Fire 3 – 1 Dallas a Look Back..

By: irish_steve | March 23rd, 2009

As expected the Fire got their season off to a brilliant start, winning in Dallas for the first time since 1999. Even though it was the first game of the season and the Fire were missing some key players, the overall performance was fantastic.

Here is a look back on the good and the bad from Saturday’s game:

The Good:

Justin Mapp had a very tidy performance. A lot of people have criticized Mapp over the past few years myself included but he silenced many of his critics with his play in Dallas. Mapp scored 1 and earned the Fire their second goal via a McBride penalty. He worked well with Segares on the left flank and sent in some very dangerous crosses.

Patrick Nyarko was my man of the match. Not only did his attacking play and runs cause Dallas all sorts of problems but he did a fantastic job of coming back to help the defense out. Nyarko did all the work on the Fire’s first goal, capitalizing on a Dallas mistake and putting the ball on a plate for Mapp to finish. He worked well with McBride and the midfield players and did everything but score in the game.

Marco Pappa played a great game on the right wing. He helped out Tim Ward a lot of defense and his attacking play prevented Dave Van Den Berg from getting forward too often for Dallas. Both Pappa and Mapp did a great job of spreading the field and one of them was always available for a Conde long ball.

Tim Ward looked very solid on his Fire debut. His first touch is very good for such a tall player and his foot skills got him out a 1 of 2 tricky situations. He combined well with Pappa on the right side for the Fire and he bombed forward whenever possible.

Conde and Bakay won everything in the back for the Fire. Both men picked up from where they left off last year by shutting down Cooper and Cunningham. Conde won every defensive header and his long ball distribution to Mapp, Pappa and the forwards was fantastic.

Finally, Thorrington had another tidy game in midfield for the Fire. Not only did he come back to help neutralize the threat of Kenny Cooper but his forward runs from midfield caused Dallas so many problems. One of these runs set up the free kick that lead to the Fire’s third goal.

The Negatives:

The only real negative I saw was the Fire gave the ball away a few too many times in their defensive third of the field. Dallas’s only chances were created by mistakes by the Fire. That being said, it was the first game of the season and mistakes were bound to happen.

Final Word:

I didn’t realize how much of a baby Kenny Cooper was until I watched this game. He spent half of the match on the floor. He dived at the slightest hint of contact with the Fire players. He dives more than Luca Toni and that’s saying something!