Fire downed by LA; must wait to clinch

Chicago can clinch with victory over Revolution on Oct. 17

The Fire will have to wait at least another game to solve the equation after a 1-0 loss to the Galaxy at The Home Depot Center, thanks in part to Galaxy midfielder Landon Donovan.

Donovan stabbed at a Chris Klein long pass with his right foot, sending a volley over the head of Chicago goalkeeper Jon Busch in the 42nd minute to complete a counter attack.

Klein sent the long lob from about 15 yards behind midfield near the right touchline, finding Donovan who had to fight off defender Logan Pause who marked him closely. With Busch charging off his line, Donovan burst free to the bouncing ball and looped it into the goal.

It was the goal that denied the Fire's chances and put the Galaxy in position to earn a slot in the MLS postseason for the first time in four years. But they also need arch-rival Chivas USA to avoid losing to D.C. United on Saturday.

The postseason seemed an inconceivable task for Los Angeles after a slow start to a season. They went winless in their first six games with a 0-5-1 record that included four consecutive draws. Los Angeles tied 10 times in its first 12 matches.

Bruce Arena's squad sits in second place in the Western Conference standings with 44 points and an 11-6-11 record.

Ravaged by injuries, especially to their back line, the Fire dropped to 10-7-11 with 41 points, five behind Eastern Conference leader Columbus. Chicago was without regulars Cuauhtemoc Blanco (hamstring), Chris Rolfe (hamstring), John Thorrington (sports hernia) and Gonzalo Segares (knee).

Despite the setbacks, the Fire continued to pressure late in the match including an opportunity in stoppage time. Brandon Prideaux and Stefan Dimitrov had sequential opportunities near the goalmouth but could not get a clean foot on the ball. Instead, Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts dove on a rolling ball after a Dimitrov soft shot.

Chicago also received a rare indirect free kick inside the penalty area in the 85th minute. Galaxy midfielder Chris Birchall scrambled back to try and catch up to Marco Pappa, who had gotten past the Galaxy's defense. Birchall kicked the ball back to Ricketts, who scooped the ball up.

From the resulting restart, the Fire botched it entirely when one of the players standing over the ball touched the ball, thus putting it into play. The Galaxy picked up the ball and turned it the other way.

The Galaxy had their share of opportunities late in the match. Donovan had a couple of left-footed shots slapped away by Busch. Beckham put a bending right-footed blast from about 20 yards out directly on target, slapped over the crossbar by Busch.

The Galaxy missed out on a handful of opportunities early on. Perhaps the best chance other than Donovan's scoring play came in the 19th minute. Donovan blasted a left-footed shot from the top of the arc outside the penalty box. The shot curved outside the right post.

Donovan also fed Klein with a couple of good balls in the first half. The first came in the 11th minute when Klein attacked from Busch's left, sending a point-blank shot after Donovan fed him a rolling filtered pass to the right. Busch deflected made the save deflecting Klein's shot to end the threat.

The Galaxy threatened again eight minutes later with another Donovan-Klein combination. This time Klein sent a right-footed shot straight to Busch, similar to his first attempt. It ended with a similar result. Busch made the save blocking the shot, and Birchall sent the rebound flying over the crossbar.

The Fire didn't generate much of an attack early in the match. Chicago's first shot on goal came in the 27th minute when Brian McBride took a shot from outside the penalty area. But his blast didn't do much damage: Ricketts was positioned to make the save, catching the ball near the mouth of the goal.

Justin Mapp was hoping to find a teammate at the mouth of the goal a minute prior to McBride's shot. Mapp sent a rolling centered pass into the penalty area after beating two defenders. His cross didn't find anyone wearing a red jersey to complete the play.

Both teams will have next weekend's international date off, with the Fire playing at the New England Revolution on Saturday, Oct. 17, and the Galaxy next playing at the Houston Dynamo on Sunday, Oct. 18.

Ivan Orozco is a contributor to MLSnet.com.

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