The Chicago Fire and New England Revolution both had opportunities on the offensive end, more so for the Revs. When everything was said and done, Chicago took some minimal satisfaction in pulling off a scoreless draw Saturday night at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.Chicago's MLS playoff qualification is not quite here yet. The Fire (10-7-12) needed both FC Dallas and D.C. United to lose their matches Saturday. But United topped the defending champion Columbus Crew, and Dallas continued its incredible playoff push with a win over the Colorado Rapids.
On Saturday, two big offensive opportunities involved Fire midfielder Chris Rolfe. The first came in the 39th minute, when his looping shot bounced over the net as he tried to beat Revs goalkeeper Matt Reis and defender Darrius Barnes. The other chance was in the 62nd, when Rolfe was bumped by Reis in the box.
That wasn't how referee Jorge Gonzalez saw it.
Rolfe found himself in a one-on-one situation against Reis, and he tried to dribble around the keeper to the left. Some contact was certainly evident, with replays showing a bump between Rolfe's leg and Reis' arm. Rolfe fell to the turf, and Gonzalez booked Rolfe a yellow card for taking a dive.
"(Reis) did a good job pulling his hands back, but his elbow did catch my foot, and I went down there because of the contact," Rolfe said to Fox Soccer Channel sideline reporter Katie Witham.
Reis made four saves for the Revs (10-10-9, 39 points) and Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch stepped up with seven for the clean sheet.
The Revs mustered some strong attacking stretches in both halves, with high-quality opportunities to get on the scoreboard.
One big missed chance was in the 24th minute. Fire defender Mike Banner had to shift toward the middle of the field for a clearance, and when New England regained possession, Jeff Larentowicz found Sainey Nyassi wide open on the right flank. Nyassi ripped a shot, but Busch batted it away.
Another golden chance for the Revs was in the 57th, when Kevin Alston made a perfect pass to Kheli Dube, but the ball scooted by when Dube minimally should have had a shot on goal.
Next up: The Fire enter their final regular-season match of the 2009 season when they host Chivas USA at 7 p.m. Thursday at Toyota Park (televised on ESPN2).
SlideTackles.net thoughts: Considering the match was on the Revs' home turf, and New England needed the points a bit more than the Fire, Chicago should be pleased with its defensive effort. They did dodge a few bullets, but give the Revs some credit for setting up five corners within the first 22 minutes and then opening up the second half with a good attack, too. The Fire also did not have Wilman Conde at center back.
Gonzalez's poor judgment on the Rolfe-Reis situation definitely is a sour note. Apparently he wasn't in a good position to make the call and saw things differently from where he was. We've just seen this too frequently within MLS this season, and you can chalk this wrong call among the dozens (maybe hundreds?) of bad decisions. This could have punched Chicago's ticket into the postseason, and the Chivas match would not carry any significant value.
In a way, this could turn into a good thing now that Chicago has to play for a draw or win. The Fire still don't have a whole lot of momentum heading into the postseason, and garnering their first win since Aug. 23 would be a huge boost.
The team's offensive creativeness had glimpses of working. The execution for the final touch simply did not pan out.
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