Chicago Fire Tackle the Vancouver Whitecaps 1-0

A goal scored on a free kick by Pavel Pardo helped the Chicago Fire tackle the Vancouver Whitecaps 1-0 in a physical matchup.

The game featured a lot of pushing, shoving and jersey holding. Several players received yellow cards, including Gonzalo Segares, Alex and Arne Friedrich (two) for the Fire, and Darren Mattocks for the Whitecaps. Friedrich was ejected after his second yellow card in the 69th minute when he and defender Austin Berry collided with Mattocks on a breakaway play.

The game also had its share of good passing, defense and some terrific saves by Sean Johnson. On the last save of the match in the 86th minute, Johnson swatted a goal attempt out of bounds. It led to some rarely seen emotion from the Fire players. It was a symbolic save in a sense, a save that could send a message to the rest of the league that this team is for real.

The Fire did a great job defensively on Mattocks, who earlier in the week scored two goals against Toronto F...

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