Columbus discovers offense in Chicago
Ritch, Martino, Cunningham score first goals of season
The win stretches the Crew's unbeaten run to four games and was their second consecutive victory while leap-frogging the club out of the cellar in the tightly-packed Eastern Conference for the first time in nearly a year. The triumph also left Columbus just two points behind the Fire and MetroStars, who share first place.
The Crew came into the match with just three goals in six matches, but a first-half penalty from Jeff Cunningham and second-half goals from Kyle Martino and Michael Ritch just four minutes apart answered a Damani Ralph goal for the Fire. Chicago lost for just the second time on the year with both coming at Soldier Field, where the Fire has been dominant in recent years. The Crew last won in Chicago in September 1999.
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In the 31st minute though, the Fire were made to pay for their lack of energy. Crew forward Cunningham got behind Fire defender Jim Curtin to meet a long ball just inside the penalty area. Curtin grabbed Cunningham by the arm as he passed and referee Ali Saheli immediately pointing to the spot. Cunningham took his own spot kick, narrowly beating 'keeper Henry Ring inside his left-hand post.
The Fire offense brightened a bit in the late stages of the first half, and Ralph nearly poked home a low Williams cross at the near post five minutes before the whistle, but Busch held the effort.
A different Fire team seemed to come onto the field for the second half and before long they had pulled level. Just four minutes after the restart, Chris Armas lofted a ball into the box for Ralph, and the Jamaican international deftly settled the ball before firing home from the heart of the penatly area.
Ralph nearly doubled his tally in the 52nd minute when DaMarcus Beasley sprung him over the top and sent him in one-on-one with Busch. But Ralph's attempt to chip the 'keeper went wide of goal.
The Crew responded to the equalizer with two goals in a four-minute span. The first came in the 55th minute thanks to a stroke of luck, as the back end of a 1-2 between Martino and Ritch bounced off a defender and onto Martino's foot. The Crew midfielder skipped through a pair of Fire defenders and rounded Ring before slotting home for his first goal of the year.
Four minutes later, it was Ritch's turn to get on the scoresheet. Midfielder Eric Denton fought through two Fire defenders to get to a long ball in the box, and after he tapped the ball back for Ritch, the young forward slammed the ball into the top of the net for his first MLS goal. The play also gave the Crew its first assist of the season, their previous five tallies coming without helpers.
Busch then did his part to maintain his side's advantage as the Fire looked to pull back in the match, forced to make impressive saves to keep the margin at two. Nate Jaqua, brought on along with Dipsy Selolwane to provide more options in attack, had a pair of chances around the 70th minute, one of which was a rocket that Busch stared down and punched away. Busch also knocked away an angled Armas strike and saw an 80th minute Selolwane shot on the turn slip just wide of his goal.
The Chicago Fire (2-2-4) remain at home next weekend as they welcome the Colorado Rapids to Soldier Field on Saturday (8:30 p.m. ET). The Crew (2-3-2) return to Columbus to host the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET) in a game that will air live on HDNet.
MLSNet.com Man of the Match: Jon Busch (Columbus Crew)
Columbus Crew (2-3-2) vs. Chicago Fire (2-2-4)
May 23, 2004 -- Soldier Field
Scoring Summary:
CLB -- Jeff Cunningham 1 (penalty kick) 32
CHI -- Damani Ralph 3 (Chris Armas 2, Andy Williams 3) 49
CLB -- Kyle Martino 1 (unassisted) 55
CLB -- Michael Ritch 1 (Eric Denton 1) 59
Columbus Crew -- Jon Busch, Steven Herdsman, Robin Fraser, Chad Marshall, Frankie Hejduk, Simon Elliott, Kyle Martino (Duncan Oughton 73), Ross Paule, Eric Denton, Erick Scott (Michael Ritch 25), Jeff Cunningham (David Testo 84).
Substitutes Not Used: Nelson Akwari, Matt Jordan.
TOTAL SHOTS: 10 (Michael Ritch 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (3 tied with 2); FOULS: 12 (Eric Denton 3); OFFSIDES: 2 (Erick Scott 1, David Testo 1); CORNER KICKS: 1 (David Testo 1); SAVES: 6 (Jon Busch 6)
Chicago Fire -- Henry Ring, Evan Whitfield, Jim Curtin, C.J. Brown (Orlando Perez 76), Justin Mapp (Nate Jaqua 67), Chris Armas, Logan Pause (Dipsy Selolwane 63), Andy Williams, DaMarcus Beasley, Damani Ralph, Ante Razov.
Substitutes Not Used: Scott Buete, Craig Capano, Denny Clanton, D.J. Countess, Kelly Gray, Leonard Griffin.
TOTAL SHOTS: 22 (Damani Ralph 5, Ante Razov 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 (Damani Ralph 2, Ante Razov 2); FOULS: 13 (Andy Williams 3); OFFSIDES: 2 (Damani Ralph 1, Dipsy Selolwane 1); CORNER KICKS: 9 (Chris Armas 4, Andy Williams 4); SAVES: 3 (Henry Ring 3)
Misconduct Summary:
CLB -- Frankie Hejduk (caution; Tackle from Behind) 14
CLB -- Eric Denton (caution; Pushing, Holding) 17
CHI -- Jim Curtin (caution; Dissent) 33
CLB -- Jon Busch (caution; Delaying a Restart) 68
CLB -- Ross Paule (caution; Delaying a Restart) 83
CHI -- Ante Razov (caution; Dissent) 86
Referee: Ali Saheli
Referee's Assistants: -George Vergara; Bill Dittmar
4th Official: Michael Kennedy
Attendance: 10,854
Time of Game: 1:55
Weather: Cloudy-and-75-degrees
All statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial.
