In the 85th minute, with the wind whipping against his back, Chicago Fire midfielder Shaun Maloney stepped up and placed his penalty kick into the inside of the left side netting. FC Dallas goalkeeper Dan Kennedy dove the correct way, but there was no stopping a shot that well-placed. It was the second clinical PK conversion in as many matches for the Scotsman.
Afterward, Maloney jogged toward the end line at Toyota Park, then turned toward his teammates and made a calming hand gesture to his teammates as if to discourage celebration. Before he had taken the shot, FC Dallas right back Atiba Harris was in his ear. “You just don’t need this,” Maloney recounted him saying.
“But we really did,” Maloney added. “It was a lot of relief when that penalty went in rather than any real great joy. It was nice to get that second goal.”
WATCH: Shaun Maloney Postmatch Reaction
The Fire couldn’t be content with a one-goal advantage. Too many times, this team had been burned by late equalizers or game-winners. Even in their most recent outing, they had victory and the full three points snatched from their grasp when a defensive lapse led to a tap-in goal for the New England Revolution.
They knew what had to be done in this one. “If we get a shutout, we’ll win the game,” was the message Frank Yallop conveyed to his club at halftime, as relayed to the media by Jeff Larentowicz. It’s one the head coach had shared many times throughout the season, but this was against an FC Dallas side that had won five straight matches, scoring at least twice on all five occasions.
It was a nervy second half. A straight red card issued to substitute Matt Watson in the 79th minute made it even more so. But the back line, anchored by the return of Larentowicz and a strong performance by Sean Johnson, held firm, and the late penalty was the clincher Chicago so desperately needed.
“Closing out a game like that, pushing at the end, having a shutout, [there were] a lot of good things,” Larentowicz said.
Maybe that penalty wasn’t cause for a celebratory backflip or dance, but it did allow Yallop and his team to breathe a little easier. Having not held a multi-goal lead in a regular-season game since May 30, that feeling was more than enough.
—Luke Srodulski
