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After a perfect three game road trip (twice in Canada), another Canadian squad lines up against the Fire, CF Montreal, but this time hey are back in the chilly and gloomy confines of Soldier Field. The Fire played three road games, to just one home game to this point.
Thee first dangerous threat arrived with Dante Sealy lifting a strike outside the top of the box where Chris Brady sails high and knocks the ball over the goal for a Montreal corner. Huge save by Brady. That ball looked high but was treading downward into the goal.
A three on two run to the box, a bit of a mix-up resulting with a low ground header by Mauricio Pineda that dribbles into the side post. Something was going to pop for one of these teams, and it did in the 40th. Jonathan Bamba with a ridiculous behind-the-back flip pass to the trailing Andrew Gutman who takes it deep into the left side of the box and lays a perfect cross to Philip Zinckernagel who taps it home for a 1-0 lead. Fantastic lead-up to the goal, Bamba and Gutman deserve major credit for that lead-up.
The Fire take the lead into the half. No doubt Zinck has been on fire (no pun intended) lately. Adds another goal in a consecutive game. Looks like the Fire have momentum heading into the second half.
The rain is coming down at the start of the second half and to pour it on, Dante Sealy adds a goal on a nice cross into the box. In the 50th minute it’s a 1-1 tie.
On a counter, Brady made a big mistake getting caught far out of the goalie box trying to run down a ball. The attacker went around him had an open goal, a few Fire players held him up briefly and as he shoots on goal, out comes a sliding Brady to knock the ball away. Unreal sequence, Brady makes up big time for his misjudgement. Easily could have been 2-1 Montreal.
The rest of the game was a lot more Montreal on the attack, and a lot less for Chicago. Brady made some big back-to-back saves in the 89th minute. Montreal kept pushing forward. The Fire just did enough to hold off Montreal in the end and come out with a point.
This wasn’t a good performance by the Fire, by any means. They were outperformed by CF Montreal. They had the Fire’s tactics figured out and were overall a lot more aggressive and hungry. Realistically the Fire should be thrilled with a point, they didn’t earn or deserve it on this night.
Player of the Match:
On a underwhelming night, there were some solid performances, Gutman, Bamba and Zinck were all solid, but credit to Sam Rogers on the backline. He was tasked with shadowing Montreal striker Prince Uwusu and Rogers pretty much contained and shut him down on the night. Rogers was step-in-step with Prince at all times and kept forcing Uwusu offsides on multiple occasions. Strong effort from Rogers, who might stay a starter, even when the injured players return.
Next Match:
Chicago Fire heads east to face the New York Red Bulls on Saturday, April 5 at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, N.J. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT and the match will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
Notes:
- With tonight’s draw, Chicago is now unbeaten in five matches for the first time since 2023, when the Fire went 2-0-3 from March 25 through April 15.
- Goalkeeper Chris Brady recorded six saves in the match, the first time he records as many since notching seven against Inter Miami CF on July 20, 2024. The match also marked the ninth time in his career in which Brady recorded at least six saves, three short of his match-high nine set on March 9, 2024 against Columbus.
- Winger Jonathan Bamba’s fourth assist of the season had him tied for first in Major League Soccer with five other players. The assist was his second in three matches, his last coming in Toronto on March 15.
- Saturday’s match marked the first time the Fire featured the same starting XI as the week prior all season. This was the first time the Fire repeated a lineup since July 13, 2024 against New York City FC.
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