Kei Kamara seemed to pause and size the ball up an extra split second before he stroked it into the back of the net. This time, however, he stayed on his feet and scored, sending the Wizards and Fire to a highly-entertaining 2-2 tie at CommunityAmerica Ballpark on Saturday night.
For all intents and purposes, it was déjà vue at its finest, and Kamara wasn’t going to miss this time. Not with Kansas City down 2-1 to Chicago in the 85th minute. Not facing the same situation that made him an Internet phenomenon three weeks ago against the Galaxy.
The Fire improved to 2-3-3 on 9 points. Kansas City are now 2-3-2 on 8 points and winless in their last five games.
Inclement weather soaked the Kansas City area most of Saturday, leaving the field wet and making footing difficult. With a heavy mist coating the field and players struggling with the proper weight of passes and quick movements, it took 10 minutes for each side to find a comfort zone and a feel for the surface.
Unlike the Wizards three previous home opponents, Chicago seemed to find enough time and space to pass the ball on the ground and that eventually payed off. Referee Michael Kennedy waived off Collins John’s penalty appeal in the 12th minute before the Fire took the lead two minutes later.
Logan Pause and Marco Pappa worked a quick one-two on the left flank to open up the backline, and Pablo Escobar kept Pappa onside as the Guatemalan burst into the area and found Julio Martinez at the back post for a simple finish. It was the first home goal the Wizards have allowed this season.
The goal sent the sizable group of traveling Fire fans into song, but it also reenergized the Wizards. Fighting to keep their unblemished home record intact, Kansas City pushed forward in search of an equalizer as Kamara hit the side netting.
Then an unbelievable scrum in front of the Fire net in the 25th minute resulted in five shots but no goals.
Chicago goalkeeper Andrew Dysktra dropped a corner kick from Ryan Smith and the ball eventually fell to Escobar, who rifled a shot that Pappa saved off the line. Escobar then took another whack at it, but his shot was deflected to Jimmy Conrad, whose shot was blocked as well. The rebound came to Jack Jewsbury, who had his first attempt blocked before Dykstra pawed his follow up attempt out of harm's way.
After all that, Kansas City came away empty handed before Davy Arnaud—listed as questionable with a knee strain this week and wearing a black sleeve on his left knee—saw his spectacular equalizer from 30-yards called back because Wilman Conde was down in the penalty area.
The Wizards had eight shots to Chicago’s two in the first half, but they were undone by the third defensive gaffe in two games by Escobar. Manager Peter Vermes made no changes to his lineup at halftime while Carlos de los Cobos inserted veteran forward Brian McBride for Collins John and Mike Banner for Martinez.
McBride made an immediate impact, slipping into an open space in the Kansas City box to make the lead 2-0 in the 48th minute. Patrick Nyarko threaded the ball past the outstretched leg of Escobar and McBride applied a perfect, one-timed finish inside the near post.
Vermes’ side wasted little time snatching a goal back as Kamara’s deflected shot in the 50th minute froze Dykstra and gave the home side renewed hope. That hope grew as Kamara was barely foiled at the back post a minute later and the Wizards won multiple corner kicks in succession.
After feeding Kamara for his goal, Smith took it on himself to try to even the score, taking on multiple defenders on separate occasions and forcing a diving save out of Dykstra.
That seemed to wake the Fire up and the visitors began pushing back, coming close through Nyarko before a curling, right-footed effort from Smith forced another spectacular save in the 67th minute. Dykstra thwarted the London-native again a few minutes later when Smith broke behind the defense but could finish past the Fire goalkeeper.
Chicago had a chance to put the game away in the 85th minute, but Nyarko couldn’t quite stretch to meet a low cross at the back post with the goalmouth gapping. Kamara followed that with his opportunistic goal—the Sierre Leone native’s fifth of the season—and both sides settled for a point.
Scoring:
CHI -- Julio Martinez 1 (Marco Pappa 3, Logan Pause 1) 14
CHI -- Brian McBride 3 (Patrick Nyarko 5) 48
KC -- Kei Kamara 4 (unassisted) 50
KC -- Kei Kamara 5 (unassisted) 89
Lineups:
Chicago Fire -- Andrew Dykstra, Dasan Robinson, C.J. Brown, Wilman Conde, Krzysztof Krol, Julio Martinez (Mike Banner 46), Logan Pause, Baggio Husidic, Patrick Nyarko, Collins John (Brian McBride 46), Marco Pappa (Peter Lowry 84).
Kansas City Wizards -- Jimmy Nielsen, Michael Harrington, Jimmy Conrad, Pablo Escobar, Roger Espinoza, Jack Jewsbury, Davy Arnaud, Graham Zusi (Teal Bunbury 72), Ryan Smith, Kei Kamara, Josh Wolff.
Discipline:
KC -- Jack Jewsbury (caution; Reckless Tackle) 32
CHI -- Dasan Robinson (caution; Delaying a Restart) 45
KC -- Roger Espinoza (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 45
CHI -- Krzysztof Krol (caution; Reckless Tackle) 63
KC -- Pablo Escobar (caution; Reckless Tackle) 64
KC -- Jimmy Conrad (caution; Reckless Foul) 70
Referee: Michael Kennedy
Referee's Assistants: Kermit Quisenberry; Corey Rockwell
4th Official: Andrew Chapin
Attendance: 8,155
Time of Game: 1:54
Weather: Showers-and-55-degrees
