Chicago Fire Vs. FC Dallas: Rough First Half Ends Tied 1-1

A rough and tumble first half at Pizza Hut Park came to an end with the hosts FC Dallas locked in a 1-1 tie with the Chicago Fire. A two minute stretch accounted for both goals in the game, but the besides that the match has been marked by three yellow cards and several other crunching tackles.

Uruguayan Diego Chaves made his debut with the Fire after being signing this offseason and quickly made his mark. Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman did well to stop a Cory Gibbs shot, but Chaves was there to tap in the rebound to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

A minute later, Dallas got a goal of their own, although their was of considerably high quality. Zach Lloyd went racing down the left side to leave the defense in his dust and played a low cross to Milton Rodriguez, who was running at the near post. Rodriguez had a man on his back and the ball was slightly behind him so the Colombian played a fantastic backheel to turn the shot on goal for the tremendous equalizer.

At halftime, FC Dallas announced that the match at Pizza Hut Park was a sell out, certainly partly due to the club's run to MLS Cup a year ago and the fans were treated to intense play. Gibbs earned a yellow card for Chicago and Daniel Hernandez and Jackson each were cautioned for Dallas, but that wasn't all of the aggressive play. Collisions in the box, tough tackles and plenty of shoulder to shoulder challenges have marked this rough first half.