Scrappy subs ignite thrilling Fire rally at Toyota Park
The captain called it "a shockingly good win for us," and C.J. Brown has been around long enough to be hard to shock.
The Fire looked "done and dusted," in goalkeeper Jon Busch's words, trailing Colorado by 2 goals in the second half, only to win a thrilling 3-2 victory Sunday at Toyota Park on defender Dasan Robinson's stoppage-time goal.
"We stayed in it, we battled," Brown said. "From where I was standing it didn't look like it was coming, but when the young guys and the guys off the bench came in, they lifted us. It's everything you ask for out of your subs. The guys that were on the field stayed in and battled even though we were down, and we pulled out a good win."
They won on a goal by a guy who took a lot of the blame for the 4 goals the team allowed this week.
"It's a blessing," Robinson said. "The ball popped back out to Justin and he played a great ball in and I was able to leap for it and put it in the back of the net. I got a good head on it."
The goal also was costly for Robinson and the Fire (10-5-8, 38 points). It stirred Robinson into celebrating by ripping off his jersey, but that earned him his second yellow card of the game, an ejection for the final minute and a suspension for Saturday's home game against D.C. United. From goat to hero to goat again in one game.
"Unfortunately, it cost me, cost the team," the Evanston-born Robinson said. "Kind of a bonehead move, but you live and you learn. I'll do my best next time to be a little more thoughtful in my actions after I score a goal and stay on the field."
After Colorado took the lead on 2 second-half goals by Omar Cummings, the Fire started to press the attack when substitute Patrick Nyarko entered the game in the 58th minute. Nyarko's pass to Cuauhtémoc Blanco in the 72nd minute led to Blanco earning a penalty kick, which he buried to draw the Fire within a goal.
The Fire evened the score at the 85-minute mark when left back Mike Banner, another sub, collected a ball deflected by a Rapids player and blasted a 17-yard shot into the right corner of Matt Pickens' net. That set up Robinson's winner.
"We've been through a lot in the last few weeks, and this is a test for us," Busch said. "This is a test to see what kind of character we have. The second half everybody stepped up. We got behind the 8-ball a little bit, but we didn't hang our heads. We didn't make excuses. Everybody stepped up. ... It was a test of character, and I couldn't be prouder of these guys. It was awesome."
The Fire again was without central defender Bakary Soumare, who has been benched by Fire coach Denis Hamlett for what the coach called a lack of commitment to the club. Center back Wilman Conde sat again with a hamstring strain. Defenders Gonzalo Segares, Daniel Woolard and Tim Ward remain out with leg injuries. Segares said he could return in two weeks, ahead of schedule, but Ward is due for surgery today on a broken left foot and will be out eight more weeks.