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The Chicago Fire are now just three points out of first place in Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference, with the third-best record in MLS. Their spot in second place was affirmed on Wednesday when they bested Toronto FC, 2-1, and they trail only Sporting Kansas City in the Eastern Conference standings.
Alvaro Fernandez and Chris Rolfe provided the scoring for Chicago. Fernandez hit the net first, putting home a Pavel Pardo cross in the 13th minute. It came immediately after a turnover from Aaron Maund. Pardo hit the post and had the ball come right back to him, and he fired it off to an open Fernandez for the goal. Rolfe also scored in the first half, nailing his team-leading sixth goal of the season. He hit one from 22 yards after a poorly-cleared corner kick.
Eric Hassli scored the only goal for Toronto, but he was only able to cut the lead in half, and it didn't lead to a real comeback. Toronto was missing some key players in Ryan Johnson, Terry Dunfield and Dicoy Williams, as the Chicago Tribune notes. The newly acquired Wells Thompson entered for the Fire in the second half, but didn't do anything of significance.
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