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After another disappointing loss at home, the Chicago Fire had a quick turnaround on Saturday night after their first midweek game of the season. This time it was the defending champions Columbus Crew coming to town. It was gonna be a tough task for the Fire to pick up the three points, but would their desperation prevail?
It was a feeling out process for both team for the first 20 minutes of the game. Each them played the possession game with the ball and holding back on pushing it forward.
Rafael Czichos drew the first yellow card in 24th, when he grazed the foot of a Crew player. Questionable yellow. Fire had pushed for a corner, but the ball went right past Carlos Teran who was a couple steps too late to it.
Fire had aa break off a turnover and Brian Gutierrez crossed it to the far end to Chris Mueller who couldn’t do much with it. Meanwhile there was a man in the middle much closer to Guti than Mueller was. This is an example of one of many times that the Fire keeps passes on the easier higher percentage option in favor for the more difficult one.
Columbus began to get serious and push the attack. Enter Diego Rossi, who blasts one at Chris Brady who punches it out in the air and the ball comes down back to Rossi after two Fire defenders miss the head clearance (unreal), the ball comes straight back down to Diego Rossi who one-times it to the back of the net. Fantastic professional goal by Rossi in the 28th. Columbus strikes first and takes a 1-0 lead.
Fire get a chance to tie, but the lack of crisp passing near the box leads to the Crew defense getting back to swarm them from getting a shot on goal. Fire seems again a step behind, lacking sharpness and execution, a consistent pattern that has plagued them for the last six winless games.
Haltime, Columbus finding their groove in the last 25 minutes of the half. The Fire keep stepping on their own toes with silly mistakes that can go on a blooper reel. An ugly trend that’s been sticking around.
Starting out the half the Fire had a golden chance when Mueller’s cross connected with the open Cuypers, who ended up lifting a weak shot right at the goalkeeper. When you miss chances like that, you get punished on the other end. That’s exactly what the Crew did with a ball to the box that was headed nicely by Christian Ramirez for 2-0 lead in the 55th minute; Columbus cruising.
Substitutions for the Fire, Xherdan Shaqiri enters the game along with the returning Maren Haile-Selassie. Shaqiri received a roaring ovation. Makes you wonder why he sat to start the game on a night when many of the 23,319 were there to see him on Albanian Heritage Night.
Fire had another big chance when a ball laid out to Barlow for a breakaway one-on-one lead to a shot off the mark. You can see why this team has struggled so much when they squander opportunities like this one. They do create chances and shots, the problem has been getting them on target.
Noticeably the Crew put the foot off the gas in the second and focused their attention to defending their 2-0 lead. Shaqiri, who has been subject to criticism in the media (if you watched the broadcast against St. Louis you heard it loudly), but you can’t knock him for his skill-set, he still lays out the prettiest ball of anyone on the team, which is what he did again, sailing one into the box where Teran ended up knocking in a header after a scrum in the box. The scoreless streak is over! Chicago gets on the board, 2-1 in the 85th.
Momentum for the Fire? Not so much. Crew answers three minutes later when Maite Amundsen sent a pass to the sprinting Jacen Russell-Rowe, who gets a touch on it and blasts one pass Brady, who once again, had no chance.
Six added minutes were nothing but a far fetched dream for Chicago. Good teams make you pay for mistakes and that’s what the Crew did on this night. Their record might not be what you expect it to be at this point, but they still look like the defending champs. The Fire were no match for a team that is starting to hit their stride versus a team who is bottoming out.
Things are bleak for the Fire. They finally score a goal, but the problems lie so much deeper with this team. It’s not only the bad offense and lack of finishing and creativity, it’s the mentality, confidence and costly mistakes. It doesn’t get easier going forward.
Up next, the men in red head to D.C., where Christian Benteke will be waiting on the other end. Good luck!
Notes:
- Goalkeeper Chris Brady made his 13th start of the season and 44th of his career, surpassing Gaga Slonina for most starts by a Homegrown goalkeeper in Club history.
- Chicago’s record against Columbus now stands at 27-27-23 in regular season play since 1998.
- Chase Gasper (upper leg) and Tobias Salquist (upper leg) were unavailable for today’s match.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago will travel to the Nation’s capital to face D.C. United on Saturday, May 25. The match is scheduled to kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT at Audi Field and will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass and transmitted locally via wlsam.com in English and WRTO 1200 AM in Spanish
