The Chicago Fire offense failed to provide any sparks for a second consecutive game as a shorthanded Chivas USA handed the visitors their third loss in a row, 2-0 at The Home Depot Center on Thursday night.
Sacha Kljestan and Justin Braun each scored goals in the first 45 minutes before Paulo Nagamura was sent off after a second yellow cards, forcing Chivas USA to play a man down for the entire second half.
The Fire's recent struggles continued, though, and they were unable to capitalize on the man advantage. As a result, the Fire remain in fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings while Chivas USA climb three spots into third place in the West. The Fire now have just one win in their last five tries and have been shut out in their last two.
The game got off to a fast start in front of an electric crowd -- many of whom were on hand to watch the Fire's Mexican star Cuauhtemoc Blanco.
Each goalkeeper was forced to make a save and the visitors missed a wide open shot, all in the first four minutes.
It was the Fire who threatened first when Chad Barrett laid the ball off for Chris Rolfe inside the Chivas USA penalty area. Rolfe took a quick shot that was easily saved by Brad Guzan.
On the ensuing possession Chivas USA's Kljestan took a low shot from inside the Fire penalty area, forcing goalkeeper Jon Busch to hit the turf to make the diving stop.
Moments later, the Fire nearly converted a quick passing sequence that was started by Blanco. Blanco fed a pass to Justin Mapp on the left flank before Mapp sent a low pass across the Chivas USA penalty area towards Barrett. The ball reached Barrett right in front of the goal but his one-time attempt rolled inches wide of the goal.
The back-and-forth play continued into the 15th minute when Chivas USA midfielder Raphael Wicky hit a blazing 25-yard shot that curved just wide left of the goalpost.
Chivas USA broke the deadlock in the 26th minute. Kljestan took a pass from Ante Razov inside the Fire area, burst past Diego Gutierrez and hit a low shot past Busch from the corner of the six-yard box to give Chivas USA a 1-0 lead.
Chivas USA doubled its lead six minutes later. It was Razov playing the role of playmaker once again as he found Braun positioned inside the Fire area before sending him a low cross from the left that Braun banged home past Busch.
Barrett missed another golden opportunity to put the Fire on the scoreboard in the 35th minute. Gutierrez sent a pass into space from midfield and Guzan raced out of the penalty area to try to clear the ball. Barrett beat Guzan to the ball, though, from 30 yards out, but his shot at the open goal went wide right of the post
Chivas USA suffered its first setback of the match in the closing moments of the first half when Nagamura was sent off after receiving his second yellow card of the match following a hard tackle on Barrett in midfield.
The Fire came out playing with urgency in the second half. With numbers forward and Chivas USA in a defensive mode, the Fire maintained the bulk of possession for much of the final 45 minutes.
Blanco's mouth continued to cause more damage than his feet and in the 64th minute the Mexican was shown a yellow card for complaining after being called for a foul.
The Fire's playing from behind opened up space for dangerous Chivas USA counterattacks and the hosts nearly took advantage seven minutes from full time when substitute Atiba Harris hit a hard shot on goal that was knocked away by Busch.
Moments later, Kljestan missed a chance to put the game out of reach when his one-on-one breakaway was denied by Busch deep inside the penalty area.
The missed chance was meaningless, though, as Chivas USA held on for the win, leaving the Fire with plenty of work to do in a nine-day layoff before their next match, against San Jose on June 28.
Danny Bueno is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
