six days shy of his 42nd birthday -- raced onto the end of a fine ball from Chris Klein as the Wizards broke on the counter, and after setting up both defender and goalkeeper in the area coolly slotted home inside the left-hand post for his first goal since the 2003 season.
The Wizards won for the first time ever in Chicago on Aug. 10, overcoming a two-goal deficit after just six minutes to claim a 3-2 victory against the Fire. The Fire could do wrong for about the opening half-hour of the contest, then could seemingly do no right over the final 60 minutes.
By six minutes in, Chicago held a two-goal lead. In the third minute, Fire midfielder Justin Mapp sprung Thiago for a 25-yard run to goal. As K.C. 'keeper Bo Oshoniyi came out to cut down the angle, Thiago surprised him by chipping a beautiful shot from about 20 yards that made it just over the 'keeper and settled just under the crossbar in the top right corner.
Then three minutes later, Chris Rolfe made a quick run into the middle of the Wizards box before placing a clever ball out to his left which left Reiter to tuck home a low, left-footed shot into the far corner.
But the Wizards pulled a goal back in the 37th minute as Josh Wolff raced onto a long through ball from forward Scott Sealy, just beating Fire 'keeper Zach Thornton to the punch, and chipped a shot in off of the right Fire post from the right side of the area.
They drew level just before the halftime break off of a corner kick scramble in front of the Fire goal. Midfielder Sasha Victorine was the recipient of the lucky bounce from a misdirected Brian Roberts shot.
Then the Wizards completed the comeback in the 68th minute on Wolff's second goal of the evening. He received a ball from midfielder Davy Arnaud to the right of the Fire goal, and he lost his marker with a quick turn to his right and ripped a high, hard shot over and through substitute 'keeper Matt Pickens, who came on to start the second half after Zach Thornton was booked twice right at the end of the opening stanza.
LAST MEETING
The Wizards won for the fourth successive match, returning home after a successful three-game road trip and settled into sole possession of second place in the Eastern Conference while sending the Fire to their fourth loss in five games, thrashing the visitors 3-0 on Aug. 19 at Arrowhead.
Scott Sealy scored on either side of halftime to send the Wizards on their way. First he had the simplest of finishes, poked the ball home from almost on the goal line after Fire 'keeper Matt Pickens was injured as he dove to cut out a low cross (26).
Then in the 72nd minute he doubled the lead with his rookie-best eighth goal of the season, collecting a pass on the left and cutting in before slotting home past substitute 'keeper Zach Thornton. Barely a minute later Jack Jewsbury finished off the match, skipping into the Fire area before rounding Thornton and sliding home the Kansas City third.
Here's Bob Gansler's team (4-4-2): Bo Oshoniyi - Nick Garcia, Jimmy Conrad (Brian Roberts 81), Shavar Thomas, Jose Burciaga Jr. (Diego Gutierrez 76) - Chris Klein, Sasha Victorine, Kerry Zavagnin, Davy Arnaud - Scott Sealy, Josh Wolff (Jack Jewsbury 46)
Here's Dave Sarachan's team (4-4-1-1): Matt Pickens (Zach Thornton 30) - Logan Pause (Chad Barrett 71), Jim Curtin, C.J. Brown, Gonzalo Segares - John Thorrington, Chris Armas (Will Johnson 78), Jesse Marsch, Justin Mapp - Thiago - Chris Rolfe
HISTORY
A year ago, the teams met three times, with the Wizards failing to come away with a win. They met twice at Arrowhead Stadium: the teams playing to a scoreless draw in the season opener on April 3, then about a month later (May 8), playing to a 2-2 draw there (Klein 9, Arnaud 64 - Mapp 52, Selolwane 83).
Then on Sept. 1 at Soldier Field, the Wizards once again failed to come away with a point from a trip to the Windy City, the Fire claiming a 3-1 victory (Mapp 23, Williams 67, Capano 71 - Wolff 36).
