In the locker room after he scored the game-winning goal in the Chicago Fire's 3-2 win against Colorado on Sunday, someone approached Fire defender Dasan Robinson and said "Congratulations, and sorry."
It was that kind of finish for Robinson, who scored his first goal of the season in stoppage time to help the Fire pull off an unlikely comeback win.
Robinson was clearly elated, and showed his excitement by pulling off his jersey in celebration. Unfortunately, that is a yellow card infraction, and he already had one from earlier in the game, so Robinson was sent off and will now miss Saturday's game against D.C. United.
That's a bad thing, especially when you consider the Fire are missing all four of their regular defensive starters, three to injury and one to an internal disciplinary issue.
"He was excited and he showed it," Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch said. "He's going to take that Nike bonus he got for scoring a goal and pay his red card fine."
"I hit the game-winner, but (the celebration) cost me and the team," Robinson said. "You live and you learn. I will try next time to be more thoughtful in my actions when I score a goal."
Robinson was a focal point in last Wednesday's 2-0 home loss to Los Angeles. He was victimized by Mike Magee, who danced around him for the first goal of the game, then he lost a footrace to Landon Donovan on the second goal.
"Personally, it was kind of rough," Robinson said. "Everything was in place, I thought I was prepared mentally and physically. It was just one of those nights, you can't put your finger on what happened. I thank coach Hamlett for giving me the opportunity to go back out there. I learned a lesson about preparation. Today I think it showed."
"They crucify people when they have a bad game," Fire coach Denis Hamlett said. "It happens all over the world. You try to come out and perform every day, and some days it doesn't happen. Wednesday was not our best night. We responded [Sunday] with a come-from-behind win."
Hamlett had little choice but to play Robinson again Sunday with Tim Ward (broken foot), Wilman Conde (hamstring), Gonzalo Segares (MCL sprain) and Daniel Woolard (ankle sprain) unavailable and Bakary Soumare in an internal disciplinary suspension.
The Fire fell behind 2-0 on goals by Omar Cummings, but made their comeback behind a penalty kick goal by Cuauhtemoc Blanco and a blast by Mike Banner before Robinson hit his game-winner in stoppage time.
In the 85th minute of the game, Robinson got tied up with a Rapids forward, who pulled hard on Robinson's jersey chasing down the ball. Robinson responded, and got a yellow card for his response.
It didn't matter at the time, but when he scored and pulled his jersey off, it became a key issue for the team.
"We are one more guy depleted, but we will deal with that," Hamlett said.
Robinson is in his fourth professional season following a collegiate career at Dayton and has gone from starter in his first two seasons to a backup in his fourth. Now he is a starter again, and he had to prove himself Sunday after his play against the Galaxy. The fact he performed well matters more than his jersey mistake.
"He was very disappointed in himself on Wednesday, but I knew he was going to be fine," Busch said. "I know the character he has. I knew he would be good tonight and he was."
Kent McDill is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
