Reigning MLS Defender of the Year Michael Parkhurst was the first to hold up his hands and say “my bad” after the Chicago Fire took the New England Revolution defense apart on Thursday night, winning 4-0 at Toyota Park. “I was awful, I let the team down on the first two goals,” Parkhurst told the Boston Globe. “It was downhill after that.” Of course, he wasn’t the only one who should have raised his hands.
On another Cuauhtemoc Blanco-inspired evening in Bridgeview, Chicago put four goals passed the hapless Revs in the first 45 minutes. Indeed, there was little reason to play the second half. “One mistake leads to another mistake,” said Parkhurst. “The early goal [scored by Chad Barrett] was demoralizing, then there was the referee’s decision” — a decision which undoubtedly turned the game in Chicago’s favor.
Barely seven minutes into the match and already 1-0 down, Revs midfielder Jeff Larentowicz — the man who was supposed to mark Blanco — came crashing into Chicago’s Brandon Prideaux with his studs raised. Referee Baldomero Toledo made no hesitation in sending Larentowicz off. “If they start sending people off for things like that, there will be nobody left at the end of the season,” Revolution coach Steve Nicol fumed. “It was a nonsense decision. But if they are going to do that, do it for everyone.”