this is our game when everyone is [moving] around. We're going to miss him, that's for sure, but we're going to try to cover for him."
Adu played 60 minutes in his second consecutive start, but faded as the match went on. "(Eskandarian) has played very well, but coaches try things to see which two click the best, and I think it's going to go on for a little while until we actually have two set forwards," Adu said. "It's competition, it's fair game right now."KANSAS CITY WIZARDS
The Kansas City Wizards twice held leads before finally settling for a second draw of the season with the Chicago Fire at Arrowhead Stadium, this time a 2-2 result. The tie left the Wizards with eight points from five matches, but still tied for second place in the Western Conference with Dallas Burn, three points behind the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Chris Klein's shot past Henry Ring (9) - the first goal allowed by the Fire in three weeks - gave the Wizards a halftime lead. But Justin Mapp's angled shot from inside the area brought the visitors level just seven minutes after the break.
Davy Arnaud's blast after skipping around a defender again put the home side into the lead (64), but Dipsy Selolwane finally coaxed the ball over the line after a couple of desperate saves by Wizards 'keeper Tony Meola for an 83rd-minute leveller.
"We can't accept this," Wizards coach Bob Gansler said. "It was us dropping two points, not them gaining two points. We have to be a little smarter. We can't give away the lead twice at home. Chicago's a good team. They come forward in a myriad of ways. What caused us trouble in the second half was their off-the-ball running. We have to do a better job of covering that."
Gansler made a number of changes to the team that defeated the Colorado Rapids 2-0 at home the weekend before. Two were personnel changes, as Jack Jewsbury made his second career MLS start and Matt Taylor his first, coming in for Diego Walsh and Jose Burciaga Jr.
There was a tactical shift, as Taylor partnered Josh Wolff in attack with Davy Arnaud moving to the right side of midfield, while Diego Gutierrez moved to left back from a central midfield role.
Here's Gansler's team (4-4-2): Tony Meola - Alex Zotinca, Jimmy Conrad, Shavar Thomas, Diego Gutierrez - Davy Arnaud, Jack Jewsbury, Kerry Zavagnin, Chris Klein - Matt Taylor (Francisco Gomez 60), Josh Wolff.
"You have the lead twice at home, I think you've got to seal that up," said Klein. "We feel we should've gotten three (points in the standings for a victory). We didn't. Now, we need to address why we didn't."
For the rookie Taylor, it was his first professional start. "He (Taylor) started out nervous as we anticipated," Gansler said. "It's a huge step up. He was getting a push off the ball. It was all a little too quick for him. But he adjusted and as the game went on, he gave us some decent moments.
For Jewsbury, it was his first match in a holding midfield role, after starting his one previous match at right back. "I think Jack did a very good job considering he was thrown into the fire, so to speak," midfield partner Kerry Zavagnin said. "He reads the game well, keeps it simple, understands his role. He's performed well. I'm happy he was given a chance to get out there, and he did well."
The first Fire goal was the first allowed by the Wizards at home in 439 minutes. "At home, the thought you want to put in opponents' minds is they're not going to have much of a chance," Gansler said. "That's on the offensive side and defensive side."
After going the first 17 games between the two clubs with no draws, they've now drawn two in a row.DC Notes
KC Notes
