Chicago Fire coach Dave Sarachan lamented his team's slow start in falling 3-0 to the New England Revolution on Wednesday night at Soldier Field.
Sarachan saw his team all but overrun in the opening 45 minutes, as Clint Dempsey and Pat Noonan scored goals 11 minutes apart late in the half to send the Revolution into the locker room at halftime with a two-goal lead in the matchup of Eastern Conference co-leaders.
Sarachan said his team is not characteristically a slow starter.
"They beat us to every ball," the clearly exasperated Sarachan said. "Our problems were not due to a lack of trying or motivation. At the end of the day, we were just second best."
Sarachan noted the Fire played much better in the second half and created a number of scoring opportunities. The best of the Fire attacking movements after he brought on a trio of forwards as substitutes -- rookies Chris Rolfe and Chad Barrett as well as Andy Herron, removing starting strikers Nate Jaqua and Justin Mapp.
"We could have come out of it with goals. Chris and Chad had good looks but just weren't able to finish," Sarachan said.
Sarachan also said that while he brought on the Costa Rican international Herron for the final 15 minutes, he's still far from ready to move into the starting lineup.
"He still needs a couple of weeks of training," the Fire boss said.
Tony Sanneh was considered possible to make his Fire debut after coming through a reserve match over the weekend with no problems, but he remained on the bench with the attacking changes Sarachan made.
"Tony's close," Sarachan said. "He might be ready next game."
Nathan Nebbe is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
