Up 1-0 at home, the Philadelphia Union were feeling pretty good about themselves. But they did not account for the Chicago Fire finding a whole other gear. Led by Chris Rolfe and Arne Friedrich, the Fire stormed back to take down the Union, 3-1, at PPL Park and move within striking distance of the top of the Eastern Conference.
Philadelphia Union Vs. Chicago Fire, 2012 MLS: Fire Cruise To Easy Win
The Union went in front after 34 minutes when Freddy Adu's cross missed Chandler Hoffman, but found Jalil Anibaba. The ball bounced off the Chicago defender and into the goal for an own goal, but Philadelphia didn't care. They were up 1-0.
It looked like that lead would hold into halftime, but the Fire struck twice just before the break. First, Sherjil MacDonald got to the endline before crossing for Rolfe to finish in the 43rd minute. Then in stoppage time, Friedrich got on the end of a Marco Pappa corner kick and finished it. Two minutes from halftime, the Fire had gone from a goal down to a goal up.
Rolfe capped his great night in the 56th minute when he ran at the Union defense and cleared just enough space to let rip from distance. Zac MacMath got a hand to the shot, but he couldn't keep it out and the match was in the bag.
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