Fire blank Rapids for 2nd straight win

Fire's Gonzalo Segares -- Getty Images

By Charlie Corr
ESPNChicago.com

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- Don't look now, but the Chicago Fire have put together a stretch of victories.

Dominic Oduro and Cory Gibbs each netted a goal and Chicago topped the Colorado Rapids, 2-0, on Saturday in front of 15,211 at Toyota Park.

It marked the first set of back-to-back wins for the Fire (4-7-15, 27 points) since the 2010 season, when they topped D.C. United and the Houston Dynamo on April 17 and 24, respectively.

While the Fire are building some needed momentum, the team knows it has to make up for some lost ground in getting back into the playoff picture.

"It's one game," Fire interim head coach Frank Klopas said. "The guys are not satisfied. We're not satisfied. This is behind us. We have to look at this match and look at the good things and what we have to improve."

Read more at ESPNChicago.com.

Fire host defending champion Rapids

Fire's Dominic Oduro -- Getty Images

By Charlie Corr
ESPNChicago.com

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- It has been 16 months since the Chicago Fire have posted back-to-back victories. They have an opportunity to put an end to that trend when they host the 2010 MLS champion Colorado Rapids on Saturday at Toyota Park.

Saturday's match marks the start of a Western Conference-heavy schedule over the next month. After Saturday, Chicago takes a two-week break from MLS action but hosts the USL Pro's Richmond Kickers on Tuesday in a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinal.

The Fire have posted a 1-0-1 mark on their current homestand, most recently earning a 2-0 win against Toronto FC last Saturday.

Read more at ESPNChicago.com.

Fire tie Rapids, cap off winless April

Marco Pappa -- Getty Images

Two struggling teams in need of a victory each wound up with a draw as the Chicago Fire and Colorado Rapids played to a 1-1 stalemate Saturday at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo.

Fire midfielder Marco Pappa tallied his third goal of the season, but Chicago once again could not hang onto a lead. The Rapids' Andre Akpan netted the equalizer in the 49th minute and each team wound up with a point.

The Fire (1-3-3, 6 points) capped off a winless April, going 0-3-2 while getting off to its worst start in team history. This year marks the first time that the Fire have posted only one victory through their first seven games of the season.

Chicago sported a 4-1-4-1 formation in an attempt to emphasize a strong possession game, but it was Colorado (3-3-1, 10 points) that ended up holding a roughly 2-to-1 edge in the possession department.

Read more at ESPNChicago.com.

Fire, Rapids desperate for turnaround

Fire's Logan Pause -- Getty Images

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- The Chicago Fire, winless in four straight games, are not the only ones in MLS in need of a momentum shift. The Fire face the defending MLS champion Colorado Rapids this Saturday at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce, Colo., and the host Rapids are in a three-game skid of their own.

The major difference is that Colorado has three victories in its pocket this season, while Chicago sits with only one.

"We're both desperate for points," Fire midfielder Patrick Nyarko said. "We're not going to settle for a tie up there. We're going in for the win. We desperately need the points, and we've played well up there the last couple of years. But we're just unfortunate to not have come out of there with a win."

The Fire (1-3-2) will be without their captain, however. Defensive midfielder Logan Pause strained his hamstring on Wednesday and will not see the pitch Saturday. Also missing from the fray again is defender Cory Gibbs (hamstring), who played for Colorado in 2008 and 2009. Gibbs' replacement, Yamith Cuesta, performed admirably during the Fire's recent 1-1 draw against the Houston Dynamo.

Colorado (3-3-0) will have some key absences, as well, with forward Conor Casey expected to miss the match with a hamstring injury. The big story resonating throughout the league is the 10-game suspension of Rapids midfielder Brian Mullan, whose severe tackle caused Seattle Sounders FC midfielder Steve Zakuani to break his leg. Mullan was red carded for the incident and would have missed Saturday's match against the Fire anyway. But the league tacked on nine games to Mullan's suspension, and he was fined $5,000.

Read more at ESPNChicago.com.

Fire clear past smoke, Rapids

Fire's Jalil Anibaba -- Getty Images

In soccer circles, the home fans represent the 12th man on the pitch. From the Chicago Fire's standpoint, they had a partially direct impact toward the Fire's game-winning goal.

With the smoke still clearing from some previously lit flares close to the Colorado Rapids goal, Fire right defensive back Jalil Anibaba cracked a shot from more than 40 yards out, finding the back netting during Chicago's 2-1 victory over Colorado in a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup qualifying match on Wednesday at Bradley University's Shea Stadium in Peoria, Ill.

Anibaba's game-winning strike came in the 61st minute, giving the Fire a 2-1 advantage that held up over the final half hour. Anibaba's deep shot through the smoke appeared to cause a delayed reaction from Colorado goalkeeper Ian Joyce, who then scrambled to his left but could not get to the ball in time.

From Anibaba's view, though, the smokey environment was not taken into account on his decision to shoot from deep.

"To be honest, no, I wasn't thinking about that," Anibaba said. "I was just thinking about how much time and space I had. I got the ball played out wide, and I had a lot of time. My initial thought was to take the defender one-on-one, but I just focused on my strike and getting that on frame."

With the win, the Fire will face either the San Jose Earthquakes or Portland Timbers in the qualification finals. Gaston Puerari netted the Fire's other goal on Wednesday, and Andre Akpan scored for the defending MLS Cup champion Rapids.

Read more at ESPNChicago.com.

