Fire goes out with late win over Houston

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Oct 25, 2014

[MLS: Friday] Frenchman Florent Sinama-Pongolle made sure Chicago did not finish the MLS season with another tie, scoring in stoppage time to give the Fire a 2-1 come-from-behind win over Houston in the 2014 finale for both teams. The game was the 286th and final game for Fire midfielder Logan Pause, who is retiring after 12 seasons and Dominic Kinnear's last as Dynamo head coach.

MLS RESULTS, Week 33:
Friday, October 24
Chicago 2 Houston 1.
HOU: Omar Cummings (Brad Davis) 66
CHI: Jeff Larentowicz pen. 66
CHI: Florent Sinama-Pongolle (Grant Ward) 90+1
Att.: 18,776.

A Jeff Larentowicz penalty drew the Fire even after Omar Cummings’ goal for Houston in the first half, and Sinama-Pongolle earned Chicago just its sixth victory of the season. The Fire, who set an MLS record with 18 draws, is tied with Montreal and San Jose for the fewest wins in MLS this season. Its 6-10-18 record is its worst in its 17 years in MLS.

Kinnear, who will coach San Jose in 2015, leaves after nine seasons in Houston, where he led the Dynamo to two MLS Cup titles. The Dynamo's 11-17-6 record in 2014 was its second worst in MLS. It failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2010 when it went 9-15-6.

MLS RESULTS, Week 33:
Wednesday, October 22
Real Salt Lake 2, Chivas USA 0
RSL: Alvaro Saborio (pen.) 36
RSL: Kyle Beckerman (Joao Plata) 74
Red card: RSL -- Marvin Chavez 56.
Att.: 20,665.

MLS SCHEDULE, Week 33:
Saturday, October 25
2:30 p.m. ET
Seattle vs. LA Galaxy, NBC
4 p.m. ET
Montreal vs. D.C. United
7:30 p.m. ET
New England vs. Toronto FC
8:30 p.m. ET
FC Dallas vs. Portland
10 p.m. ET
Vancouver vs. Colorado, UDN
Sunday, October 26
3 p.m. ET
Chivas USA vs. San Jose
4 p.m. ET
Columbus vs. Philadelphia, UniMas
8:30 p.m. ET
Sporting KC vs. New York, ESPN, WatchESPN, ESPN Deportes

MLS RESULTS, Week 33:
Wednesday, October 22
Real Salt Lake 2, Chivas USA 0
RSL: Alvaro Saborio (pen.) 36
RSL: Kyle Beckerman (Joao Plata) 74
Red card: RSL -- Marvin Chavez 56.
Att.: 20,665.

MLS Standings:
EASTERN CONFERENCE
PTS (GP) TEAM W-L-T GF/GA
58 (33) *D.C. United 17-9-7 51/36
52 (33) *New England 16-13-4 50/46
49 (33) *Sporting KC 14-12-7 48/39
49 (33) *Columbus 13-10-10 50/41
47 (33) *New York 12-10-11 53/50
---------------------------------------
42 (33) x-Philadelphia 10-11-12 50/49
41 (33) x-Toronto FC 11-13-8 44/53
39 (34) x-Houston 11-17-6 39/58
36 (34) x-Chicago 6-10-18 41/51
27 (33) x-Montreal 6-18-9 37/57

WESTERN CONFERENCE
PTS (GP) TEAM W-L-T GF/GA
61 (33) *Seattle 19-10-4 63/50
61 (33) *LA Galaxy 17-6-10 69/35
56 (34) *Real Salt Lake 15-8-11 54/39
54 (33) *FC Dallas 16-11-6 55/43
47 (33) Vancouver 11-8-13 41/40
-----------------------------------------
46 (33) Portland 11-9-13 59/52
32 (33) x-Colorado 8-17-8 43/61
30 (33) x-Chivas USA 8-19-6 28/61
30 (33) x-San Jose 6-15-12 35/49
*Clinched playoff berth.
x-Eliminated from playoffs.
------------------------------------------------
MLS: Leading Scorers
G PLAYER, TEAM
25 Bradley Wright-Phillips, New York
22 Dom Dwyer, Sporting KC
19 Robbie Keane, LA Galaxy
17 Obafemi Martins, Seattle
17 Lee Nguyen, New England
16 Gyasi Zardes, LA Galaxy
15 Erick Torres, Chivas USA
15 Clint Dempsey, Seattle
14 Chris Wondolowski, San Jose
13 Joao Plata, Real Salt Lake