It was rookie Patrick Nyarko’s night as he made his first career MLS start and scored his first MLS goal. The rookie’s goal was enough to put the Fire ahead of visiting Chivas USA who helped bring in a big crowd at Toyota Park with a sell-out of 20,492 guests.The Fire didn’t have Cuauhtémoc Blanco Saturday night because he was suspended one game due to yellow card accumulation. New Fire player Marco Papa would get the start and switch between the right and left mid-field positions with Justin Mapp. Pappa had a solid night, and showed plenty of skill with the ball. The 20 year old also showed his great ability and will only add depth to the chart.

John Thorrington moved to the central midfield role which belongs to Blanco. When Blanco gets back next week, and for the rest of the season the Fire will have more depth to their squad. Brian McBride will be joining the team after the Olympics but with Patrick Nyarko’s excellent game, Fire coach Denis Hamlett is feeling great with Nyarko’s play. Calen Carr is out for the rest of the season due to an ACL injury, Andy Herron’s play has gotten better as of late, and Tomasz Frankowski keeps sitting on the bench. Frankowski usually comes in late in games, but hasn’t really shown much since the beginning of the year. Surprisingly, Tomasz Frankowski didn’t even play tonight after scoring a goal against Everton on Wednesday night. However, with the emergence of Patrick Nyarko the Fire now have three forwards that will be capable of coming off the bench and providing scoring opportunities. Chris Rolfe usually gets subbed out of games late, and the same could happen to McBride, but with three forwards on the bench that can play as starters, Fire fans and Coach Hamlett shouldn’t have to worry. These forwards may have excellent track records but they’ve been having trouble finding the back of the net and that has been a cause for concern all season. Nyarko’s goal ended a 196 minute scoring drought for the Fire, and that goal came early in the 16th minute. Although the game shifted in the second half with Chivas USA taking more control of the game, the Fire still had chances to score but just couldn’t. Let’s hope that this scoring drought doesn’t as long as the one that was just broken.

Jon Bush and the defense came up big once again, as they got their 8th shutout of the season. Jon Busch continues to be the leagues top goalie along with the best defense in MLS that has only allowed 14 goals. Brandon Prideaux, Bakary Soumare, Wilman Conde, and Gonzalo Segares are the regular starting defenders but the Fire bench has other defenders that are capable of starting as well. Dasan Robinson, CJ Brown, Diego Gutierrez and Daniel Woolard have shown that they could come in and start. Fire veteran CJ Brown was supposed to be captain of the team, but after an injury during training camp, Brown is now buried on a bench that is already filled with many capable starters.

The Fire turned things around in the second half last season, and the Fire look to be doing the same once again. There is still plenty of soccer left but the Fire are looking like the team that everyone hailed as favorites for the MLS Cup earlier in the season. The Fire will take on two potential play-off opponents in the coming weeks as they take on the New England Revolution and DC United.

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