After the Fire took an early lead on Saturday night against the visiting Toronto FC, the Fire would play their usual style of bunkering in and not attacking. This would result in Toronto getting the equalizer but the Fire would be saved by mid-fielder John Thorrington who scored a goal in the 92nd minute to give the Fire a win.

Chris Rolfe got the scoring started early for the Fire after he scored in the 6th minute with an incredible long distance shot. The Fire would then continue to play well for the rest of the first half, and had other opportunities to score, but they just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net. The second half would be a different one, as the Fire would then bunker in. This tactic of bunkering in has not worked for the Fire, but it Coach Hamlett continues to use it. The result would be the same like in previous weeks and the Fire would let their lead slip. Toronto ’s Abdus Ibrahim scored his first goal of the season in the 63rd minute after he beat goalie Jon Busch.

Now that game was tied, the Fire would resume their attack, and they would push the ball up more and try to create opportunities. It was nice to see the Fire attack then, but it would have been nice if they continued to attack rather then bunker. The Fire’s attack didn’t go so well either. The Fire did do a good job of getting the ball up but they would either pass it to the right or left flank to set up a cross in the box. None of these crosses worked for the team except the one where Blanco hit the crossbar. When the attack came from the middle, the chances looked much better than they did from the cross. This also leads to another problem surrounding the Fire, and that’s finishing. If the Fire can finish those shots, then the Fire can easily score the most goals in the league. In the 92nd minute Daniel Woolard found an open John Thorrington who would score the game winning goal for the Fire.

Coming into this game the Fire haven’t won a home game since April when they beat the Colorado Rapids, which John Thorrington scored the game winning goal in that one. This win was also their first win in MLS play since the blowout win in New York in May. The Fire have been in a funk but after tonight’s game they should be coming out of that funk now, and they should be making a strong push to get back to the top of the table.

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