From the Fire's inaugural season through last year, the Fire had won all nine meetings between the teams, the Wizards scoring just seven goals. Just twice in Chicago have the Wizards lost by a single goal - Sept. 17, 1998 (0-1) and April 26, 2003 (2-3).
Of the 'original' 10 non-expansion teams in the league, the Wizards were the last to claim their first victory at an opponent's ground. Columbus has won just once in 11 trips to Denver (but with three draws), while New England has just one win on their 11 trips to face the Galaxy (with two draws).
Overall, the Wizards have won just four times in the last 14 meetings dating back to June 4, 2000 (with three draws in that stretch). Over that time, the Wizards have been shutout in four of those games (one a scoreless draw).
Coaches record: Bob Gansler v CHI: P18 W5 L10 D3 ... Dave Sarachan vs. KC: P9 W3 L3 D3
KANSAS CITY WIZARDS
The Kansas City Wizards had their league winless streak stretched to five games - and six in all competitions - with a 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy last Sunday evening at The Home Depot Center. The Wizards are still hanging on to fourth place in the Eastern Conference, still three points ahead of the MetroStars with 43 points from 29 matches, and just two behind third-place Chicago Fire, though both of those teams have a game in hand on the Wizards.
The Wizards missed on a chance to increase their hold on the final playoff spot in the East after the MetroStars fell the night before.
Herculez Gomez put the home side after 33 minutes with an excellent finish from a real quick strike, latching onto a ball played over the Wizards defense and blistering a first-time shot past the diving Bo Oshoniyi inside his right-hand post.
The Wizards pulled level in the 72nd minute. Jimmy Conrad collected a loose ball and skipped forward before splitting the Galaxy defense with a perfectly-weighted through ball that Josh Wolff drove home from the heart of the area.
But the Galaxy nosed back in front just two minutes later, Landon Donovan serving a free kick from the right and Marcelo Saragosa celebrating his return to the Galaxy by rising up to head home just inside the left-hand post.
Wizards boss Bob Gansler made one change to the team that played to a 2-2 draw with the Galaxy in the first leg of their home-and-home series the weekend before at home. Alex Zotinca returned to the starting lineup, coming into central defense for Shavar Thomas, who could not overcome a hamstring injury.
Here's Gansler's team (4-4-2): Bo Oshoniyi - Nick Garcia, Alex Zotinca (Preki 66), Jimmy Conrad, Jose Burciaga Jr. (Brian Roberts 72) - Chris Klein, Sasha Victorine, Kerry Zavagnin, Davy Arnaud - Scott Sealy (Jermaine Hue 86), Josh Wolff
"We came here. We attacked. The better team doesn't always win," Gansler said. "We were not the lesser team last week. We were not the lesser team this week. I'm always a realistic optimist. We are as good as anyone in this league when we perform like we know we can."
TEAM NEWS
The Wizards have allowed seven goals in their last four games, none of them victories. "The goal that Gomez got, that's the first time anybody's got a goal on us over the run of play in the last four games," Gansler said.
But that means the goals have been coming from set pieces, and that is a problem for the club. "(T)he last four or five games we've given up so many goals on set pieces and corner kicks and that's the disturbing point. We try to harp on it and fix it. If we're not careful, it's going to come back and bite us big," Josh Wolff said.
Of the four goals the Galaxy scored against the Wizards in their home-and-home series, two came on corner kicks and one from a free kick swung into the penalty area.
"It's tough to be in all places at all times. It's about winning your duels and everybody has to do this. Especially when your players are Landon (Donovan), (Taylor) Twellman, Jaime Moreno, or anybody else," said Nick Garcia. "No matter who's marking them you have to win your duels and that's what's going to get us where we need to be in November."
The Wizards have three games left - two at home before ending the year on the road. But the schedule-makers have done them no favors: all three games are against teams currently in playoff positions, and the final two against teams that have secured places in the MLS Cup Playoffs already.
