The Chicago Fire snapped their hex at Gillette Stadium in an Eastern Conference Final rematch with a 2-1 victory over New England on Sunday afternoon.
After four games on the road, and five more to follow, the Fire have gathered five points as they seek to stay afloat before opening the new stadium in Bridgeview, Ill., on June 11.
"It feels very good," Fire head coach Dave Sarachan said. "This makes three good results out of four games. It was a great effort from the guys."
Chicago rallied from a 1-0 deficit after Taylor Twellman scored from an Andy Dorman cross in the 54th minute. But the Fire replied twice within a four-minute span to seize the lead. Thiago struck home beautifully with his right peg on 64 minutes after rounding Revolution defender Michael Parkhurst and Fire striker Chris Rolfe pounced on a missed clearance by Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis off a Chad Barrett cross in the 68th minute.
"It's the mentality of this team," Sarachan said. "We got behind after enjoying most of the possession and you get behind to a Twellman header. We were in the tank for one minute and then we snapped out of it."
The result snapped a dreadful streak for the Fire at Gillette Stadium. In three meetings last year in Foxborough, the Fire did not find net.
"It's been a while since we came here and got a result," Fire midfielder Chris Armas said. "They are very good at home."
"We didn't talk much about it," Sarachan said. "We played."
With the returning Armas, who featured in his first game of the season after recovering from a torn ACL, and Diego Gutierrez in the engine room, the Fire maintained the majority of the possession and limited the Revolution through midfield.
"Shalrie [Joseph], [Daniel] Hernandez and [Jose] Cancela are active and composed on the ball," Armas said. "They're two-way players. We had our hands full with them. We're trying to deny them the ball and we limited what they could do."
Revolution head coach Steve Nicol was displeased with how the Fire managed to take advantage of Revolution breakdowns at the back.
"We told the guys they'd sit tight and break on us," Nicol said. "We had to be wary of that. Set pieces and breaking on us, that's how they were going to score. Two goals we lost that could and should have been avoided. We scored and we could have scored others, but didn't."
Reis credited Barrett for the quality of his cross on the game-winning goal.
"Barrett served in a great, low cross," Reis said. "It was right there and it was tough to get to. If I don't go after it, [Revolution defender] Jay Heaps probably clears it. I just touched it and you'd like to get a little bit more on the ball.
"It's tough for us. We created chances, but we didn't finish. Things are coming together for us, but we had a few breakdowns defensively that lead to goals."
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
