Photo by Mike DiNovo/ USA Today Sports

BY COLE KELLOGG

Strengthened by the return of key players, the Chicago Fire were forced to settle for just one point on Saturday night.

The Fire played to a 2-2 draw at Toyota Park with the New England Revolution Saturday night, with plenty of late drama in the final 15 minutes. Goals from Fire midfielder Razvan Cocis and Designated Player Shaun Maloney were sandwiched in between strikes from the Revolution’s Lee Nguyen and Kelyn Rowe.

A brilliant, late strike from Charlie Davies could have sent the Revolution home with three points, but the assistant referee signaled for offsides seconds before the ball hit the back of the net.

It was the New England Revolution that struck first at Toyota Park. In the 28th minute, Nguyen finished off a Scott Caldwell cross at the back post. Chris Tierney played Caldwell into space from half field.

The Fire equalized in the 44th minute through a Shaun Maloney penalty kick. Off of a corner kick, Revolution goalkeeper Brad Knighton punched the ball into the middle of the box. David Accam got to it seconds before Jose Goncalves came in and took the forward down, resulting in a penalty for the Fire.

Chicago found its way into the lead with a goal in the 75th minute. After another corner kick from Maloney, the Revs’ failure to clear the ball led to an eventual tap in by Fire captain Cocis.

There was still plenty of excitement to come, though. Rowe salvaged a point for the visitors just moments after the strike from Cocis. In the 77th minute, substitute Juan Agudelo showed off some talented footwork before dishing the ball wide left for Tierney. The outside back delivered another brilliant ball in to be tapped in at the far post by Rowe.

In the 80th minute, differing opinions between the referees led to a Davies goal being called off. Davies got the ball from Nguyen and took on three Fire defenders in the area before firing a low shot into net past Sean Johnson. The center referee let the movement continue, signaling advantage for a foul on Nguyen just as he passed the ball off. The assistant referee on the far side, however, put his flag up signaling that Davies was offsides when he received the ball.

The Fire will continue their home stretch by hosting FC Dallas next Sunday, and the Revolution will welcome Toronto FC to Gillette Stadium on Saturday night.