|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Second time in three years Fire beat MetroStars to advance to MLS title game
CHICAGO (AP) -- Ante Razov sent Chicago to the MLS title game for the second time in three years Friday night, scoring in the 88th minute to give the Fire a 3-2 victory over New York-New Jersey. Chicago, the 1998 champion, will play Kansas City in the championship game Oct. 15 at Washington's RFK Stadium. Kansas City beat Los Angeles on Friday night in the other semifinal series. The Fire opened the series against the MetroStars with a 3-0 victory at Soldier Field, but the MetroStars tied it Saturday with a 2-0 home victory. Razov fired a 10-yard shot past goalkeeper Mike Ammann for the forward's playoff-leading 13th point. "We created a lot of chances in the second half and we were finally able to get a goal," Razov said.
The goal sparked debate over whether Razov was offside. "All of these calls are very close, but if a call or two would have gone our way, it would have been a different story," MetroStars coach Octavio Zambrano said. The MetroStars overcame a 2-0 deficit to tie it on Adolfo Valencia's goals in the 32nd and 36th minutes. After scoring off an assist from Mike Petke, Valencia tied it off a scramble in front of the goal that left goalkeeper Zach Thornton out of position. "We let them get back in the game," Razov said. "That was a wake-up call for us." Chicago opened the scoring in the fourth minute when C.J. Brown converted a feed from Hristo Stoitchkov on a corner kick. Stoitchkov made it 2-0 in the 31st minute on a 25-yard shot that went off Ammann's fingertips, ricocheted off the crossbar and the upright and bounced into the net.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
