Fire 'D' never rests
New York's Juan Carlos Osorio is known as a defensive coach.
Saturday night the defense he left behind in Chicago was better than the defense he's building in the Big Apple.
Osorio, who coached the Fire the second half of the 2007 season but bolted for New York during the off-season, brought back with him the hottest team in MLS. The Red Bulls were undefeated in their last six games, with shutouts in the last three.
The Fire ended both streaks with a 1-0 victory in front of 16,776 at Toyota Park.
"The key was just getting that 1 (goal). We felt if we could get one our defense could hold up, and we did," first-year Fire coach Denis Hamlett said.
The Fire (11-7-5, 38 points) got its goal in the 36th minute thanks to a New York defensive mistake. Chris Rolfe dribbled toward goal down the left side as the defense collapsed on him. Meanwhile, rookie midfielder Stephen King slipped into the penalty area all alone and was ready to punish the Red Bulls (8-7-8, 32) when a defender's clearance fell straight to him near the penalty spot.
King had a clear look at goalkeeper Jon Conway's net and blasted it in, ending the Red Bulls' scoreless streak at 380 minutes.
"I just kind of made a run into the box and no one really followed me, and one of their defenders kind of mis-hit a clear and it just happened to come to me," King said. "I was in the right spot at the right time, and I put it away."
Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch earned his league-leading 10th shutout of the season and lowered his league-best goals-against average even further against the Red Bulls, who played without one of their hottest attacking players, Northwest suburban product Mike Magee. Magee missed the game with a staph infection in his arm.
It was a missed opportunity for New York, which entered the game just 3 points behind the Fire in the Eastern Conference standings. New York could've tied the Fire with a win but instead fell 6 points back, while the Fire moved into second place.
"We all pay attention to (the standings)," Hamlett said. "These guys are competitors. And we felt more importantly we want to be closer to (first-place) Columbus. ... Obviously teams are behind you that are fighting for points, and we just have to make sure that when we get those teams in here it's important that we make it real hard for them."
Before the game the Fire announced that midfielder Justin Mapp signed a four-year contract extension that will keep him in MLS through the 2011 season. Mapp did not start Saturday, entering the game in the 78th minute.