Daniel Paladini came off the bench to score a sublime free-kick and help the Chicago Fire earn a 2-2 draw with the Portland Timbers on Saturday night at Toyota Park.
Timbers forward Diego Valeri opened the scoring after 33 minutes before Ben Zemanski doubled the advantage in the 58th minute with a blast from 23 yards.
But thanks in large part to skipper Mike Magee, the Fire weren't done.
In the 68th minute, Alex played a through ball to Magee in the box, which was missed by both goalkeeper Miloš Kocić and defender Andrew Jean-Baptiste, giving the forward an easy tap-in goal.
Fourteen minutes later, Magee earned a free-kick just outside the box.
Magee and second half substitute Daniel stepped up to the free-kick from 26 yards out, and everyone in the stadium assumed it would be Magee's to take.
Instead, Paladini stepped forward and surprised Kocić with a quick free-kick that he curved around the wall and into the left corner of the net.
"I walked up to it, because that's the spot where I practice the most," Paladini said after the game.
"I told him (Magee) that he could have the assist. When he backed up he told me to hit it.
"If you look at the film, I guarantee that he (Kocić) looked down and to his left and I was already going and all I had to do is get it over his head."
Magee added: "I wanted to take it. He (Paladini) called it at first. I said 'No, I got it,' and he said, 'It's from my spot.' When a guy says that, you've got to give it to him.
"Obviously he'll get free-kicks from now on. I won't argue it again."
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| Chicago Fire player Daniel Paladini takes a free-kick to score the equalizer against Portland Timbers Photo: Flickr |
Timbers forward Diego Valeri opened the scoring after 33 minutes before Ben Zemanski doubled the advantage in the 58th minute with a blast from 23 yards.
But thanks in large part to skipper Mike Magee, the Fire weren't done.
In the 68th minute, Alex played a through ball to Magee in the box, which was missed by both goalkeeper Miloš Kocić and defender Andrew Jean-Baptiste, giving the forward an easy tap-in goal.
Fourteen minutes later, Magee earned a free-kick just outside the box.
Magee and second half substitute Daniel stepped up to the free-kick from 26 yards out, and everyone in the stadium assumed it would be Magee's to take.
Instead, Paladini stepped forward and surprised Kocić with a quick free-kick that he curved around the wall and into the left corner of the net.
"I walked up to it, because that's the spot where I practice the most," Paladini said after the game.
"I told him (Magee) that he could have the assist. When he backed up he told me to hit it.
"If you look at the film, I guarantee that he (Kocić) looked down and to his left and I was already going and all I had to do is get it over his head."
Magee added: "I wanted to take it. He (Paladini) called it at first. I said 'No, I got it,' and he said, 'It's from my spot.' When a guy says that, you've got to give it to him.
"Obviously he'll get free-kicks from now on. I won't argue it again."
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