Galaxy Is Too Hot for Fire
Chicago Fire Coach Bob Bradley has the third most victories in Major League Soccer with 74, but his albatross has been the Galaxy.
And the Galaxy’s 1-0 victory Saturday in front of an announced crowd of 9,177 at Naperville, Ill.’s Cardinal Stadium did nothing to change that. The Galaxy is 9-3-2 against the Fire since Coach Sigi Schmid took over the team in April 1999.
“I don’t feel like I’m 9-3-2 against them,” Schmid said. “Bob is a great coach and I have a lot of respect for him. I know we get motivated to play Chicago.”
Although the record is somewhat lopsided, the games certainly haven’t been. Only once in those 14 games--a 3-1 Fire victory last August--was the outcome decided by more than one goal.
“They’ve been tight games,” Bradley said. “Sometimes a play goes their way and maybe we don’t make a play. It’s a small margin.”
Saturday’s game was decided by a tug of the jersey in the fifth minute. Fire defender Jim Curtin chased Galaxy forward Carlos Ruiz into the Fire’s penalty area. Ruiz made a quick turn and Curtin stuck out his arm and grabbed a handful of Ruiz’s jersey.
Ruiz fell to his knees after the contact and referee Alex Prus immediately pointed to the penalty spot.
With Zach Thornton lunging to his left, Ruiz calmly chipped his penalty kick to the right for his league-leading seventh goal to give the Galaxy (4-1-2) the only score it needed. The loss dropped the Fire to 3-3-1.
“Those are calls that are part of the game,” Bradley said.
Rainy conditions for most of the game made it difficult for either team to establish any type of a possession attack, but that didn’t bother Schmid.
“I’m very happy with the result,” he said. “Sometimes the game is beautiful and sometimes you have to roll up your sleeves and work.”
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In other MLS games:
New England 2, Dallas 0--Taylor Twellman scored two first-half goals to give the Revolution a victory over the Burn in the first sporting event at CMGI Field in Foxboro, Mass., in front of 22,006.
Twellman, who joined the Revolution this year after failing to break into the starting lineup at TSV 1860 Munich in Germany, has scored four goals in his last three games.
New England (2-2-1) opened the scoring in the sixth minute when Joe Franchino passed to Twellman just outside the Dallas box and he fired a 16-yard shot past goalkeeper Matt Jordan. Twellman scored again in the 39th minute.
Colorado 2, Kansas City 0--John Spencer had a goal and an assist as the Rapids won at Denver in front of 23,020, beating the Wizards for the first time in 12 meetings.
Chris Henderson added a goal for the Rapids (4-2-1), who last defeated Kansas City on Sept. 25, 1999. The Wizards (1-3-2) are winless in their last four games.
San Jose 2, New York/New Jersey 1--Ariel Graziani scored twice as the Earthquakes won at San Jose in front of 8,445. The win kept the Earthquakes (5-2-1) unbeaten in five straight games and atop the Western Conference. New York/New Jersey (3-4-1) is tied for first in the Eastern Conference.
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In WUSA games:
Philadelphia 3, Washington 1--Erin Martin scored two goals and Kelly Smith had a goal and an assist as the Charge won at Villanova, Pa., in front of 8,185.
Martin, the California state high school all-time leading scorer from Temple City, was making only her second appearance and first start of the season for Philadelphia (4-0-0).
Boston 1, Carolina 1--Maren Meinert scored in the 65th minute as the Breakers rallied to tie the Courage at Cary, N.C., in front of 5,816. Meinert scored on a rebound after goalkeeper Kristin Luckenbill blocked Kristine Lilly’s shot.
New York 3, Atlanta 3--Krista Davey scored in stoppage time as the Power overcame a two-goal deficit in the final six minutes to tie the Beat at Atlanta in front of 6,973. After Atlanta’s Kylie Bivens and Sun Wen scored in a three-minute span in the second half, the Power (1-3-1) pulled within one on Tiffeny Milbrett’s goal in the 84th minute.
