Razov Goal Sends Fire to Title Game

CHICAGO —  Ante Razov sent Chicago to the MLS title game for the second time in three years Friday night, scoring in the 88th minute to give the Fire a 3-2 victory over New York-New Jersey.

Chicago, the 1998 champion, will play Kansas City in the championship game Oct. 15 at Washington’s RFK Stadium.

Razov fired a 10-yard shot past goalkeeper Mike Ammann for the forward’s playoff-leading 13th point.

“We created a lot of chances in the second half and we were finally able to get a goal,” Razov said.

The goal sparked debate over whether Razov was offside.

“All of these calls are very close, but if a call or two would have gone our way, it would have been a different story,” MetroStars Coach Octavio Zambrano said.

The MetroStars overcame a 2-0 deficit to tie it on Adolfo Valencia’s goals in the 32nd and 36th minutes. After scoring off an assist from Mike Petke, Valencia tied it off a scramble in front of the goal that left goalkeeper Zach Thornton out of position.

“We let them get back in the game,” Razov said. “That was a wake-up call for us.”

Chicago opened the scoring in the fourth minute when C.J. Brown converted a feed from Hristo Stoitchkov on a corner kick.