The Chicago Fire rallied twice on Saturday night en route to a 3-2 victory over the New England Revolution. The result puts the Fire in fifth place in the Eastern Conference while dropping the Revs to seventh.
Kelyn Rowe continued his good form on Saturday by scoring his fifth goal in as many games in the ninth minute. The play started when Dimitry Imbongo redirected a Bobby Shuttleworth goal kick to the feet of Saer Sene. Sene played a lateral ball to Rowe, who hit a trademark long-range shot past Sean Johnson.
“It’s a little bit of confidence,” Rowe explained. “I saw space in front of me and it took a nice little deflection, tipped over the goalkeeper so…a goal is a goal. I will take it.”
The visitors held the lead for 21 minutes before Juan Luis Anangono pulled the Fire even. After being denied by Shuttleworth in the 14th minute, Anangono was able to find back of the net with the help of Joel Lindpere’s feed. The young designated player almost had another goal in the 35th minute but Scott Caldwell cleared his deflected shot off the line.
“He was involved in a big way,” Mike Magee commented of Anangono. “His goal was huge to tie it up the first time.”
Sene restored the Revolution’s lead in first-half stoppage time when he finished off Imbongo’s pass. The goal was surrounded by controversy as Imbongo appeared to have committed a handling offense while controlling the ball. The absence of a whistle meant that the Revs were ahead at halftime.
“We wanted to get Saer scoring goals like he used to,” said head coach Jay Heaps. “He added a little bit of a spark for us there with the goal.”
In the 50th minute, Sene appeared to have gotten his second goal of the night but referee Ismail Elfath ruled that the Frenchman was offside. The replay showed that Sene was onside while Imbongo, who didn’t affect the play, was offside.
“Saer’s goal is good, we just saw the film on it,” Heaps claimed. “It’s two-fold there, at our level, we can’t defend the way we did but the assistant referee cannot miss the call he missed, simple as that. All of us need to be better for our league to go forward.”
Frustrations grew in the 55th minute when Mike Magee leveled the score after accepting a Patrick Nyarko pass. The play was heavily influenced by Anangono since he shielded the ball while in an offside position. The goal stood despite the infraction.
“He put his body in front of a defender who was just going to clear, to shield it just so I have a chance,” Magee disclosed. “If he doesn’t do that I’m not scoring a goal.”
The Fire gained their first lead of the game in the 86th minute when Alex collected Jose Goncalves’ clearance and hit a long-range effort past Shuttleworth. The goal ultimately served as the game-winner and helped the Fire rise in the standings.
“It’s a difficult match for us because we had the lead twice and we let it go,” Heaps said. “We aren’t a really happy group because we didn’t finish or play well in terms of when we got the lead or even at two-two at the end of the game, we need to be smarter and not give up the last goal.”
3 Observations and Revelations
1.The Revs need to keep the core intact. Saturday’s game served as a reminder that the Revolution is a talented, young team that is susceptible to mental lapses. Heaps stated himself that he thought that the squad was a year or two away from being legitimate MLS contenders. If Heaps’ prediction is going to come true, the Revs need to re-sign the important pieces. Rowe, Caldwell and Goncalves should be offered lucrative, long-term contracts much in the vein of Fagundez.
2.Lost points will make October more important. Surprisingly, there have only been two instances where the Revs allowed their opponents to score and earned a victory. Lost points against the Philadelphia Union, the New York Red Bulls and the Fire are going to haunt the team in blue as the playoff race heats up. The Revs still control their destiny but they will need to learn how to earn gritty results if they want to make the playoffs.
3. Charlie Davies’ limited minutes are telling. In his first two games as a Revolution player, Davies got approximately 10 minutes to make his mark. Last week, he remained on the bench and this week he entered the game in the 88th minute. The diminishing playing time isn’t a good sign for an athlete looking to earn a contract. Davies hasn’t looked bad in his cameo appearances which makes you wonder how he’s performing in practice.
(image courtesy of Kari Heistad)
