Fire's Unexpected Home Opener

Busch Not Needed in His Return to Chicago

By Merit Bello

BRIDGEVIEW, IL - April 10, 2010 –  Although the Chicago Fire’s home opener was the largest  in Toyota Park history, it was not enough to help with the 2-1 loss to the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday night.

After a scoreless first half, an awkward collision in the 49th minute between the Fire’s C.J. Brown and Andrew Dsykstra lead to the first score of the game by San Jose’s Arturo Alvarez who took an 18 yard shot over the heads of Brown and Dsykstra while still on the ground.

The Fire came back in the 52nd minute for Marco Pappa’s first goal of the season to tie the game.  Pappa was assisted on the goal by a touchback from Collins John who laid off a pass from Patrick Nyarko directly to the path of Pappa allowing him to shoot past San Jose’s goalkeeper Joe Cannon on the upper right corner of the net.

In a close attempt by the Fire, in the 73rd minute, Patrick Nyarko broke free from the San Jose defense and steered the ball deep then laid a pass off to Collins John who took a shot towards the goal but was blocked and cleared by San Jose’s defender Jason Hernandez keeping the game tied 1-1.

The Earthquakes defender Ike Opara lead his team to victory in the 82nd minute with a cross from forward Bobby Convey past Fire’s goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra, giving the Fire its first loss in five home openers with a score of 2-1.

With a disappointing game to a stadium of 20,276 fans, Coach Carlos de los Cobos stated, “The first goal was a very big mistake, but we are starting the season and I believe in my work, I believe in the players.”

Cobos also commented about the score that lead to their loss, indicating that: “Frequently goals are a combination of a mistake and the virtue of the opponent.  In this case, the team lost their mark in to the box and they were able to take advantage of our mistake.”

The Chicago Fire will try to regroup when they take on D.C. United on a road game Saturday, April 17th at 6:30 p.m. CT.  They will return to Toyota Park on Saturday April 24th 7:30 p.m. CT to face the Houston Dynamo.

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