BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – No, Chicago didn’t allow Real Salt Lake to boss them around. In fact, even though the Fire lost, they gave the defending champs quite the fight.
Despite the fact that Chicago head coach Carlos de los Cobos was forced into fielding a starting lineup featuring the inexperienced (Steven Kinney, Kwame Watson-Siriboe, and Stefan Dimitrov) and the out-of-position (Wilman Conde), the Fire refused to simply lie down meekly in front of Salt Lake.
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RSL's midfield quartet, last seen dominating the New England Revolution with a quick one– and two– touch passing game, was largely neutralized by the Fire. The vaunted attack of Alvaro Saborio and Robbie Findley, who bagged three combined goals against the hapless Revs, was kept quiet. Finally, the visiting team’s back four, which haven’t conceded a goal in league play since May 29, were tested throughout the second 45.
In spite of the Fire’s solid play, they simply couldn’t pull out a win – or a point – at home on Thursday night, as they somewhat unfairly fell 1-0 to Real Salt Lake on Thursday night, done in by what De los Cobos felt was a soft penalty kick and two Kinney headers that clanged off the post,.
“The effort was good,” Fire defender C.J. Brown said after the match. “The message when we went into the game was to play as hard as you can and play for each other and do what it takes. If the game’s ugly, the game’s ugly; but if we can play soccer, play soccer. The [guys] fought … and they did well. I thought it was a good effort.”
Nonetheless, Chicago can’t help but have somewhat of a sour taste in their mouths, as Findley slotted home a penalty kick in the 40th minute that he initially drew. The goal proved the decisive moment, but was referee Terry Vaughn’s call a penalty in the first place? The Fire certainly don’t think so.
“I’m not used to speaking about the referees because I respect these guys, but I think that [Vaughn] made a big mistake in the penalty kick,” De los Cobos said. “I see a very normal contact [between] C.J. and Findley. I think that was wrong the decision.”
“He called it, so I’m not going to make any judgment on it,” added Brown. “He called it, you got to live with it. It’s part of the game.”
De los Cobos brought in forward Brian McBride (who didn’t start due to a pair of tired legs) and midfielder Justin Mapp to bolster the attack in the second half, and the Fire came close to the equalizer on two occassions as rookie right back Kinney got on the end of a Mike Banner corner kick on each occasion, only to be cruelly denied twice by the uprights.
“They just wouldn’t fall in,” said Kinney, who made his MLS debut. “It’s just kind of frustrating.”
Though the defender wasn't able to draw his side even, De los Cobos had some good things to say about his player.
"I’m very happy with Steve. He showed a very strong personality. It’s not easy for a young player to show the confidence [he] showed tonight," said the head coach. "He has potential in his position, always supporting the offense and returning to defend. I’m very happy for him."
Chicago were not able to muster up any more significant chances and left the field as the losing side, but if the club can carry efforts like Thursday night’s over into the rest of the season, they should be quite alright.
“[This performance] has to go into training,” Brown said. “If we [play like] that in training, then these games will be a lot easier for us.”