FIRE 3, COLORADO RAPIDS 2

Robinson caps off Chicago's remarkable comeback in final 20 minutes

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. - Facing a two-goal deficit beyond the 70th minute, the Chicago Fire were simply vying to get back into the game. But they did more than just that as they scored three unanswered goals, capped off by a Dasan Robinson tally in second-half stoppage time, as the Fire defeated the Colorado Rapids, 3-2, on Sunday at Toyota Park.

The central defender headed home the game-winner past former Fire goalkeeper Matt Pickens several minutes into stoppage time for his first tally of the season.

"It's a blessing," Robinson said. "The ball popped back out to Justin (Mapp) and he put a great ball in and I was able to wait for it and put it in the back of the net. Thank God I got a good head on it."

Robinson's goal came with a price, however. After the goal, he took off his shirt in celebration and was booked his second yellow card of the game, forcing Chicago to play the remainder of stoppage time a man down and without his services for next week against D.C. United.

"He had a little brain fart there at the end. It happens," Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch said. "He was so excited; you have to be excited for him because he doesn't score that often. But he's going to take that Nike bonus that he probably got for scoring a goal and now he's going to pay his red card fine."

"Kind of a bone-headed move, but you live and you learn," Robinson said. "I'll do my best next time to be a little more thoughtful in my actions after I score a goal."

With the win, Chicago improved to 10-5-8, 38 points, while Colorado falls to 8-7-6, 30 points.

The end of the match was a far cry from the start. First off, both teams did not register a shot on goal through the first 45 minutes. And then, it was all Colorado for the first 15 minutes of the second half.

Omar Cummings first scored off a rebound in the 48th minute and then cracked a left-footed strike from above the box in the 58th to give the Rapids a 2-0 lead. That goal prompted Fire head coach Denis Hamlett to bring in Patrick Nyarko, and the game changed for the better from Chicago's standpoint.

"I thought the game changed when we went to two strikers," Hamlett said. "I feel like when we were down 2-0, we wanted to get back into the game and push upfield."

In the 72nd minute, Chicago got on the scoreboard when Cuauhtemoc Blanco capitalized on his penalty kick opportunity to cut the deficit to 2-1. Then in the 85th minute, second-half substitution Mike Banner, who pushed up from his left defensive back position, happened to be at the right place at the right time. He wound up with the ball and struck it past Pickens' left to tie the score at 2-all.

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Next up: The Fire wrap up their three-game homestand with D.C. United at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29. The game is televised on Fox Soccer Channel.

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SlideTackles.net thoughts: Talk about a game with polar opposites. Colorado and Chicago did not have a single shot on goal in the first half, and for Fire supporters, that should not have sat well considering the team was coming off an entire game against L.A. in which the Fire did not post a shot on goal.

The Fire lived dangerously but stayed poised and thrilled Toyota Park with their best comeback of the season.

Though the game-winner wound up being the big story, on the defensive side, Robinson had a much-improved match compared to Wednesday's 2-0 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy, in which he was involved in the defensive collapse on two quick L.A. attacks. Robinson read the passing lanes pretty well against Colorado. "I thought tonight his instincts, as far as stepping in and winning balls, I thought he was good at doing that," Hamlett said.

Though his improvement was a plus, his absence will be an obvious negative when D.C. comes to town. This defense is insanely shorthanded to begin with, and with both center backs (C.J. Brown and Wilman Conde) frequently hurt and reports surfacing that Bakary Soumare is headed to play in France, this group cannot afford an absence that should have been prevented.

Aside from Cummings' first goal, the defense as a whole had a steady performance Sunday. Brown and Robinson were frequently battling against Cummings and Conor Casey, and that is one of the best forward tandems in MLS to deal with. The first Cummings goal should have been prevented, but his second goal was simply a beautiful strike that likely could not have been defended better in order to change the outcome.

FIRE 2, COLORADO RAPIDS 1

Chicago snaps 3-game skid, jumps up to 1st in the East

Chicago Fire midfielder Marco Pappa and defender Wilman Conde provided more offense than the team had during its three-game losing streak as Chicago topped the Colorado Rapids, 2-1, on Saturday in Major League Soccer action at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo.

"The guys stuck together, played as a group, and when we do that we're a good team," Fire head coach Denis Hamlett said.

The win not only snapped a three-game skid for the Fire (6-3-6), but it put Chicago back at the top of the Eastern Conference with 24 points (D.C. also has 24, but through 17 games played). The victory also erased a nearly decade-long drought in Colorado - a dismal 0-6-4 mark in their previous 10 road matches against the Rapids.

Conversely, the Rapids (5-4-6) dropped their first home game of the season.

Chicago played a pretty much flawless first half of soccer, earning the 2-0 lead with Pappa's and Conde's goals in the 30th and 37th minutes, respectively, and holding the Rapids to zero shots on goal in the first 45 minutes.

Jacob Peterson finally broke through for Colorado in the 76th minute with an unassisted goal.

Chicago's defense clamped down on Rapids forward Conor Casey, who made a long-awaited return after playing in the FIFA Confederations Cup. Casey had only one shot on goal in the 76th minute, just before Peterson's tally.

Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch made three saves and the Rapids' Matt Pickens made one.

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Next up: The Fire host the defending champion Columbus Crew at 7 p.m. Saturday, July 11, at Toyota Park. The game is televised on ESPN2.

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Fire notes:
• Libertyville native, University of Illinois-Chicago product and Fire midfielder Baggio Husidic earned the first assist of his MLS career with his center pass to Pappa for the team's 30th-minute goal.
• Fire defender Logan Pause is with the U.S. Men's National Team for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. He earned his first international cap and got the start during Saturday's 4-0 victory over Grenada in Seattle. Pause also assisted Robbie Rogers' 60th-minute goal that gave the U.S. a 3-0 lead.