RECAP: Chicago Fire Earn Crucial Victory Over New England, 3-2
The playoffs are in sight for the Chicago Fire.
Playing a must-win home game on Saturday night against the New England Revolution, the Men in Red edged out a 3-2 victory.
After a dominant first 75 minutes, the game got a little too close for comfort, but the Fire managed to seal the deal.
Gregg Berhalter’s side retakes 9th place in the Eastern Conference standings, surpassing the New York Red Bulls.
Fire Hungry From the Start
It took all of 90 seconds for Seatgeek Stadium to roar to life. Brian Gutierrez drove down the middle of the pitch and weighted a ball perfectly into the path of Jonathan Bamba, clear of the New England defense. The Ivorian danced past goalkeeper Matt Turner and scored on an open net, making it 1-0 to the Fire within two minutes.
The Men in Red continued to look potent in attack, with first-time starter Andre Franco serving as an engine. Just before the 10-minute mark, the Porto loanee laid a pass off at the edge of the box to Philip Zinckernagel, who fired an unstoppable finish past Turner. Chicago thus made it 2-0, and Zinckernagel added a 12th goal to his MLS season tally. The strike brought the Dane to 25 goal involvements on the year, the second-highest mark in club history.
Chicago controlled the game for the majority of the first half, but couldn’t get another insurance goal. New England began to threaten just before the break. Two corner kicks saw the Revs come close, before a stoppage-time onslaught forced a block from Andrew Gutman and three incredible saves from Chris Brady. Much to the disappointment of the visitors, the Fire escaped the half still ahead 2-0.
Three at Last for the Fire
The two sides had a tough act to follow coming into the second half. A halftime show from acrobat Christian Stoinev and his canine pal Scooby greatly entertained the Bridgeview crowd. Hugo Cuypers came close to stealing the spotlight in the 64th minute, when his overhead kick flashed narrowly wide of the goal. A minute later, the Men in Red again came close through Bamba, who got on the end of a Franco pass and fired his attempt just over the crossbar.
In the 68th minute, the Fire finally got their third goal. Franco controlled the ball some 12 yards out from goal, drawing two defenders. The new signing unselfishly opted to pass to his right, finding Cuypers unmarked. Chicago’s talisman converted from a narrow angle to make it 3-0. It was Cuypers’ 16th goal of the campaign and Franco’s second assist of the game.
Cuypers’ stellar performance continued with a crunching tackle on Tanner Beason in the 76th minute. The Fire briefly lost possession, but won it back thanks to a relentless Zinckernagel. The latter found substitute Maren Haile-Selassie just inside the box, and his effort skimmed the crossbar on its way over.
Surviving a Late Scare
Against the run of play, just one minute after nearly conceding for the fourth time, the Revs pulled a goal back. The counter-attack caught the Fire back line sleeping, and Peyton Miller snuck a shot past Brady to get New England on the board. Despite the goal, the Fire controlled much of the remainder of the game, at least until stoppage time.
Alarm bells started ringing in the 93rd minute, when Omar Gonzalez gave up a late penalty. Carlos Gil converted from the spot, putting New England within one. Brady was forced to make a game-saving reflex stop in the sixth minute of stoppage time after Tomas Chancalay got on the end of a dangerous cross from Brandon Bye and headed the ball goalwards. The final whistle felt like music to the ears of the Men in Red, who escaped with all three points.
Focusing on the Positives
The near-collapse in the final minutes of the game did not put a dampener on the Fire’s post-game celebrations. Head coach Berhalter acknowledged that there were “moments we’d like to change and be a little bit better,” but emphasized that it was “overall, a really good performance.”
When asked about how the Fire could have very well conceded a third goal, Berhalter quipped that “we can say we almost scored six goals, right?”
Berhalter also spoke about the effect the team’s unplanned week off had on the group.
“Everyone was good in training; really good, competitive training sessions,” remarked the manager, “and we saw that commitment the last few weeks in training.”
Zinckernagel, coming off another quality showing, reiterated that this game was the result of hard work in training.
“We were not happy with the performance in Philly,” the Dane said, referring to the Fire’s 4-0 loss to the Union two weeks ago.
“Today we’ve come from some good training weeks,” he continued, “and also got fresh mentally and physically.”
Perhaps the player who benefited most from the break was Franco.
The 27-year-old made his first competitive start in six months against New England.
“The game against Inter Miami was delayed, and it helped me, because I had two more weeks to get in good shape,” Franco said.
“Now, I’m feeling better, and I hope next week will be better than today.”
Firmly in Control
The Fire have stepped up at a crucial moment and now look to ride the momentum into their last six games.
Their next fixture pits them against New York City FC, who are one spot ahead of Chicago in the standings. A victory there could put the Men in Red in position to host a playoff game.
The six-point clash against NYCFC is slated for 7 pm on Saturday, September 13th, as the Fire return to Soldier Field for the first time in six weeks.
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