Fire Match Report

Matt Bernhardt
July 5, 2008

Columbus salvaged a point tonight against the Chicago Fire, battling back from a two goal deficit to scrape a 2-2 draw. The result extends the Crew's unbeaten streak to four games (two wins, two draws) heading in to next weekend's road match in Salt Lake City.

Chris Rolfe struck first, acrobatically burying the rebound in the eighth minute after Justin Mapp had hit the post. Columbus has allowed a goal in the first ten minutes of the game in four of 15 matches played.

The Crew thought they had levelled the match at 1 goal apiece, but Alejandro Moreno's equalizer in the 16th minute was nullified because he was adjudged to have fouled Jon Busch in winning the ball.

With the 1-0 scoreline preserved, Calen Carr doubled the Chicago advantage in the 25th minute, taking advantage of abysmal marking to run on to a Gonzalo Segares cross and slide the ball past a motionless William Hesmer.

Columbus started their recovery in the 36th minute. Alejandro Moreno and Guillermo Barros Schelotto combined to win the ball in the left corner of the field, allowing Schelotto to send in a low cross to the top of the 6 yard box. Emmanuel Ekpo was first to the ball, sending his shot high over Jon Busch. The Nigerian's second goal in as many games gave the crowd of 17,172 some hope.

Crew coach Robert Warzycha commended the fans in attenance after the match, saying "Atmosphere like today was great. I wish that we had 17,000 people every game."

Both teams produced some decent play in the closing moments of the first half, but neither team was able to conjure a goal before the interval. Columbus came the closest, Robbie Rogers heading a corner kick off the crossbar in injury time.

The second half was a much chippier affair, starting with Danny O'Rourke's yellow card in the 47th minute. He was followed into the referee's notebook in the 53rd minute by Gonzalo Segares.

After two shots from Chicago around the 50th minute, Columbus mounted a period of sustained pressure to pin Chicago back and further excite the sizable home crowd. Unfortunately, most of their shots were taken by players such as Chad Marshall, Brian Carroll, and Frankie Hejduk - so only one required a bona fide save from Jon Busch.

Both teams made a barrage of changes with about fifteen minutes remaining. Robert Warzycha sent on Steven Lenhart and Stefani Miglioranzi to replace Andy Iro and Brad Evans. Asked after the game about his thought process, Warzycha explained that "It wasn't, to be honest, that much of a gamble. I knew they were going to do the job."

Chicago had earlier replaced speedster Calen Carr with Chad Barrett, and also sent out Stephen King for Chris Rolfe to try and secure the three points.

The substitutes disrupted the quality of play a bit as they worked themselves into the action, and at times it appeared that Chicago would succeed in killing off the match. Before too many of the fans made their way to the exit, however, Guillermo Barros Schelotto sent in a long cross from the corner arc in the 87th minute. His ball found Steven Lenhart at the back post, who struck a powerful ball towards the net. Fire defender Brandon Prideaux made contact with the shot, but could not prevent it from spilling over the end line for the equalizing goal.

That goal gave the players, and the crowd, a surge of energy. Columbus poured forward during the four minutes of stoppage time to search for the goal that would give them all three points, but it was not to be. Their best chance came just into stoppage time, as Schelotto sent a soft free kick down the flank for Frankie Hejduk to run on to. Hejduk's cross found a scrum of players from the back post, but Robbie Rogers' shot was blocked in the area. Despite a flurry of protests for handball, the whistle remained unblown and shortly afterwards the game ended.

The Crew improve their record to 8-4-3 with tonight's result, good for 27 points and second place in the Eastern Conference. They sit 6 points behind New England with two games in hand, and next play at Real Salt Lake next Saturday.

Chicago, for their part, improves to 6-5-3 (21 points). They sit tied with Toronto FC for fourth place in the East. Interestingly, their next league match is next Saturday, hosting the very same Toronto squad.

Match Data

Key Events

8' 1-0 Chris Rolfe (unassisted)
25' 2-0 Calen Carr (Gonzalo Segares, Chris Rolfe)
36' 2-1 Emmanuel Ekpo (Guillermo Barros Schelotto)
47' Caution, Danny O'Rourke
53' Caution, Gonzalo Segares
71' Caution, Frankie Hejduk
85' Caution, Stefani Miglioranzi
87' 2-2 Steven Lenhart (Guillermo Barros Schelotto)
89' Caution, Bakary Soumare
89' Caution, Cuauhtemoc Blanco
93+' Caution, Brandon Prideaux

Lineups

Chicago Fire:
Jon Busch, Wilman Conde, Brandon Prideaux, Gonzalo Segares, Bakary Soumare, Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Diego Gutierrez, Justin Mapp (Lider Marmol 86'), Chris Rolfe (Stephen King 78'), John Thorrington, Calen Carr (Chad Barrett 65')

Unused Subs:
Nick Noble, Mike Banner, Patrick Nyarko, Daniel Woolard

Columbus Crew:
William Hesmer, Frankie Hejduk, Andy Iro (Steven Lenhart 77'), Chad Marshall, Danny O'Rourke, Brian Carroll, Emmanuel Ekpo (Jason Garey 89'), Brad Evans (Stefani Miglioranzi 79'), Robbie Rogers, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Alejandro Moreno

Unused Subs:
Andy Gruenebaum, Ryan Junge, Duncan Oughton, Jed Zayner