McInerney leads Union to 1-0 win over Fire

JACK McINERNEY scored the only goal as the Union defeated the Chicago Fire, 1-0, at PPL Park on Saturday night.

McInerney's goal was a header off a pass from Sebastien Le Toux in the third minute of play. It was McInerney's eighth goal of the season.

"We just work off of each other, and read off of each other," McInerney said of Le Toux. "We've both played forward, obviously, so we know what we look for. For him to put the ball in those places, that just shows that we have experience from the past."

McInerney spent much of the game in a midfielder role.

"I don't mind it," he said. "Everyone likes to play a different formation, and it was one of those things where if someone else made a run, I had to come back and track back."

The victory improved the Union's record to 5-4-3 while the Fire dropped to 2-7-1.

"I think Chicago is a much better team than their record shows and credit to them," Union manager John Hackworth said. "They certainly tried to come in and put us under a ton of pressure and their ball movement was dangerous. So for us to have to deal with that for 90-plus minutes and grab this win says lot about our guys."

The Union next plays on Saturday at Montreal (7 p.m., Comcast SportsNet) before playing at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the U.S. Open Cup either at the Pittsburgh Riverhounds or at PPL Park against the Ocean City Nor'Easters.