Fire tie Crew 2-2 to secure playoff berth

Brian McBride saved his Chicago Fire teammates some embarrassment and earned his team a key point in the standings Sunday afternoon.

After the Fire fell apart like a kids team, McBride's second goal of the game earned his team a 2-2 tie against Eastern Conference-leader Columbus in front of 14,994 fans at Toyota Park. The standings point puts the Fire (12-9-7, 43 points) in a tie with New England for second place in the East and clinched a playoff berth for the team.

Leading 1-0 on McBride's first-half goal, the Fire had a chance to double its lead, but Chris Rolfe sent his shot at an open net high. Just minutes later defender Wilman Conde sent a clearance to the Crew's Eddie Gaven, standing just 23 yards directly in front of the Fire net. Gaven punished the mistake, breaking up goalkeeper Jon Busch's shutout bid in the 61st minute.

"We just gotta do a better job of getting it up and out," Busch said of the clearance. "Unfortunately it falls perfectly so he can hit it first time."

Two minutes later Robbie Rogers and Guillermo Barros Schelotto broke away with just one defender to protect Busch. Schelotto's header of a Rogers cross gave Columbus (16-6-6, 54) the lead and its ninth consecutive game without a loss.

It could have been worse, but Busch saved a Rogers shot when the midfielder broke in 1-on-1 with the keeper in the 67th minute.

Then the Fire regained its composure, and in the 78th Conde headed a Cuauhtemoc Blanco free kick wide to McBride, who slid a shot through the Crew defense and into the net to tie the game.

Blanco almost gave the Fire a lead in the 82nd minute, but his blast hit the crossbar, bounced down to the goal line and out.

"That game honestly probably could have ended 4-4 with the amount of chances," Busch said.

In the 88th minute Gonzalo Segares slipped a past just across the Crew goalmouth, but nobody was there to tap it in.

"We could have got the winner, but we walk away with a point and we're in the playoffs and we just regroup as far as defensively," Fire coach Denis Hamlett said.