Chicago Fire On Playoff Hunt

By Todd McClamroch in News on Aug 20, 2007 2:00PM

The Chicago Fire used their recent acquisitions to propel themselves to a 2-0 victory over Real Salt Lake. The Fire knew going into Saturday's game that it was important for them to earn 3 points for a victory against the league worst Real Salt Lake (2-10-6 12 pts.).

After a less than impressive first 40, minutes Cuauhtémoc Blanco was in the right place at the right time to hit a cracker of a volley that ended up in the upper ninety of the Real Salt Lake net giving the Fire a 1-0 lead right before halftime.

Blanco assisted in the 78th minute when he hit a corner kick that connected with Paulo Wanchope’s head to redirect the ball into the net. The goals represented the first Major League Soccer goal for both players who combined have only five games experience with the Fire.

The Fire (6-7-5 23 pts.) sit in tenth spot in the 13 team league, two spots away from a playoff berth behind ninth place Colorado FC(6-9-6 24 pts.) and Columbus (6-7-8 26 pts.). The Fire return to action mid-week to kick-off the road portion of an important home and away series versus Kansas City. The teams will meet in Chicago on Saturday night.