Mike Magee scored on a penalty kick, Austin Berry headed in the tiebreaker in the opening minutes of the second half, and the Chicago Fire beat the Colorado Rapids 2-1 on Wednesday night.
Magee tied the score in the 23rd minute with his fifth goal in five matches - three in MLS play and two in the U.S. Open Cup. The goal was set up by Rapids defender Marvell Wynne's hand ball in the penalty area. Magee converted with a right-footed kick that beat goalkeeper Clint Irwin to his left.
Berry got the winning score in the second minute after halftime for the Fire (4-7-3). Chicago captain Jeff Larentowicz fed the ball in from outside the penalty area, and Berry was open in the right crease for the header, his first goal of the season.
Jamie Castrillon opened the scoring when he stripped the ball from Berry in Chicago's half of the field and scored on goalkeeper Sean Johnson on a 22-yard blast in the 17th minute to put Colorado (5-6-5) ahead. The Rapids lost their second straight and extended their winless stretch to 0-2-1.
The Rapids pressed hard during four minutes of stoppage time at the end, but forward Tony Cascio hit the right post from a yard out in the 91st minute, and forward Deshorn Brown was called for a hand ball to negate an apparent goal a minute later.
Irwin entered the game with a league-low 0.85 goals-against average, but was beaten twice in the first 47 minutes and was called on to make six saves in all. Johnson's single save was on Castrillon in the 38th minute.
