Fire Rocked As Real Salt Lake Advance

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill.—On another beautiful evening in Bridgeview in front of a second consecutive sellout crowd at Toyota Park, the Chicago Fire and Real Salt Lake played an epic battle.

One night after the Western Conference finals needed extra time to declare a winner, Real Salt Lake and Chicago followed suit in this thriller, with Real Salt Lake shocking the home team 5-4 on penalty kicks.

First Half

Despite being a large underdog, Real Salt Lake showed that it was not going to allow Chicago to waltz to the MLS Cup final. The visitors traded blows with the Fire, as both teams had opportunities to get on the board first, with a slight edge to Real Salt Lake.

Outside of a few Fire corner kicks, the first fifteen minutes of the match provided little in terms of opportunities for either team.

It was Real Salt Lake who had the first dangerous opportunity when speedster Robbie Findley combined with Yura Movsisyan for a give and go in the 16th minute of the match. Findley found himself alone with Jon Busch, but the angle was not in his favor and the keeper came up with a big save.

The next ten minutes saw Real Salt Lake keep the ball more than their counterparts, but they were unable to create anything noteworthy in the final third outside of a few blocked shots from Andy Williams and Movsisyan.

In the 26th minute the Fire had their best opportunity of the first half via a Cuauhtemoc Blanco corner kick. The crafty striker whipped in a ball to the near post and Brian McBrideâs glancing header went past Nick Rimando and off the crossbar. Both Dasan Robinson and C.J Brown were unable to finish the rebound in the ensuing mêlée.

After Blanco hit a free kick from thirty yards out straight into the arms of Rimando in the 40th minute, Real Salt Lake dominated the final five minutes and was unlucky not to score a goal.

First Morales beat C.J Brown on the right wing and then whipped in a cross that the diving Jon Busch deflected out of the box. Two minutes later, after an extraordinary effort from Will Johnson that saw him run through the tackles of two Fire defenders, Morales collected a loose ball at the top of the box and put a shot just wide of Buschâs goal.

Movsisyan had the last chance of the half after a Findley flick left him alone in the clear with Busch. The Fire goalkeeper came up huge again, as he blocked and held the strikers attempt from close range.

Second Half

The second half began as uneventfully as the first, as both teams were unable to keep their composure in the final third. Outside of a Morales free kick that just missed the top right corner of the goal, neither team put a dangerous shot on goal the first part of the half.

First Rolfe found Blanco alone on the left wing, but the usually accurate crosser wasted the play with a ball that found no one. A few minutes later Daniel Woolardâs cross was unable to find McBride and was cleared by Olave.

For Real Salt Lake, Movsisyan had two opportunities from the top of the box but the forward pulled both shots wide of the goal with his left foot.

In the 63rd minute the Fire had an excellent chance to score after Thorringtonâs initial attempt was blocked. Marco Pappa drilled the rebound towards the bottom right corner of the net, but Rimando made a diving save. The ensuing rebound was collected by McBride and then laid off to Pappa, but his strike did not make it through a sea of Salt Lake defenders.

Five minutes later the crowd erupted when Prideauxâs cross found Rolfe, who attempted a bicycle kick that caused the crowd to roar, but the ball sailed five feet over the crossbar.

In the 78th minute of play Denis Hamlett turned to Eastern Conference semifinal sparkplug Patrick Nyarko in hopes of finding a game winner in a match that seemed destined for overtime.

The home side nearly got their goal in the 82nd minute when McBride headed a cross from Prideaux back to Rolfe at the top of the box, but his attempted left-footed half-volley went wide of the net.

McBride had a great opportunity a few minutes later when he received a ball on the left side of goal from Thorrington during a Fire counterattack. The former US national team star fired a shot low and wide, exasperating the eager home crowd.

Real Salt Lake earned a corner in the final moments of the game, and header by Findley was cleared off the line by the Fire defense forcing the game into extra time.

Extra Time

At the start of the first fifteen minute overtime period both teams understandably appeared quite exhausted, as it seemed that a goal would be difficult to come by. Both teams pressured the other at times, but neither was able to muster any clear opportunities near the goal.

The best opportunity of the first overtime came in the 101st minute when a Morales handball gave Blanco a dangerous free kick opportunity 25 yards from the goal, but his attempt lacked the pace necessary to beat Rimando.

Three minutes into the second overtime period, the Fire earned a flurry of corner kicks. Blanco put in two quality balls, but his team was unable to finish either of them.

Eight minutes from penalty kicks, Real Salt Lake created crossing chances on the counterattack, but the first found no one, and the second was headed far over the goal by second half substitute Clint Mathis.

On a collision with Kyle Beckerman in the 115th minute, Nyarko was injured and forced to seek treatment for a cut above his right eye, but the Ghanaian was patched up and back on the field a few minutes later after a brief delay.

Even with three minutes of added time, neither team could will its way to a game winning goal, and the game w as forced to be decided from the penalty spot.

Penalty Kicks

Blanco stepped up and drilled a shot off the crossbar and into the goal for the 1-0 advantage.

Clint Mathis calmly nailed his kick down the middle past Jon Busch to tie it at 1-1.

Brian McBride put his penalty in the top right corner of the goal for a 2-1 Fire lead.

Morales skimmed his penalty off the cross bar and over the goal for Fire 2-1 lead.

Conde went off the crossbar and in after Rimando got a hand on it to put the Fire up 3-1.

Findley scored right down the middle of the goal as Busch dove to his left, making it 3-2 Fire.

Thorrington had his shot saved by Rimando as the goalkeeper dove to his left and batted the ball away keeping it 3-2 Fire.

Beckerman calmly knocked his penalty into the top left corner of the goal making it 3-3.

C.J. Brown scored low and to the left corner giving the Fire a 4-3 lead.

Will Johnson blasted one past Busch high and to the left, sending it to sudden death 4-4.

Logan Pause had his penalty kick to the lower right corner saved by Nick Rimando.

Espindola rocketed the ball over the bar, pardoning the Fire.

Prideaux went right and his attempt was saved wide by Rimando.

Grabavoy’s attempt was touched by Busch, but the shot had enough on it to still go into the side of the net for the 5-4 victory in penalty kicks.

Isaac Heath, Goal.com

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