The Chicago Fire have fallen into a predictable pattern, regardless of the ever-changing crew of personnel wearing the team's jersey.
Josh Wolff cancelled out Sebastian Grazzini's opener with a somewhat controversial equalizer, and D.C. United played the Chicago Fire to a 1-1 draw at Toyota Park Thursday night. The draw was the 15th for the Fire, which set a single-season MLS record — and the Fire still have 10 games to play.
Wolff, a former Fire striker, appeared to be a step offside when Santino Quaranta played him through inside the box in the 73rd minute. The assistant referee's flag stayed down, though, and Wolff tucked a short-range blast under the crossbar to beat Sean Johnson and level the score.
D.C., which lost goalkeeper Bill Hamid to a strained right hamstring that he suffered on a goal kick right before halftime, fell behind when Grazzini finished after a failed clearance fell right to him in the area for a 59th-minute shot that got by backup keeper Steve Cronin.
Here are highlights from the match:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv038YM7mxo]
D.C. (7-6-10) missed out on a golden chance to pull level with Sporting Kansas City for third place in the Eastern Conference ahead of their matchup this Sunday. Instead, D.C. is tied with New York (with two games in hand) for fifth place, a point behind Houston and two behind SKC.
Chicago (2-7-15), which was dangerous at times with Patrick Nyarko and Dominic Oduro using their pace on the wings, remained in the conference cellar after the draw but hosts Toronto FC this weekend with a chance to climb a couple of spots in the table.
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What did you think of the match? Think Wolff's goal should have been waved off? What do you think is the biggest issue holding the Fire back?
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