BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – The Chicago Fire let the Houston Dynamo hang around all game at Toyota Park, and the Dynamo took advantage with just seconds to spare by snagging a 90th-minute equalizer in a 1-1 tie on Sunday afternoon.
Adam Moffat salvaged a point for the Dynamo, taking a clever backheel from Corey Ashe and ripping a laser into the upper 90 to keep the Fire from jumping ahead of Houston and into a playoff spot.
Chicago weren't able to convert on a bevy of chances, but it looked like that might not matter after Bobby Boswell played a header into his own goal in the 37th minute. Mike Magee's service found its way past Jeff Larentowicz's head and deflected off of Boswell past goalkeeper Tally Hall to give the Fire a 1-0 lead.
It was a deserved lead, as Chicago dominated much of the first hour thanks largely to the efforts of Dilly Duka. The winger created a number of good chances, and had some himself, but the scrambling Dynamo defense was able to extinguish every threat.
Houston best chance of the day came when Will Bruin received a pass from Giles Barnes and broke through the Fire defense before his open shot was saved by Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson, just four minutes in.
The tone of the game changed over the last half hour as Chicago went into a shell and Houston began to dominate possession. That allowed Ashe, who came on at the end of the first half for an injured Eric Brunner, to push higher into the attack and create width for the visitors.
It paid off on the equalizer, Moffat’s third goal of the year.
In stoppage time, Jalil Anibaba's header off of a Magee free kick appeared to be heading to the lower corner, but Hall was able to make an outstanding save to preserve the point.
The Fire had a chance to jump into a tie for a playoff spot for the first time this season, but the draw kept them in seventh place. They'll head to Seattle next Saturday to face the Sounders, when they'll try to gain on the Dynamo, who are two points ahead of them.
The Dynamo, who are now tied with New England for the fifth and final playoff spot with a game in hand, head to Columbus on Wednesday before hosting New York next Sunday.
Houston Dynamo (10-8-7; 37 points) at Chicago Fire (10-10-5; 35 points)
MLS regular season
September 1, 2013 – Toyota Park, Bridgeview, IL
Attendance: 17,808
Scoring Summary:
Chicago Fire: Bobby Boswell (own goal) 37
Houston Dynamo: Adam Moffat 3 (Corey Ashe 2) 90
Houston Dynamo: Tally Hall; Kofi Sarkodie, Bobby Boswell, Eric Brunner (Corey Ashe 43), Jermaine Taylor; Boniek Garcia, Adam Moffat, Warren Creavalle (Cam Weaver 66), Brad Davis; Giles Barnes (Andrew Driver 77), Will Bruin
Unused substitutes: Erich Marscheider, Alexander Lopez, Brian Ching, Jason Johnson
Chicago Fire: Sean Johnson; Jalil Anibaba, Austin Berry, Bakary Soumare, Gonzalo Segares; Alex (Joel Lindpere 84), Jeff Larentowicz ©, Arevalo Rios, Dilly Duka (Patrick Nyarko 64); Chris Rolfe (Juan Luis Anangono 70), Mike Magee
Unused substitutes: Paolo Tornaghi, Hunter Jumper, Logan Pause, Quincy Amarikwa
Misconduct Summary:
CHI: Chris Rolfe (caution) 40
HOU: Warren Creavalle (caution) 51
Referee: Drew Fischer
Assistant Referees: Craig Lowry, Mike Kampmeinert
4th Official: Younes Marrakchi
