That’s what happened last night in a MLS match between Chicago Fire and New York Red Bulls when the away side scored from a corner. The Impact do have three games in-hand on Chicago, but the two sides will meet in crucial matches on September 5 and September 23 in Montreal.
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Chicago’s Patrick Nyarko made it 2-1 in the 41st. Kljestan sent his spot kick into the lower right corner. Recently acquired striker Gilberto was able to create something out of nothing by finding the streaking Kennedy Igboananike right outside the box who was able to clinically put the ball into the bottom left corner.
Center back Ronald Zubar boosted the visitors into a deadlock on a trick play off a corner kick in the 49th minute.
Though there were two goals against his record, Robles was at the top of his game, denied Nyarko in the 17th minute, stopped made a spectacular right-handed save three minutes and a fine kick save on Gilberto’s header in the 28th minute. His shot was on target, but Red Bulls goalkeeper Luis Robles sprawled to knock it off the line with his feet.
The Red Bulls (11-7-6) have not won in Chicago since 2005. Gilberto zipped the ball to Michael Stephens near the top of the box and the midfielder redirected with a pass off of his chest to Nyarko. That enabled Kljestan to dribble toward the penalty area with the ball.
Up against the second-placed team in the East’s standings, Chicago recovered from conceding an early penalty to storm into the lead by half-time, while the Red Bulls’ controversial leveller just after the break did not halt the Fire, who triumphed 3-2 thanks to Kennedy Igboananike’s second goal.
Igboananike put the game away in the 73rd minute, with a one-touch shot off David Accam’s assist.
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Having scored five without conceding a single goal the Red Bulls are finishing strongly and Frank Yallop will be concerned about his defense as they haven’t kept a clean sheet since the beginning of the month. Although the Dynamo have won only three of their last ten games, inconsistent play at the middle of the Western Conference pack has left them only three points removed from playoff position, giving them much more to gain from Wednesday’s match than longshots Colorado, who would have to make up 11 points to factor into the postseason conversation.
