CARSON, CA (Oct. 2, 2009) - The Chicago Fire (10-7-11, 41 points) fell to the Los Angeles Galaxy (11-6-11, 44 points) tonight 1-0 on the road at The Home Depot in Carson, California. Despite the loss, the Fire are still in second place in the Eastern Conference standings, five points behind conference leading Columbus Crew and four points ahead of third place New England. The Galaxy took the lead at the end of the first half as forward Landon Donovan made a run behind the Fire defense and chipped a shot from the top of the box into the net over the head of Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch charging off his line. Chicago will enjoy a weekend off next week and return to action on October 17 as the team travels to Foxborough, Mass. to face the New England Revolution (5 p.m. CT, Fox Soccer Channel/Fox Sports en Espaņol).
In the 42nd minute of play, the Galaxy capitalized on a quick counter attack off a Chicago Fire corner that sent Donovan into a one-one-one situation with goalkeeper Jon Busch. Galaxy midfielder David Beckham picked up a loose ball and sent it to Donovan, who slipped it out wide to midfielder Chris Klein in the Galaxy's defensive half. Klein sent a ball through the Fire defense for Donovan running towards the top of the box. Donovan pushed past midfielder Logan Pause, and chipped the ball over the head of Busch coming off his line for the one-on-one. The goal is Donovan's 11th this season, placing him in a tie for fifth place in the MLS Golden Boot rankings.
Patrick Nyarko nearly leveled the match in the 65th minute of play as he attempted to chip a ball from the left end line over the head of goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts and into the net, but the ball bounced just wide of the opposite post. The Fire had a final opportunity at the end of the second half as forward Stefan Dimitrov attempted to poke a loose ball into the right side of the goal from three yards out as he fell backwards. Ricketts smothered the attempted shot to keep the clean sheet.
Goalkeeper Jon Busch had five saves in tonight's match, including two point blank shots by Chris Klein and a bending ball from Beckham at the close of the second half.
"Our guys put a lot into it tonight. Took some chances in the second half, trying to get the equalizer, and we left ourselves open in the back," said Fire head coach Denis Hamlett. "Jon Busch made some big saves. We are just disappointed to lose the game on a play like that. We had some chances at the end, but we didn't do anything wit them. We never really tested Ricketts. We had some chances in front of the goal, but we just didn't do well with them. We have to regroup and get ready for a big game against New England."
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