Aug 10, 2008 - 12:41 AM
0 shoutsFOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts (Ticker) -- Matt Reis had a forgettable night.
Reis' gaffe allowed Gonzalo Segares to score the equalizer in the 81st minute and Wilman Conde banged home a rebound five minutes later to lead the Chicago Fire to a 2-1 victory over the short-handed New England Revolution on Saturday.
Revolution midfielder Shalrie Joseph was red-carded with 15 minutes remaining and Chicago (9-5-5) capitalized by scoring twice in the final 10 minutes to close within a point of New England in the Eastern Conference.
"It was a very important goal for our team," Conde said. "We are trying to get to the top of the conference and to get three points in this game was important."
New England (10-5-3), which beat Houston in the SuperLiga final on Tuesday, appeared headed toward another win before Segares' shot from 25 yards out slipped through goalkeeper Reis' hands and into the net.
Shortly thereafter, Conde won a battle for a rebound in front and kicked it past Reis for his first career goal. An enraged Reis thought he was interfered with and was given a yellow card.
The Fire completed a three-game season sweep of the Revolution for the first time since 1998 and are unbeaten in their last seven matches.
"We said to our guys, we have to make sure that we play 90 minutes tonight," Chicago head coach Denis Hamlett said. "It's a credit to this group. They've been working hard and they left it all on the field tonight. It's good to see our guys get the three points tonight, because I thought we played well enough to deserve the points.
"The ejection definitely changed the game. We ended up taking advantage of that situation, where we had the 11 on 10. Our guys moved the ball pretty well. We had a little bit of luck on the first goal, but sometimes you need that. "
Reis stopped six shots, while Jon Busch made four saves for Chicago.
Prior to the hectic final minutes, New England held a 1-0 lead thanks to Taylor Twellman's goal in the third minute.
Marco Pappa drew a foul at the 1:29 mark and Mauricio Castro lifted a beautiful corner kick to Twellman, who headed it into the right side of the net past a diving Busch.
That goal stood until Reis' egregious error.
"I think we put ourselves in a hole with being behind so early," Hamlett said. "We were a little too casual to start, which led to the corner kick. They've been dangerous all season, especially the last month. All their goals seem to come off set-pieces."
From the Bleachers
-
CHICAGO: 2
NEW ENGLAND: 1
Final
Aug 9 9:36 PM -
MLS UPDATE
CHICAGO 2
NEW ENGLAND 1
CHICAGO GOAL: Wilman Conde in the 86th minute
Aug 9 9:25 PM -
MLS UPDATE
CHICAGO 1
NEW ENGLAND 1
CHICAGO GOAL: Gonzalo Segares in the 81st minute
Aug 9 9:18 PM -
CHICAGO: 0
NEW ENGLAND: 1
Halftime
Aug 9 8:29 PM -
MLS UPDATE
CHICAGO 0
NEW ENGLAND 1
NEW ENGLAND GOAL: Taylor Twellman in the 3rd minute
Aug 9 7:49 PM
