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MLS Chicago Fire FC

Chicago Fire Battle LA Galaxy to 1-1 Draw in Front of Sold out Crowd at Toyota Park

September 4, 2010 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Chicago Fire FC News Release


CHICAGO, IL (Sept. 4, 2010) - Collins John lashed home a 88th minute free kick to give the 10-man Fire a lead, but Omar Gonzalez headed home the equalizer three minutes later as the Fire and Galaxy battled to a 1-1 draw in front of 21,068 fans at TOYOTA PARK.

The Fire (6-7-7, 25 points) earned their seventh draw of the season and fourth at TOYOTA PARK. With 25 points and ten matches remaining, the Fire sit in fifth place in the Eastern Conference.

The Fire were reduced to 10 men after defender Gonzalo Segares was shown a straight red card in the 21st minute for an apparent elbow to LA Galaxy defender Leonardo. After Leonardo went down in the area and Segares was given his marching orders the referee immediately pointed to the spot, awarding the league-leading Galaxy a penalty. Fire rookie goalkeeper Sean Johnson stood tall as Donovan approached the spot and dove to his left to parry the U.S. National Team star's low driven effort off of the line and keep the match level at 0-0.

Playing a man down, substitute forward Collins John gave the Fire the lead in the 88th minute. John, who came on for Patrick Nyarko in the 82nd minute, struck a curling free kick around the Galaxy wall and past Galaxy 'keeper Donovan Ricketts into the back of the net to give the Fire a 1-0 advantage with time winding down.

Moments later, Galaxy defender Omar Gonzalez leapt over the Fire defense at the edge of the six-yard box to head home a Donovan corner kick and level the match at 1-1 after 91 minutes of play. The last-second header erased the Fire lead and moved the club's record at home to 3-2-5.

The Fire face a quick turnaround when they clash with North of the Border rivals Toronto FC at TOYOTA PARK on Wednesday, Sept. 8 at 7:30 PM CT (My50). For tickets, please call 1-888-MLS-FIRE (657-3473) or head to the club's official website at www.Chicago-Fire.com.

Fire Notes:

* Collins John scored his third goal of the season. Two of John's three goals this season have come against the LA Galaxy.

* Freddie Ljungberg missed tonight's match due to yellow card accumulation.

* The Fire dropped to 5-1-3 when scoring the first goal

* Donovan, who converted two penalty kicks when the teams first met Aug. 1, had a penalty kick stopped for just the third time in his MLS career (22 of 25)

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