Fire 2 - 2 Red Bulls
Final
  for this game

Chicago, New York battle for much-needed win

Aug 12, 2011 - 4:41 PM Harrison, NJ (Sports Network) - Red Bull New York host the Chicago Fire on Saturday with both teams in desperate need of a win.

Since the start of May, the Red Bulls have won only two of their 17 regular season matches, going 2-5-10 in that stretch.

New York, in the midst of a five game winless skid, suffered a humbling 3-0 defeat to Real Salt Lake in its last outing.

"We had a very weak performance [Saturday], I must say," Red Bulls head coach Hans Backe commented after the match. "I don't think I've seen us that weak before in one-and-a-half years. No energy, a number of unforced errors."

The poor run of form has seen New York slightly slip in the standings, as it is tied for third place in the Eastern Conference with Sporting Kansas City with 30 points.

The Fire, meanwhile, have struggled all season, managing only two wins from its 22 matches to bottom the Eastern Conference standings with 19 points.

Chicago is coming off of a 4-2 road defeat to Vancouver Whitecaps FC, a loss that saw its winless streak extended to eight matches.

Virtually every match has become a "must-win" for the Fire as they look to climb up the table and make a late push for a playoff spot.

But defender Gonzalo Segares recognizes that the club cannot afford to make a habit of dropping results going forward.

"We keep letting opportunities slip by and we're getting less and less chances to climb up that ladder," Segares told MLSsoccer.com. "We've got to turn this around quickly because pretty soon we're going to run out of chances to get to the playoffs and we're going to see ourselves just like last year."

The Red Bulls and Fire tend to draw a lot of games. Chicago leads MLS with 13 ties, followed closely by New York with 12.

When the two clubs met earlier this season, Joel Lindpere and Marco Pappa traded goals in a 1-1 draw at Toyota Park.






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