I actually have no compelling excuse for not being at Toyota Park tonight, but for some reason, I can't be bothered with the drive and the parking just to watch the game by myself. Is this a reflection of the crap play from the Fire lately? That could be part of it. Certainly, the Dallas game had a "that's two hours (plus travel) of my life I'm never getting back" feeling about it.
Anyway, my couch is your gain. Or something.
- PREGAME No real lineup surprises. Pause and Husidic in the middle, supporting Nyarko, Mapp and Pappa in the midfield. McBride up top. Robinson still on the right for the injured Tim Ward.
- PREGAME If Dan and Chris are to be believed, the difference this time is that Mapp is playing that free midfield slot under McBride instead of Marco Pappa, whose return to the starting lineup doesn't seem as big a deal as the broadcast team made it just now. A subtle change, but might take pressure off of Pappa, and let Mapp run at the gut of the Philly defense.
- 1' I think Chris is going to regret saying the referee will not be a factor tonight. Has he ever seen Danny Califf play? He makes Pablo Mastroeni look like a boy scout.
- 3' Nyarko actually starts on the left, with Pappa on the right, so look for that run to the end line and the cutback move.
- 5' Epic fail from Wilman Conde, who has absolutely no awareness of where C.J. Brown is, and lets a back pass get easily picked off by Sebastian Le Toux. Fortunately, Le Toux can't find the target after his diagonal run with the ball and hits the side netting, which leads to an equally epic fail from Dan Kelly, who calls it a goal, then no goal on a nonexistent offside call.
- 9' Unintentionally accurate comment from Kelly, who describes Justin Mapp as trying to "meander through the Philadelphia defense."
- 12' Philly's right back (Arrieta?) kept Husidic onside on the pass from Conde. Nice idea laying it off to Pappa, but his right foot isn't as strong as his left, so it's no trouble for Seitz. Pappa seems to be having trouble staying wide, and was getting in the way of Mapp and Robinson just a few moments earlier.
- 14' GOAL CHICAGO! Normally, I get frustrated by Patrick Nyarko taking too many touches, but taking it all the way to the end line allowed him to find Baggio Husidic with a lovely little touch with the outside of his boot, and Husidic gets in front of his defender and converts.
- 16' Nyarko to the end line for a cross again, and McBride lays it off to Pappa, who takes one touch and blasts it towards the upper corner. Chris Seitz with a great save to push it wide. Nice sequence.
- 23' Nice to see Dasan Robinson get some air trying to get on the end of a free kick following a bad challenge from Miglioranzi on Husidic that draws a yellow card, but he can't get up enough to put it on goal.
- 27' Husidic with a nice turn to get past Miglioranzi on the right, but he can't get the cross in, followed by an excellent replay of Patrick Nyarko being nowhere near the ensuing corner kick. WTF?
- 31' Dasan Robinson looks to be in some real pain on the right side as he and Jordan Harvey slide into each other, and Robinson takes a knee to the gut. Chris Doran now saying the game isn't chippy, despite the number of times Justin Mapp has been mugged in the midfield so far.
- 33' Dykstra extends to snare a low cross, but it looked like Conde or Krol should have been able to neutralize Le Toux had the ball made it through. Then again, you never know with Conde.
- 37' I feel like Chicago is doing a better job than usual handling Alejandro Moreno, but Moreno has had no service to speak of so far. He's barely even touched the ball, I think.
- 39' Not sure if I'd call the marking on that free kick after the Husidic foul "great." Conde was ball-watching and just standing in space instead of marking, and it's a toss-up whether a better cross would have still made it over his head and found that of the attacker on the back post. But I tend to make everything Conde's fault, don't I?
- 44' Le Toux does a great job cutting back on Logan Pause at the top of the eighteen and rifles a left-footed shot just over the bar and Dykstra's outstretched hand.
- HALFTIME The Fire owned the run of play from probably the fifth minute until maybe the 35th or so, with a couple of really good looks at goal, converting on one of them. But it could have all gone wrong on that bad mistake from Conde.
- HALFTIME Glass half-full guy points out what a good match both Baggio Husidic and Dasan Robinson are having so far. Glass half-empty guy notes that both guys have to compensate for Marco Pappa looking like a lost puppy on the right side of midfield. Pappa had one good shot, but he's been consistently having trouble figuring out just where he needs to be on the field.
