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MOTD- Chicago Fire 1-4 Chivas USA

By on March 24, 2013

Chivas USA have come from behind to beat Chicago Fire in the MLS, with Chivas getting their first win over The Goats since 2008.  Chicago started the match dominantly, and Sherjill MacDonald tested Chivas goalkeeper Dan Kennedy in the opening minutes of the match.   Chicago had to wait until the thirty-first minute to get their first good chance, and when Josue Soto crossed the ball Jeff Larentowicz at the far post, Larentowicz headed the ball to Sherjill MacDonald in the center of the box.  MacDonald acrobatically volleyed the ball inches wide of the near post, and almost scored Chicago’s first goal of the season.

Wells Thompson almost put Chicago on the board in the thirty-eighth minute, and his well-hit shot from thirty-yards out flew just wide of the post.  Seconds later, Chicago should have gone ahead when MacDonald headed Chris Rolfe in on goal, but Kennedy did well to come out of goal and block Rolfe’s shot.  Chicago could not break the deadlock though, and after a minute of injury-time, the first half ended 0-0.

After having a poor first half Chivas sprung into life in the second, but it was Chicago who got the first chance of the half when MacDonald played a brilliant through ball to Dan Paladini to give Paladini space in the center of the Chivas box.  Paladini hit a first-touch shot to the left side of the net, and his shot looked like it was in, but it clipped off the post and bounced out.  Minutes after Paolo Tornaghi tipped a Bobby Burling header just over the bar, Chivas opened the scoring when Juan Agudelo laid the ball off to Edgar Mejía thirty yards out from goal.  Mejia hit a thundering shot that curled into the top right corner of the net, to put Chivas up 1-0.  Chicago managed to level the scoring seven minutes later when MacDonald found Patrick Nyarko open on the right side of the box, and Nyarko coolly slotted the ball past an oncoming Kennedy and into the far post of the net.

Chivas were not fazed though, and regained there lead in the seventy-second minute through an Edgar Mejía free-kick from the left wing.  Mejia swung the ball to the far post, and Joaquin Velázquez rose above the defense and hit a looping header that flew over an out-of-place Tornaghi, and fell into the back of the net to make it 2-1.  Chivas put the game to bed two minutes later when Jorge Villafañad hit a brilliant through ball to Juan Agudelo that the Chicago defense didn’t clear, and Agudelo curled a shot around Tornaghi from the edge of the box.  The shot just snuck into the far post to seal the win for Chivas.  With the win sealed Chivas slowed the tempo of the match down, but still managed to score again, and when Jose Correa hit a cross from the left side of the box in the last minute of the match, Chicago defender Jalil Anibaba accidentally hit the ball into his own net.  After three minutes of extra time, the match ended 4-1 with Chivas climbing into second place in the Western Conference.
Man of the Match: Edgar Mejia

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.