"We're getting stuck, in our last five or so games, where we're having to come from behind," said Wizards midfielder Sasha Victorine.
"We played decently, but it didn't turn into prosperity. ... We've got to make better plays on both sides of the ball and that's what the night was. One better defensive play and one better offensive play, because we sure had the opportunities," Gansler said.
Two of the games are coming against Eastern Conference teams, but only the game against the Fire will come against a team they are directly battling with for a playoff spot. "The only [Eastern Conference] team that has beaten us twice is Columbus, and they're supposedly the least of the Mohicans," Gansler said.
CHICAGO FIRE
The Chicago Fire return to action after another lengthy layoff, this time a 10-day gap between games, their last action a 2-0 loss to the San Jose Earthquakes on Sept. 21 at Spartan Stadium. With 45 points from 28 matches, the Fire are still in third place in the Eastern Conference, just two points behind second-place D.C. United, two ahead of fourth-place Kansas City Wizards - and still within reach of fifth-place MetroStars, ahead by just five points with both teams having four matches left to play.
The Earthquakes remained unbeaten at home on the season as the Fire played the fourth of their five-game road swing covering 56 days.
Dwayne De Rosario continued his fine run of form, scoring both goals either side of halftime, and Pat Onstad recorded his 11th shutout of the season, helping his side to a team-record sixth consecutive victory.
The Quakes took a 14th-minute lead courtesy of their Canadian international. Brian Ching's flick-on of a Kelly Gray long ball found De Rosario in stride, and his deft chip over the advancing Zach Thornton eventually settled into the roof of the Fire net for his fifth goal of the season.
The Quakes then doubled their advantage just five minutes into the second half. Ching put Moreno clean through on goal, only for the Venezuelan to be upended by Thornton as tried to round him. Referee Brian Hall immediately pointed to the spot, and De Rosario duly hammered home the resulting penalty for the final scoreline.
Fire boss Dave Sarachan made two changes to the team that defeated the Columbus Crew 2-1 the previous weekend on the road, as Andy Herron and Nate Jaqua came in as a new-look strike partnership for the injured Chris Rolfe and Lubos Reiter.
Here's Sarachan's team (4-3-1-2): Zach Thornton - Logan Pause (John Thorrington 71), Samuel Caballero, Jim Curtin (Chad Barrett 83), Gonzalo Segares -- Justin Mapp, Chris Armas, Ivan Guerrero - Thiago - Andy Herron, Nate Jaqua
"[Spartan Stadium] is a tough place to play," said Sarachan. "I think the attitude coming in was very positive, but with [San Jose] getting the first goal, and now us chasing the game, it makes it doubly hard on us in a building where you don't have a lot of space."
TEAM NEWS
For Jaqua, it was his first match since June 29, when he suffered a bone bruise to his left ankle. "[Jaqua] is a very competitive guy and a great battler," said Sarachan. "He's a warrior. It was his first game back and I didn't see too many signs of rust to be honest. So I was pleased he made it through 90 minutes and battled pretty well."
As for Jaqua, he was just happy to get back on the field. "I didn't really know what to expect," he said. "My fitness was better than I thought. I didn't think I would be able to make 90 minutes. I'm happy with my performance. It's one I can build on and hopefully get back in the groove I was before."
Jaqua was gifted a glorious opportunity early when he latched onto a poor back pass from San Jose midfielder Brian Mullan, but squandered the chance when his shot rattled the post.
"It was my first chance to get a shot off in there months," said Jaqua. "I was pretty excited. Maybe I could have taken a little bit more time, or maybe could have crossed it in front of goal. But I saw a bit of an opening and just couldn't quite get it inside the post."
The Fire have their destiny in their own hands, facing Eastern Conference clubs in their four matches remaining, including back-to-back games in the next week against the teams on either side of them in the East table.
"All the games are going to be tight, and we just have to worry about ourselves and make sure we get into good form coming into next week and just compete," Sarachan said to the Chicago Tribune.