- HALFTIME On a couple of tangential topics, I will never understand Section 8's fascination with balloons, but I've always struggled with the visual presentation elements of their efforts versus just making as much noise as humanly possible. Also, Dan Kelly sounds exactly like former Daily Show correspondent Ed Helms, but I think I've said that before.
- 47' Marco Pappa with a sweet free kick that Chris Seitz just nudges to the crossbar. A bit more curl might have done it, but still a good effort. It's worth noting that McBride won the foul on a call pretty similar to the one he was complaining about not getting at the end of the first half.
- 52' Nyarko tries out a nifty spin move on the left side after the Fire attack gets busted up momentarily, but can't quite pull it off. Would have been awesome.
- 53' Danny Califf finds a second ball at his feet after a Philly corner kick goes over mostly everybody, but can't get the shot on frame. I think going big to the far post on those sorts of set pieces is probably how you want to try to beat Andrew Dykstra until he gets more confidence sliding across the face of goal. If it was on target, Brian McBride may have been there on the goal line.
- 57' For the record, I've wanted to see Mapp play more centrally as an attacking midfielder for a long, long time, to the point where it might be the mother of all "I told you so's" if it works out.
- 60' Roger Torres beats Marco Pappa to the top of the six-yard box to get on the end of a cross, but puts it just wide. Logan Pause was also in the area on the ball in, but didn't have a good vector to intercept the pass without risking an own goal.
- 67' Mapp with a brilliant through ball for Nyarko, but a heavy touch allows him to get muscled off the ball before he can center. Last time it worked perfectly, but this time being on the weak side may have hindered the attempt.
- 69' Sebastian Le Toux with a cannon of a shot on a forty-yard free kick, but Dykstra tracks it well and punches it over the end line.
- 70' No argument from McBride on the yellow card after he came into Stefan Miglioranzi with an elbow to the back. I don't think it was for dissent. McBride also put a hand on Logan Pause's shoulder as he went voice his displeasure. He knows he earned that one.
- 74' GOAL CHICAGO! Husidic makes the endline run this time, and cuts it back very nicely to Justin Mapp. Mapp's shot is saved, but McBride digs it out to Marco Pappa, who makes no mistake. And after the Union came out wearing Flyers t-shirts, the P.A. guy plays "Chelsea Dagger" to celebrate. Your move, Philly.
- 78' I think that, if American Airlines is going to sponsor the out-of-town scores, they should include the airport code for wherever the game is being played, like EWR for the Red Bulls, or YYZ for Toronto FC.
- 82' Husidic with another pretty, pretty touch (that the My50 crew criminally neglected in the replay) to make a diagonal run at the penalty area, but his pass to Patrick Nyarko is on his weaker left foot, so Nyarko has to cut it back and lay it off to Justin Mapp, who shoots wide to the far post.
- 86' Almost the freakiest goal of the year as Dasan Robinson's clearance attempt ricochets off a Union player and flies back at Andrew Dykstra's goal, but it's over the bar.
- 87' There's something you don't see every day -- Logan Pause with an excellent service on a free kick from the middle third that finds the head of Patrick Nyarko, but Seitz gets down to his left to stop it.
- 90'+ GOAL PHILADELPHIA. Really nice combination play from Le Toux and Mwanga in a crowded box, with extra-time wonder Mwanga beating an outstretched C.J. Brown and finishing the play, immediately grabbing the ball out of the net and bringing it back to the center circle.
- FULL TIME Got a little hairy there right at the end, but it's the Fire with their first win (!) since late April. Chris invokes "attractive, attacking soccer" to sell Wednesday's match, which will be competing with the Stanley Cup Finals. Good luck with that.
- FULL TIME Still, this was as complete an effort as we've seen since that 2-0 win over Houston. Baggio Husidic had what was probably his best match for the Fire on both ends of the field. He's scored goals before, but he seemed to really be playing like a proper two-way midfielder like I haven't seen in the past.
- FULL TIME Hopefully, they can build on this. In particular, Marco Pappa has to re-acclimate himself with that wing midfield role. He's done it before, but tonight, he seemed uncomfortable or a little reluctant to get wide. Other than that, nothing jumps out other than Wilman Conde's continued propensity to make horrible, horrible mistakes, but the Fire dodged a bullet when Philadelphia couldn't make them pay. Good win.