
Carlos Ruiz (left) celebrates his goal for FC Dallas.
Other than the two goals scored, this was largely a boring game even by MLS standards. Most of the time the ball moved around the field like a pinball. There were more errant passes by both sides than completed passes. Neither side had any real time of sustained pressure on the other team. The few scoring opportunities were often the result of a defensive mistake combined with a lucky bounce or two.
Since both goals were scored after half-time, the first half was particularly hard to watch. The only drama was provided by Carlos Ruiz, he had several good scoring chances and seemed on the verge of scoring throughout the half. Fire forward Chris Rolfe took several long shots at goal with one going off the crossbar. FC Dallas played slightly better than the Fire in the first half but at the break the score was 0-0.
In the second half, the Fire played better and went ahead 1-0 on Chris Rolfe's (56') goal. His goal was unassisted and from long range. Rolfe was at midfield about 25 yards from goal when he just stopped and quickly shot the ball into the upper right hand corner of the goal. The Fire goal did not wake up FC Dallas and with about fifteen minutes to go the Fire seemed to go into prevent mode.
To Dallas' credit they did not give up and they started to push forward. Every so often the Fire would manage a counter attack but FC Dallas was finally rewarded for their effort when Carlos Ruiz (93+) scored three minutes into stoppage time. On the left side of the field, Ruiz got the ball from Clarence Goodson. Ruiz was not covered and had a relatively easy shot to score the goal.
The Fire could have really used the win. They are in the last play-off position, just 2 points ahead of the Crew. Columbus also has two games in hand over Chicago.
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Sept. 27, 2007
KC Wizards v LA Galaxy
8:00pm ET, ESPN 2
Cross posted to the I Write Sports blog .
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