Open Fire

Since mid-season, whether it be in league play or U.S. Open Cup action, the Chicago Fire have been on fire. They've made a commitment to physical defending and their blend of scrappiness and finesse up top has created 39 goals, second most in the conference. These attributes were on display in their 3-1 drubbing of the Galaxy in the U.S. Open Cup Final.

The Fire got on the board early as C.J. Brown - their center back, mind you - won a header in the Los Angeles box that a teammate then sent bouncing across the mouth of the goal to Nate Jacqua who headed it home. It was a play that highlighted the Fire's desire to win as two Chicago attackers hustled to get behind the ball-watching Galaxy defenders for the score. Scrappiness? Check.

Soon thereafter, Chicago padded their lead as outside midfielder Justin Mapp's cross glanced perfectly off the head of striker Andy Herron and into the far corner of the net. He might tell you otherwise, but there was no way that Mapp knew where Herron was in the box after firing the cross without so much as glancing at his target. But when things are going your way, those types of plays materialize. As for Herron's header: downright dirty. Heavily marked, he rose up above the defender and deftly put it where Hartman had no chance to make the save. Finesse? Check.

Aside from the early part of the second half in which the Chicago defense took a less is more approach to marking and let up a goal, the Fire looked unbeatable on this night, adding an insurance goal to further ruin the Galaxy's already waning collective self-esteem.

They can ill afford many defensive lapses when they take on D.C. United in the conference finals but the addition of a legitimate attack to a traditionally industrious back line has the Fire as serious contenders for the Eastern Conference crown.

Basic Instinct

For all the scoring chances Manchester United had against Reading last Saturday, their lone goal came on what appeared to be a benign offensive attack from the wing. But when Cristiano Ronaldo is manning the wing, there is always a chance for fireworks.

Ronaldo received the ball innocently enough in the right corner and - as wingers are told to do - immediately ran at his defender. Having not put any initial pressure on Ronaldo, the Reading defender was forced to pedal backwards towards his own net, twisting and turning in an attempt to see Ronaldo and predict his next move. Unsure of whether Ronaldo's decisive touch would be to the winger's left or right, the defender had to stay home and let Ronoldo dictate the play.

At that point, the defender was dead in the water. Knowing this, Ronaldo took a quick touch to his right and the defender, unable to anticipate Ronaldo's path, was also unable to get in front of the Portugese international's low pill that found the far side netting. Reading defended well before this play and defended well after this play, but it took only a smidgin of daylight for Ronaldo to decide the match's 1-1 outcome.

The beauty of the goal lies in its simplicity. All he did was run at a defender, touch it to his side and beat the keeper. Easy enough, thanks for coming. Easy enough for Ronaldo, that is. That type of talent can't be found in just any footballer. It takes a special player to be able to score such an individual goal.

You wouldn't want to base your attack around individual play, but the ability to score individual goals separates the good teams from the great ones. Some days, your club just doesnt have it - like Man U. against the recently promoted Reading. Without Ronaldo's ability to create a goal out of nothing, Manchester would have suffered a depressing defeat. With Ronaldo's feat, they salvaged a result on an off day. Possession and sound defending are both important, but you can't earn points without scoring goals. When the team isn't clicking in the offensive third, the great teams pull goals out of their you-know-wheres.

Manchester United has looked strong in the early rounds of the Premiership as well as in the early matches of the Champions League and, as long as they have Ronaldo, they're sure to find results in both competitions.