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Late Oduro goal lifts Chicago past Chivas

Sep 17, 2011 - 10:16 PM Bridgeview, IL (Sports Network) - Some late heroics from Dominic Oduro handed the Chicago Fire a dramatic 3-2 win over Chivas USA at Toyota Park on Saturday.

After Corey Gibbs and a Juan Pablo Angel own goal had put Chicago in front, Angel and Nick LaBrocca leveled the score for Chivas. But an Oduro goal in the 85th minute sealed the win for the Fire and handed Chivas its fourth straight loss.

Gibbs gave Chicago an early lead in the 2nd minute, converting a header off of a corner kick from Sebastian Grazzini.

Chicago doubled the lead in the 26th minute when a free kick sent into the box found Angel defending in his own half. The cross ended up in the back of the net after Angel inadvertently headed it for an own goal.

Things took a turn for the worse for Chicago in the 37th minute when Gibbs was shown a red card for a rash challenge on Michael Lahoud. While it was a very dangerous challenge, Gibbs may consider himself to be unlucky as he made minimal contact with Lahoud.

Chivas took advantage of the sending off in the second half, tallying two goals in quick succession.

Angel made amends for his own goal in the 61st minute, slotting a shot past goalkeeper Sean Johnson and into the side netting to cut the lead in half.

LaBrocca equalized two minutes later with a peach of a finish. A low pass played across goal was met by LaBrocca, who flicked a shot with the outside of his left foot and into the upper corner.

But not only did Chivas fall short of completing the comeback, it threw away the point when Oduro notched the game-winner with five minutes left in regulation.

Patrick Nyarko slipped a ball across the six-yard box to find Oduro, who beat the offside trap and converted the easy tap-in to hand the Fire all three points.

Chivas is winless in its last six matches and remains five points behind the Portland Timbers, who picked up a 3-0 win over the New England Revolution on Friday. The Goats have accumulated 31 points from their 29 regular season matches, enough for seventh place in the West.

Chicago has now won three of its last four matches. Despite entering the match tied for last place in the East, the Fire now move into a tie with Toronto FC for seventh place with 30 points apiece.

Chivas (7-12-10) will try to bounce back on Wednesday when it heads to D.C. United, while Chicago (5-8-15) returns to action on Sept. 25 when it hosts New England.