this bodes well, giving us confidence that we can beat this team. Again, we haven't been shy about using other players. We've got to see how guys have gotten through this, so we hoping to follow the same form as we had gotten before."
But Herron, whose penalty kick was his sixth goal in his last eight games for the Fire, is looking forward to the challenge of beating the Galaxy a second time.
"I'm not going to be able to sleep 'til Wednesday. My mind is thinking about Wednesday's game," he said. "I want to do my best to do that [help Chicago win] -- I want to win my first cup in the United States."
Jack Daniel Chavez is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
