Fire battles to scoreless tie

The Chicago Fire and Real Salt Lake each earned a point Saturday night, playing to a 0-0 draw at Toyota Park in Bridgeview.

With the scoreless tie, Real Salt Lake (6-6-6) took a 1-point lead for first place in the Western Conference with 24 points, while the Fire (7-5-4) remains in third in the Eastern Conference with 25 points.

The Fire almost scored late in the match when Justin Mapp blasted a ball at the net in the 87th minute, but Rimando jumped and deflected the ball out of play.

Both teams came up short on opportunities to score early in the game. The Fire Justin Mapp sent a corner kick into the box in the sixth minute, and Cuauhtemoc Blanco headed it toward the goal, but the ball deflected off a defender and back into play.

Four minutes later, Real Salt Lake's Javier Morales bent a corner kick into the box and Yura Movsisyan headed it toward the goal. The ball appeared to bounce off the right bar and back onto the ground as Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch smothered the ball for the save.

Chris Rolfe had another chance for the Fire in the 33rd. Rolfe won a 1-on-1 battle with goalkeeper Nick Rimando, but sent the ball into the netting on the left side.

In the 75th minute, Real Salt Lake's Dema Kovalenko tackled Blanco for a yellow card. Blanco attempted a free kick from the right side of the box, but he couldn't convert..