• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Rolfe helps Fire roll past Union

Aug 13, 2012 - 1:10 AM Chester, PA (Sports Network) - A goal in each half from Chris Rolfe helped propel the Chicago Fire to a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Union at PPL Park on Sunday.

The home side tallied the opening goal after Fire defender Jalil Anibaba inadvertently redirected the ball into his own net.

But Chicago closed out the first half with two goals in the span of three minutes as both Rolfe and Arne Friedrich found the net shortly before the break.

Rolfe then netted his fourth goal of the campaign after halftime to help the Fire secure a second straight win, while at the same time dealing the Union its third defeat in four games.

Gabriel Farfan almost put the Union ahead in the 11th minute when he headed Freddy Adu's free kick off the crossbar.

And it was another cross from Adu that led to the opening goal as his service narrowly missed the head of teammate Chandler Hoffman and instead struck the foot of Anibaba, turning it past goalkeeper Sean Johnson.

It was a bit of good fortune for Philadelphia, but the club soon found itself down at halftime as Sherjill MacDonald set up a first-time finish for Rolfe in the 43rd minute to level the match before Friedrich turned home a header from Marco Pappa's corner kick in first-half stoppage time.

The Fire seized control from there and went up two goals in the 56th minute when Patrick Nyarko's flicked header at midfield allowed Rolfe to get to the edge of the penalty area and beat goalkeeper Zac MacMath at his near post.

Michael Farfan tried to answer back a few minutes later for the Union, but his shot struck the post and it was as close as the hosts would come to reducing their deficit.