Victory Returns Galaxy to First
The Chicago Fire could commiserate with unlucky anglers on the Lake Michigan shore Sunday. Its 1-0 loss to the Galaxy was one that got away.
A near-certain goal by Damani Ralph that was cleared off the line in the 26th minute, a clearing miscue from goalie Henry Ring that led to the only goal, and a late offside from defender Kelly Gray that nullified the tying goal in the 89th minute left the Fire holding an empty hook in front of 14,212.
“That game should have been 2-, 3-0 at halftime,” said Fire Coach Dave Sarachan. “L.A. came in ... just to get out of here with a tie. They were here for the taking today.”
Ralph had a chance to set the tone for the game in the first half. Teammate Orlando Perez headed a failed Galaxy clearing attempt to a wide-open Ralph in the 18-yard box left of the goal. With the goalie behind the play, the forward shot at an angle from left of the net, but Galaxy defender Ryan Suarez swooped in to clear the ball.
“It was unfortunate,” Ralph said. “The goal was open. I didn’t put enough on the ball. If we score 1-0 it’s a whole different game.”
The game’s only goal came after a long ball into the Fire end. With pressure coming, goaltender Ring came 22 yards out of the goal to clear the ball. The Galaxy’s Jovan Kirovski found the ball at his feet 45 yards out and lofted a shot over the helpless Ring, who could only watch the ball bound into the net in the 79th minute.
“It was coming down from pretty high, and I had to hit it one time,” Ring said. “Instead of trying to really clear I just tried to make good contact. It was the right play to come out and hit it. That’s a ball that you want to get high and wide, and I did exactly the opposite of that.”
The Fire continued the same offensive posture that led to an 18-10 advantage in shots and a 10-5 edge in shots on goal. As time decreased, the attack intensified. Ralph took a shot from eight yards in a scramble that hit the back of Kelly Gray’s leg and rolled into the net at the 89-minute mark. But Gray was ruled offside and the goal nullified.
“I knew I was off,” Gray said. “As soon as it hit my leg, I looked over at the referee and [did] not even try to celebrate.”
The Fire’s three-game home unbeaten streak ended, and it lost a chance to regain the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Chicago remains tied in second place with D.C. United with 17 points.
The Galaxy ended a two-game losing streak and moved back into first place in the Western Conference with 24 points.
“It was one of those games where we had to show a lot of character and we had to dig in,” said Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid. “We have a few guys out and lost a few guys during the game. But I thought we showed a lot of character. Chicago’s a very good team that put a lot of pressure on us. We defended well as a team and held on.”
Kirovski played a hunch that led to the game-winner.
“The ball was played to the keeper, and I anticipated that hopefully he’d play a bad ball,” he said. “Fortunately he played it right to me. There’s nothing else on my mind but to shoot, and fortunately it went in.”
