Revolution play with fire in Chicago

CHICAGO -- For Andy Herron, it was a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Twice.

The Chicago Fire forward, making his first MLS start, found an opening in the New England defense two times and capitalized, lifting the Fire past the Revolution, 2-0, at Soldier Field last night.

The Revolution squandered a chance to paint themselves back into the playoff picture and left themselves in a deep hole in the Eastern Conference standings with three games to play. The loss dropped the Revolution 5 points behind Chicago for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

"Absolutely it was disheartening," said Revolution coach Steve Nicol said. "This game's all about putting the ball in the net. Chicago did and we didn't."

A week after setting a team record for goals in a game in a 6-1 win over Colorado, the Revolution struggled to generate offense against Chicago.

Herron, meanwhile, was sharp for the Fire, scoring in both halves. Both goals were set up by Fire captain Chris Armas, playing in his first MLS game since Aug. 21 after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.

Herron's second goal, in the 77th minute, effectively put the game out of reach.

In a first half played mostly in the midfield, Herron also had the one scoring chance that mattered. In the seventh minute, Fire midfielder Nate Jacqua started a scoring sequence from along the right sideline, sending a crisp pass to the center of the field where Armas outraced Rusty Pierce to the ball. Armas touched a pass to Herron, who got behind keeper Matt Reis for the easy goal. The Revolution had a prime scoring opportunity in the second minute when Richie Baker snuck behind the Fire defense and found himself 1-on-1 with keeper Henry Ring. But Ring came out of the net to deflect Baker's shot, then got back into position to make a save on a twisting shot by Clint Dempsey.

The Revolution were more offensive-minded in the second half. Taylor Twellman nearly tied the game in the 57th minute, but his point-blank shot drilled Ring in the left shoulder and harmlessly trickled away.

The teams meet again in the regular season finale Oct. 16 in Foxborough. But with last night's loss, rebounding to snag a playoff berth will be quite difficult for the Revolution.