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Pavel Pardo celebrates his goal against the Whitecaps at Toyota Park in Bridgeview. (David Banks/Getty Photo / July 14, 2012) |
The Fire persevered through adversity Saturday night, playing the final 21 minutes a man short to preserve a 1-0 victory on an early Pavel Pardo goal.
Thus the Fire fought off second half pressure to prevail over the Vancouver Whitecaps before a crowd of 16,820 at Toyota Park.
With the victory, the Fire (9-6-4, 31 points) matched their victory output from 2011. The Whitecaps (8-6-6, 30 points) suffered their second straight loss.
"I through we played an excellent first half, very smart in possession and good in our decision making," Fire coach Frank Klopas said. "(We) scored a very nice goal — Pavel (had a) fantastic free kick.
"And the guys worked very hard at the end."
The Fire went down a man in the 69th minute when defender Arne Friedrich was ejected with his second yellow card in two minutes after he tripped Whitecaps forward Darren Mattocks.
Pardo jump-started the slumping Fire offense in the ninth minute, scoring on a perfectly placed free kick.
The kick was awarded when Whitecaps midfielder Jun Marques Davidson tripped Patrick Nyarko just outside the box.
Pardo lined a 23-yarder with enough arc to clear a defensive wall. The ball landed in the left corner of the goal box just past the reach of goalkeeper Joe Cannon.
The goal ended a 221-minute scoring drought.
An apparent second half goal — a rebound shot by Dominic Oduru in front of the net in the 54th minute — was ruled offsides.
Fire goalie Sean Johnson had a game-saver in the 88th minute when he punched away a Lee Young-Pyo shot. Young-Pyo collapsed to the turf but rose gingerly and walked off an apparent ankle injury.
"In the second half we were very strong, we were on top and we were pressing them," Whitecaps coach Martin Rennie said. "It was just disappointing to not get more from the game.
The Fire played their fourth straight game without attacking midfielder Sebastian Grazzini, out on an indefinite leave. But coach Frank Klopas insisted there are plenty of other playmaking prospects.
Klopas opted to go with one of those options, giving Brazilian midfielder Alex his first MLS start in place of Marco Pappa, who is battling a respiratory infection.
Thus the Fire fought off second half pressure to prevail over the Vancouver Whitecaps before a crowd of 16,820 at Toyota Park.
With the victory, the Fire (9-6-4, 31 points) matched their victory output from 2011. The Whitecaps (8-6-6, 30 points) suffered their second straight loss.
"I through we played an excellent first half, very smart in possession and good in our decision making," Fire coach Frank Klopas said. "(We) scored a very nice goal — Pavel (had a) fantastic free kick.
"And the guys worked very hard at the end."
The Fire went down a man in the 69th minute when defender Arne Friedrich was ejected with his second yellow card in two minutes after he tripped Whitecaps forward Darren Mattocks.
Pardo jump-started the slumping Fire offense in the ninth minute, scoring on a perfectly placed free kick.
The kick was awarded when Whitecaps midfielder Jun Marques Davidson tripped Patrick Nyarko just outside the box.
Pardo lined a 23-yarder with enough arc to clear a defensive wall. The ball landed in the left corner of the goal box just past the reach of goalkeeper Joe Cannon.
The goal ended a 221-minute scoring drought.
An apparent second half goal — a rebound shot by Dominic Oduru in front of the net in the 54th minute — was ruled offsides.
Fire goalie Sean Johnson had a game-saver in the 88th minute when he punched away a Lee Young-Pyo shot. Young-Pyo collapsed to the turf but rose gingerly and walked off an apparent ankle injury.
"In the second half we were very strong, we were on top and we were pressing them," Whitecaps coach Martin Rennie said. "It was just disappointing to not get more from the game.
The Fire played their fourth straight game without attacking midfielder Sebastian Grazzini, out on an indefinite leave. But coach Frank Klopas insisted there are plenty of other playmaking prospects.
Klopas opted to go with one of those options, giving Brazilian midfielder Alex his first MLS start in place of Marco Pappa, who is battling a respiratory infection.
