THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — The Chicago Fire washed away the taste of five straight ties with a 2-0 win over Toronto FC on Saturday while the home side was left to rue yet more missed chances in front of goal.
Second-half goals by Chris Rolfe and Brian McBride helped Chicago (3-0-6) leapfrog Toronto (3-3-4) in the Eastern standings. The Fire had not won since April 5 against the New York Red Bulls, settling for ties several times after coughing up goals while in the lead.
Chicago came into the game as the league’s only unbeaten team but coach Dennis Hamlett was clearly happy to see an end to the MLS single-season record string of ties.
"I think it’s a huge turning point, especially to start off with a win in a stretch of three on the road," said Hamlett. "We were disappointed with our results at home but if we play like we did today, our offence is talented and we will only get better."
Toronto had a string of chances after conceding Rolfe’s goal in the 59th minute, but could not find the target — or beat goalkeeper Jon Busch. Snake-bitten striker Chad Barrett, who scored on a nice volley against Montreal in midweek, was back to being unable to take advantage before a sellout crowd of 20,006 at BMO Field. Pablo Vitti also squandered scoring opportunities.
Failure to convert in front of the goal has become a chronic problem for Toronto this season but it has managed to avoid paying too high a price for it. On Saturday, it did and the team’s six-game unbeaten string — two of those games were in the Nutrilite Canadian Championship — evaporated as a result.
Toronto coach Chris Cummins, noting his side had played eight games in 28 days, did not excuse the misses but remained positive and applauded his players for turning on the offence as the game wore on.
"Second half we’ve gone out and we had a go," he said.
Toronto outshot Chicago 9-6 in the second half but the Fire had more on target (4-3). The two teams combined for just three shots in the first half with none on the mark.
"Goals win games, it’s as simple as that," said Cummins. "But we had chances again today. We need to be that bit more clinical in front of goal again. The ‘keeper pulled off some great saves today as well.
"Nobody likes losing, of course we don’t," he added. "But I’m not going to walk around with a sad face."
Cummins, however, also made it clear that the search for new talent was ongoing.
McBride scored the insurance goal from close range in the 81st minute after Stefan Frei had made a diving save but could not get the ball to safety. It was the Chicago captain’s sixth goal of the season and the 73rd of his MLS career.
Rolfe, who came on at the start of the second half, beat Frei to a ball sent in from the Chicago half and stroked it in for the first goal. It was the 32nd of his career for the Fire.
Toronto had a call for handball in the Chicago box waved off by the referee just seconds before and Chicago took advantage of the distraction, driving the ball down the middle and through the Toronto defence.
A wide-open second half helped erase memories of a snoozy first 45 minutes.
"Neither team played particularly well the first half, it was both teams giving the ball away cheaply," said Cummins. "Both teams didn’t really have a lot of energy."
.Played in cloudy, blustery conditions following a pre-kickoff downpour, the game was anything but a thing of beauty early on.
First-half offence for Toronto consisted of a shot high by Amado Guevara and one wide by Barrett. Chicago had a Wilman Conde header go over the bar in the dying seconds off a corner.
The sun came out at halftime and the soccer brightened too. Chicago threw on Rolfe in a bid to bolster its offence.
Toronto substitute Kevin Harmse had a chance in the 54th minute off a scramble following a free kick but poked the ball straight at Busch.
Barrett sent a header just wide in the 66th minute and Guevara rattled the bar off a free kick in the 71st. Busch parried another Barrett blast in the 76th minute.
Star Mexican midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco played in an advanced role for the Fire and had a quiet game. With a guaranteed salary of US$2,943,702, he makes more than eight times than Dwayne De Rosario, Toronto’s top earner at US$357,000. Blanco earned some of that when he chipped the ball ahead for Rolfe on the opening goal.
He didn’t do much else. At 36, Blanco runs like he is in need of a hip replacement and he was clattered by Toronto pretty much every time he touched the ball.
Toronto defender Nana Attakora left the game after the first half with a concussion. "He called me J.C. (former coach John Carver) so I thought we’d better get him off," said Cummins.