As a starter, Cuauhtemoc Blanco is an exciting player. As a reserve, he might be more dangerous.
Blanco, the Chicago Fire's first Designated Player, set up a Patrick Nyarko goal in the 82nd minute then added one of his own with a sublime shot in stoppage time to lead the Fire to a 2-0 win against the visiting San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday at Toyota Park.
Blanco had entered the game in the 60th minute after getting some rest after playing the full SuperLiga game against New England on Wednesday.
Prior to Blanco's entry into the game, neither team mustered up much offense, and the Fire were in danger of playing their fourth game at home without scoring. Prior to Nyarko's goal, their last home game in MLS play was May 9, four games ago.
But the Nyarko goal came as a result of the Fire trying to make something happen.
Forward Chris Rolfe chased a ball into the right corner against an Earthquakes defender, who in his rush to release the ball sent it out to Blanco in the midfield. Blanco set himself up for the pass over the defense to Nyarko, who sent a one-touch shot past Earthquakes 'keeper Joe Cannon from close range.
Blanco scored himself in stoppage time, taking advantage of a poor clearance by the Earthquakes defense. Wilman Conde raced forward to intercept the ball, playing it to Blanco right on the edge of the area. Blanco stood on the ball before lifting a subtle chip that Cannon could barely get a finger on, the ball just looping over him and settling into the back of the net.
The victory lifted the Fire to a 7-3-7 record (28 points) and kept them in first place in the Eastern Conference. It was only the Fire's second home win in eight games this season. The Earthquakes (3-10-4, 13 points) saw their road record fall to 0-7-2 this season.
Coming off their exhausting SuperLiga game Wednesday in Foxborough, Mass., the Fire started Saturday's game with a much-altered lineup. While Jon Busch remained in goal, the defense in front of him included regular starters Tim Ward and Bakary Soumare along with Daniel Woolard and Dasan Robinson, who has played in only four games and has had two previous starts.
Conde, the Fire's member of the MLS All-Star First XI, did not start for the second consecutive game due to a hamstring injury, although he was on the substitutes list. Gonzalo Segares, the starter on the left side, was with the Costa Rican Gold Cup team.
The midfield was even more unusual. Blanco was listed as an available sub while seldom-used reserve Mike Banner and never-used Peter Lowry in the starting lineup. It was Lowry's first MLS game since being drafted out of Santa Clara by the Fire in 2008.
Justin Mapp also got the start (his first in five games), while regular starting midfielder Marco Pappa was listed as a reserve. Rookie Baggio Husidic, who had earned three starts in place of Gold Cup player Logan Pause, was moved to the substitutes' bench.
As expected, Nyarko moved into the starting forward spot for Brian McBride, who underwent shoulder surgery Friday and will be out 3-4 months.
Earthquakes coach Frank Yallop promised a change in the lineup after an embarrassing 3-1 loss to Toronto last week. Joe Cannon remained in goal, and the back line was the same. Antonio Ribeiro returned to the starting lineup in the midfield, and Chris Wondolowski got only his second start at forward.
The game was unusually chippy from the start, and bodies were flying all over the Toyota Park field. Jason Hernandez and Wondolowski of the Earthquakes each received a yellow card in the game's first five minutes.
The Fire's Bakary Soumare got booked in the 17th minute, earning him a suspension in the Fire's next MLS game for yellow card accumulation.
Neither team managed much in the way of scoring chances in the first half. The Earthquakes had four corner kicks, and had a very dangerous free kick in the 40th minute from near the right corner, but there was no significant result. The Earthquakes were credited with no shots on goal in the first half, while the Fire had just one.
Neither team made a lineup change for the second half.
In the 55th minute, Arturo Alvarez had possession right of goal and centered the ball to Ribeiro, whose shot glanced off a Fire defender for a corner kick, which went to no avail.
Hoping to shake things up, Fire coach Denis Hamlett made two substitutions in the 60th minute, sending in Blanco for Lowry and Marco Pappa for Mike Banner.
In the 70th minute, Earthquakes leading scorer Ryan Johnson finally found himself alone with the ball left of goal and had a full steam run on the goal, but his shot went right at and off goalkeeper Jon Busch.
A minute later, Darren Huckerby had a run from the right side with a little more traffic and his shot went off Busch as well.
Blanco offered many intriguing passes forward from his midfield position but forwards Rolfe and Nyarko were unable to convert those passes into goals.
In the 74th minute, Yallop sent in Cornell Glen for Johnson. In the next minute, he sent Bobby Convey into the game for Ribeiro.
In the 78th minute, Glen had a scoring chance but was knocked down in the box without a call, and the Fire went on the counter. Nyarko ended up with a severe angle shot from the right side that went wide left.
In the 80th minute, Nyarko got tripped from behind by Simon Elliott two feet outside the box. The Earthquakes set up a five-man wall as Blanco ran on the ball from 12 yards away, but his shot went wide right.
Blanco finally connected with Nyarko in the 82nd minute to put the Fire into the lead. In the 84th minute, Hamlett used his last substitution to send Conde into the game for Mapp. Yallop followed by sending Quincy Amarikwa into the game for Wondolowski.
The Fire hit the road next week, traveling to Seattle to take on Sounders FC at Qwest Field. The Earthquakes will return home where they will face D.C. United.
Kent McDill is a contributor to MLSnet.com
