A hat trick from Marco Pappa helped power the Chicago Fire 3-0 over Real Salt Lake Wednesday at Rio Tinto Stadium. Scoring his first goals since June, Pappa hit three terrific goals from range around the edge of the box. RSL are reeling defensively after giving up hat tricks in consecutive games, and their form looks to be rather shaky heading into the end of the season. The return of Javier Morales should provide a boost heading into the playoffs, however. Meanwhile, Chicago is quietly putting a good run of form together, and may even have a slight hope of sneaking into the playoffs following this result, as they are only three points out of the final wild card spot.
Real Salt Lake Vs. Chicago Fire, 2011 MLS: Pappa Hat Trick Leads Fire to Victory
The scoring in this match opened in the 10th minute when Pappa capitalized on a good series of passes by his teammates by hitting a solid shot from the edge of the box. Their situation improved in the 11th minute when RSL captain Kyle Beckerman was given a straight red card for headbutting Daniel Paladini in midfield, and Salt Lake played down a man for the rest of the match. Pappa scored again in the 36th minute, and finished up his hat trick in the 75th minute. Pappa's teammate Dominic Oduro tried to get in on the scoring as well, but all of his shots were saved by Nick Rimando. RSL did not have many chances on the night, and a goal scored by Jamison Olave on a set piece in the 77th minute was called offside.
Perhaps the best news on the night for Real Salt Lake was that Javier Morales returned to the lineup for the first time since breaking his ankle in April. Morales entered in the 60th minute to a rousing ovation from the Rio Tinto crowd, and nearly set up a goal on his first touch, when his free kick was headed just wide of goal. Otherwise, it was a pretty uneventful night for Morales, but fortunately the game calmed down somewhat in the second half after a very physical first half. If Morales can regain his match fitness before the playoffs without any setbacks, it should improve RSL’s MLS Cup hopes significantly. In this way, tonight’s loss may not prove particularly damaging to RSL’s aspirations overall.
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