John Thorrington scored on a last minute chip shot to earn Chicago a 1-0 closing day win over Los Angeles, thus ending the Galaxy's late run at a playoff spot.

The match would not have gone down to the wire with the final playoff spot in question were it not for from Joe Cannon, who kept the dominant Fire at bay with nine saves, many of them spectacular.

In the 10th minute, the LA netminder tipped over a dipping Cuauhtémoc Blanco effort and he turned away CJ Brown's firm header from a Blanco free kick in the 22nd minute.

Chad Barrett had a golden chance to open from a Blanco centering feed moments before the break, but fired agonizingly over. Cannon then stood up well to a Barrett try in the 53rd minute.

David Beckham appeared just before the hour, and minutes later, served a curling restart that Carlos Pavon nodded over from the doorstep. The Honduras striker also fired high from a Landon Donovan set-up as the Galaxy struggled to put shots on target.

Thorrington assured the Fire of a playoff berth when played in alone by fellow sub Calen Carr in stoppage time. The former Manchester United schoolboy took his time to lift a delicate lob over Cannon for the only goal of the day.

Scoring
CHI - John Thorrington 1 (Calen Carr, Cuauhtémoc Blanco) 90+3'

Line-ups
LA - Joe Cannon; Chris Klein, Ante Jazic, Troy Roberts, Mike Randolph, Landon Donovan, Cobi Jones, Josh Tudela (Alan Gordon 72'), Peter Vagenas (David Beckham 58'), Gavin Glinton (Edson Buddle 61'), Carlos Pavon

CHI - Matt Pickens; Dasan Robinson, CJ Brown, Gonzalo Segares, Logan Pause, Chris Rolfe (Calen Carr 90+), Chris Armas, Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Wilman Conde, Chad Barrett (John Thorrington 61'), Paulo Wanchope (Bakary Soumare 80')