The Chicago Fire once again squandered points late, going down a man before seeing D.C. United come back to grab a 1-1 draw and extend their unbeaten run to 14 games on Saturday evening at Toyota Park.
Nate Jaqua gave the Fire the lead midway through the first half, but when Logan Pause was sent off six minutes into the second half, it set the stage for a second consecutive home match where points were lost in the late stages. The Fire let up goals in the 77th and 80th minute of last week's 3-2 home loss to FC Dallas; this time United pulled level in the 74th minute when Alecko Eskandarian scored with a perfectly placed shot from the top of the penalty area.
From the beginning the game was played at near-playoff intensity -- at least from the Fire -- and it took only 19 minutes to remind everyone of the pitched rivalry between the two sides. Pause was shown his first yellow for a reckless foul on Brian Carroll near the team benches and a large group of players rushed to the scene and scuffled.
C.J. Brown, critical of the team's concentration during midweek interviews, was animated during the melee, having a heated discussion with Ben Olsen before he was restrained by the fourth official. The teams would scuffle again before the end of the first half.
Less than one week after being the lone Fire player named to the MLS All-Star team, Jaqua began the match on the bench. But Jaqua showed Fire boss Dave Sarachan that he wanted his place back in the team, after he came on as a substitute after just 13 minutes when starter Andy Herron suffered a strained hamstring.
The Fire played the first half with a left-sided bias. Honduran international Ivan Guerrero made inroads several times down the left flank, and was fouled there by Ben Olsen in the 28th minute.
Diego Gutierrez served the ensuing free kick into the box, and United 'keeper Troy Perkins was late off his line and missed snagging the cross. The ball took a deflection of some sort and fell right to Jaqua's boot, and he poked the ball into the goal first-time from eight yards out.
After participating in the halftime ceremony honoring former Fire general manager Peter Wilt into the Ring of Fire, United head coach Peter Nowak opted for more offense in the second half. The third-year coach replaced midfielder Clyde Simms with forward Eskandarian during the interval, and Eskandarian wreaked havoc in the second half.
The second stanza didn't start well for the Fire. Six minutes in, Pause earned a second yellow card after interfering with Freddy Adu's throw-in and referee Kevin Stott sent him off.
The Fire survived a United flurry shortly after becoming shorthanded. Fire goalkeeper Zach Thornton parried a screaming volley from Eskandarian, then a second chance came in from Eskandarian, and this one bounced off the goalkeeper and rolled toward the goal. But defender Dasan Robinson cleared the rebound off line, and even though the ball came back to Eskandarian one more time, he couldn't find the target.
Sensing that his side was under siege, Sarachan made a defensive change. Defender Tony Sanneh, who hadn't appeared for the club since June 28, replaced forward Chris Rolfe.
But the move didn't help. In the 74th minute, Jaime Moreno ran at the Fire defense on the left before finding Gomez, and he slid the ball to Eskandarian. He beat defender Gonzalo Segares with a neat turn at the top of the penalty area and put a perfectly placed shot inside the far post side netting to tie the match at 1.
The Fire still nearly came back to claim the full three points. First, Thiago was pulled down from behind right on the edge of the penalty area and hit a terrific bending free kick around the wall, but it went right at Perkins.
Then the United defense got caught in a moment of confusion and Jaqua raced in alone at goal from the right corner of the box, but Perkins threw out his leg to knock his shot wide.
Ivaldo Basso is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
