After a largely uneventful first half where the home side had the better of play but did nothing with it, the New England Revolution used an inspired substitution to turn their match against the Chicago Fire on its head. The entrance of Kelyn Rowe for Fernando Cardenas in the 65th minute changed the dynamic of the game and led to two goals in a span of four minutes, one each from Rowe and Benny Feilhaber.
Rowe notched his second goal of the season in the 69th minute after Feilhaber split the Chicago defense open with an excellent through ball. Rowe had been set up and nearly scored with his first touch minutes earlier, and in a similar situation here he was through on goal with only Sean Johnson to beat. This time he toe-poked the ball around Johnson and into the back of the net at the right post to give the home side a deserved lead.
The Fort was still celebrating when Rowe turned provider in the 73rd minute. He sprayed a nice pass wide right to Feilhaber, who was crashing into the box at a diagonal angle. The former USA midfielder picked his head up before blasting it low past Johnson to double the team's lead. The goal was Feilhaber's first of the season, as was the assist he picked up on Rowe's tally.
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