Fire Loses 1-0 at L.A.
June 8, 2002 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Chicago Fire FC News Release
Pasadena, CA (Saturday, June 8, 2002) - The Chicago Fire dropped a tight 1-0 contest today to its archrival Los Angeles Galaxy at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA. Galaxy defender Alexi Lalas tallied the lone goal of the game in the second half decreasing the Fire's record to 5-4-2, 17 points and raising Los Angeles' mark to the same standard in the Western Conference. Despite the loss, Chicago remains in first place in the Eastern Conference by six points over the idle Columbus Crew and MetroStars and seven over D.C. United and the New England Revolution, which play each other tonight at 6:30 p.m. CT at RFK Stadium.
"This was a game that took a long time to sort itself out," said Fire Head Coach Bob Bradley. "I think tactically, especially in the first half, both teams had a difficult time to get things going against the other. I thought on our side of things, particularly in the first half, we were just too slow with the ball. By the time we put any passes together, Los Angeles was always able to be in good position. I thought that was the thing that hurt us the most."
In the 57th minute, the Galaxy found itself on the score sheet. Los Angeles' New Zealand international Simon Elliott curled in a corner kick into the center of the box. Lalas leaped over Fire midfielder Kelly Gray and nodded a shot to the lower left corner, bouncing it into the net to put Los Angeles up 1-0. The goal by the U.S. World Cup veteran marked the third time in three games this season that the defending Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Champion Galaxy has scored first against the Fire. Chicago is now 0-4-1 when allowing the first goal in 2002.
"As often with games like this, it turns on a play," said Bradley. "Lalas did well on the set piece. We had two players up there with him, but he came out ahead and that made the difference in the game."
In the 69th minute, Chicago was given a man advantage. Fire all-time leading scorer Ante Razov gathered a pass in the midfield and fended off a challenge by L.A. midfielder Peter Vagenas. The Olympian continued to grab at Razov and the Fire forward slapped the fellow UCLA product, forcing him to the ground. Razov was issued a yellow card and Vagenas earned his second of the game resulting in a red and forcing Los Angeles to play with 10 players. The Galaxy was also playing without the services of MLS scoring leader Carlos Ruiz, who was suspended due to an incident last week against Colorado.
With the Galaxy down a player, the Fire's offense found opportunities to strike. Fire rookie forward Mike Nugent blasted three shots after entering the game in the second half. In the 76th minute, a scramble in the box after a corner kick resulted in a clearance pass being intercepted by Jesse Marsch. The 2001 MLS All-Star flipped a pass back into the box finding Nugent. The recent Princeton graduate's shot hit the crossbar. Only three minutes later, captain Peter Nowak found Nugent with a through-ball as he raced into the box. The Fire's developmental player then unleashed a low driving shot that Hartman parried away. The shot was the only one on goal by the "Men in Red" in the heated contest.
"I think the Galaxy defense was not as sharp in the second half and there were some openings," said Nugent. "We had numbers moving forward because we were down a goal and we were able to exploit them a little bit, but we were not able to get the goal. It's a credit to the L.A. defense."
The loss snapped the Fire's three-game road winning streak and is the fifth consecutive at the hands of the Galaxy, including the playoffs.
"I think they are a good team," said Marsch. "They were attacking and we were on our heels. Then we got the red card and we had some chances at the end to make it interesting, but couldn't pull it off. It is always tough to beat them. Hopefully we will get guys healthy and back from the World Cup and then continue to push it. We are still in first place and that is the way you have to look at it."
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