CARSON, Calif. — All they do is tie, tie, tie, and tie some more.
The Fire played to a draw in their fourth consecutive match Saturday night, and seventh out of eight, against Chivas USA.
Fire midfielder Dominic Oduro provided the lone Fire (2-4-12) goal in the 1-1 affair, though he had many more opportunities than that. He had four shots on goal in the first half he handed the Fire a 1-0 lead in the 26th minute.
Midfielder Patrick Nyarko led Oduro up the left side as he outran Chivas defender Michael Umana. Goalkeeper Dan Kennedy was forced to charge Oduro, and Oduro touched the ball around Kennedy into the far side of the net.
“We allowed him to cause some problems,” Chivas coach Robin Fraser said. “You know the guy is fast as lightening, so you just really need to be switched on and be prepared to deal with him.”
Just one minute after halftime, Chivas midfielder Nick LaBrocca delighted the 15,152 in attendance with the tying goal. Defenseman Michael Lahoud played the ball up to LaBrocca, who promptly took a shot straight at the crossbar. The shot caught the underside of the bar and bounced behind Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson.
“We make one or two mistakes and find ourselves down early,” Fraser said. “Full credit to the team coming out of the locker room with an aggressive mentality and getting an early strike to tie things up.”
Aside from LaBrocca’s tango with the crossbar, opportunities were few and far between for Chivas (4-7-6).
Oduro approached the net more often than the entire Chivas team. Kennedy deflected his first shot wide in the eighth minute. In the 42nd, Oduro fired a shot into a charging Kennedy. The deflection played right to Nyarko, who chipped the ball toward an open goal, but Chivas defender Michael Umana managed to clear the threat before it crossed the line.
