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Morning Ticker: Fire downs Chivas USA, Pachuca drops first leg and more

ChivasUSARefs (Getty Images) 

Cuauhtemoc Blanco converted the second of two penalty kicks in second-half stoppage time to help give the Chicago Fire an improbable 3-2 comeback victory against Chivas USA on Thursday night.

The match ended in controversy when referee Terry Vaughn awarded a questionable penalty on an apparent push of Brian McBride by Mariano Trujillo in the penalty area. Blanco stepped to the line and buried the game winner.

The Fire looked on its way to its first loss of the season before late substitute Patrick Nyarko equalized in the 89th minute. Chivas USA were forced to play the final 27 minutes a man down after Jesse Marsch was issued a red card.

Here are some other stories to get your day started:

Pumas downs Pachuca in first leg of Mexican Final

A Dante Lopez goal in the 21st minute proved to be the difference as UNAM Pumas held serve at home with a 1-0 victory in the first leg of its Mexican Championship series vs. Pachuca on Wednesday night. The two teams will face off in the second leg on Sunday in Pachuca.

U.S. national team midfielder Jose Francisco Torres started and played 90 minutes for Pachuca.

Visiting teams gain points in Libertadores

Both visiting sides came away with points in the two Copa Libertadores quarterfinal first-leg match-ups on Wednesday. Estudiantes La Plata road a Leandro Desabato goal to defeat Uruguayan side Defensor Sporting while Nacional de Montevideo found an 80th-minute equalizer to tie Brazilian power Palmeiras in their first-leg match-up. The two quarterfinals will conclude next week.

These are just some of the stories from last night making the rounds. What did you think of last night's MLS match? Did the referee do a terrible job? Can you see Pachuca overcoming the first-leg deficit? Are you still following Copa Libertadores?

Share your thoughts on these and any other soccer stories from today or Thursday in the comments section below.

Comments

  1. Robb, you’re saying that people who haven’t played organized soccer aren’t entitled to opinions? Do you feel that way about every sport? I have literally seen hundreds of professional matches played live and thousands on TV but I have only played pick up ball. I don’t understand soccer and should keep my mouth shut?

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  2. Anyone that is acting like it was no big deal and a foul is a foul doesnt understand the game. As far as im concerned you have to murder someone in the box with 10 seconds left to get that call. The offensive player would not have even gotten to that ball. Bad Bad decision by the ref and any fans that act like it was a good decision have probably never played the game…

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  3. Nats,

    According to the latest “fair play” stats your beloved Chivas that plays “attractive” soccer leads the league in fouls and cards if I am not mistaken. Don’t talk about attractive soccer until Chivas cleans up their act.

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  4. Chivas is a good team but they are an incredibly cheap and infantile team. They play like the Mexicans do – oh wait, they are basically a Mexican team.

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  5. Still watching the libertadores. Its probably the best soccer on tv right now. HUGE away goal for Nacional, I hope it gets us through to the semis. Don’t forget we’re three time Libertadores champs and three time champions of the world! Vamos Bolsos!

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  6. Steve. Get a clue. Chelsea have skill – the Fire do not. Look at the Fire’s equalizer. A freak bounce that fortunately went right to Nyarko. All Chicago does is play the long ball, look for deflections, penalties, anything to get a cheap result. Their style of soccer is embarrassing. At least Chivas tries to play attractive soccer and move the sport forward in this country.

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  7. Tony in Quakeland,

    ESPN ran a poll about enforcing the rules for the entire game or should refs loosen things up a bit toward the end of the game? Fans were about split. I never liked how in the NHL few penalties are called during the third period. This leads to a a lot cheap shots and few scoring opportunities. Should an umpire widen the strike zone in the latter innings? What is needed in officiating is consistancy. The ref in last nights game was calling things tight, ten yellow cards for example. Should his style change during injury time? What if a Chivas player was knocked down in the penalty box rather than McBride? The whole stadium would have demanded a penalty.

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  8. If you dont want to be called for a PK dont push the forward to the ground.

    Legit call. The ref did fail in that Sampson Klejestan was allowed to mug Tim ward even strangle him with two hands and NOT get carded.

    If you look at the teams rosters result was fair.

    Chicas is not even on the same planet as the Fire

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  9. ‘Another ugly, grind it out, USL-style, BS win for the Fire. These guys are an embarassment.’

    So when Chelsea play that style against Barcelona in the Champions League in order to get a result is it USL-style?

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  10. Front Row: Technically, yes. But that was a soft call nonetheless and not one we’d see given very often. Game-deciders with time running out usual have to be pretty blatant

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  11. “The match ended in controversy when referee Terry Vaughn awarded a questionable penalty on an apparent push of Brian McBride by Mariano Trujillo in the penalty area.”

    So the referee called a penalty after a player was pushed to the ground in the penalty area and the defender appears to not be making any attempt on the ball. What is the controversy? There might have been a controversy if the ref didn’t call the penalty. I think the penalty that was called follows the rules of soccer that I am familiar with.

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  12. I love McBride to death, but that really wasn’t a penalty. Chicago’s first goal was BARELY a penalty in the strictest interpretation of the rule book.

    Kljestan looked decent last night; going at players, worked hard, but his touch and decision making in tighter areas could have been better. I lost a bit of respect for him in the first half when Denis Hamlett called him out at around the 27 minute mark for fouling a lot and Kljestan responded with:

    “Shut the f*** up! Shut the f*** up! F*** you b****, sit the f*** down!”

    From what I’ve heard about Sacha, he tends to be very sarcastic and jokes a lot, so if he’s saying stuff like that I would assume he’s not seriously trying to have a crack at Hamlett.

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  13. Did anyone catch Kljestan in about the 31st minute tell the coach of the Fire to F Off & Shut the F up. It was loud and clear on ESPN. Good stuff.

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  14. Credit to Torres. Pachuca must really view him as a really important player if they’re putting him in these kind of matches. Speaking of which, are there any clubs overseas that have been drawn to Torres?

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