Grella goal stands up as Fire falls

Posted May 18, 2016 1:00 am

Associated Press

HARRISON, N.J. - Mike Grella scored early in the second half after a Chicago turnover and the New York Red Bulls defeated the Fire 1-0 on Wednesday night for their third victory in five games.

Luis Robles posted his second shutout of the season in making his MLS record-tying 118th consecutive start.

Grella scored in the 58th minute after Lloyd Sam forced Chicago defender Jonathan Campbell to make a weak back pass toward his goal. Bradley Wright-Phillips intercepted the ball, laid off a pass to Lloyd, who found Grella coming down the middle for his team-high fourth goal on a shot past goalkeeper Sean Johnson.

After a 1-6 start, the Red Bulls are 3-1-1. The Fire (1-5-4) has 3 straight losses and is winless in six games (0-4-2).

There were two good scoring chances in the first half, and they came minutes apart.

Fire forward David Accam banged a roughly 35-yard shot off the crossbar in the 30th minute, while Wright-Phillips was wide left with an off-balance shot two minutes later.

New York's Sam and Connor Lade were knocked off the ball in the box in the opening minutes, but referee Robert Sibiga saw nothing wrong with the plays.

The Fire has been shut out the last two games and four times this season. It has a league-low 8 goals.

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