Chicago Fire FC (2-3-3, 9 points) earned its first shutout of the season in a 0-0 tie with the New York Red Bulls (4-1-3, 15 points) on Saturday night at Red Bull Arena.
Chicago remains unbeaten in four straight away matches against the Red Bulls, winning twice and tying on two occasions along the Hudson River.
Both teams created dangerous chances in the first half, before New York went down to 10 men in the 42nd minute when defender Andrés Reyes fouled Tobias Salquist in the box in the lead-up to a free kick. Initially shown a yellow card, the call was changed to a straight red following Video Assistant Referee review. Chicago used a concussion substitute following the encounter, with Mauricio Pineda replacing Salquist in the backline.
Homegrown goalkeeper Chris Brady made several key saves to keep the clean sheet for the Fire, including one in the second minute when Wikelman Carmona sent a left-footed shot to the near post that ricocheted between the goalkeeper and the post before being cleared out. He then saved a Lewis Morgan header in the sixth minute. In the 65th minute, Brady once again stopped a shot from Morgan when the Scottish forward got past the Chicago defense and sent a hard shot to the near post where the Naperville native was holding his line to make the reaction save.
With seven minutes added to the end of the second half, it was in the 90+1st minute that New York had its clearest opportunity of the game. A long ball was sent over the top that Elias Manoel brought down and shot as Brady was coming out to cut off his angle. The ball hit the near post and bounced back into the box. Frankie Amaya was ready for the rebound, taking a shot across the goal that bounced off the far post before being cleared out of danger. Brady ended the night with five saves to keep his ninth career shutout.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago returns to the lakefront to begin a three-game homestand that begins Saturday, April 20 against Real Salt Lake. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT at Soldier Field, and the match is slated to be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass. The match will also be transmitted locally via wlsam.com in English and WRTO 1200 AM in Spanish.
Social: Twitter - @chicagofire, @vamosfire (Hashtags: #CF97 #VamosFire) | Instagram - @chicagofire | Facebook
Notes:
- With the 0-0 draw, the Fire snapped a two-match winning streak at home for the Red Bulls.
- Goalkeeper Chris Brady started in the net for the eighth time this season, having only missed one game due to international duty. The clean sheet marks his first of 2024, and the ninth of his career.
- Midfielder Brian Gutiérrez made his 96th appearance for the Fire when he entered the match in the 60th minute for midfielder Chris Mueller.
- Defenders Rafael Czichos and Allan Arigoni, midfielder Maren Haile-Selassie and forward Hugo Cuypers started their eighth-consecutive match together. Czichos is the only player to have played the full 90 minutes in all of the Fire’s eight matches this season.
- Defenders Chase Gasper (upper leg) and Andrew Gutman (upper leg) were unavailable for today’s match.
Box Score:
New York Red Bulls 0:0 Chicago Fire FC
Goals:
None
Discipline:
NYR - Reyes (Ejection) 40’
CHI - Acosta (Yellow Card) 55’
CHI - Czichos (Yellow Card) 75’
CHI: GK Brady, D Souquet (Dean, 75’), D Czichos, D Salquist (Pineda, 45+1’), D Arigoni, M Haile-Selassie (Koutsias, 64’), M Mueller (Giménez, 61’), M Shaqiri (capt.), M Herbers, M Acosta (Gutiérrez, 60’), F Cuypers (Barlow, 75’)
Subs not used: GK Richey, D Terán, M Navarro
NYR: GK Coronel, D Eile, D Reyes, D D. Nealis, D Tolkin, M Stroud (Edelman, 80’), M Amaya, M Morgan (Duncan, 90+6’), M Forsberg (capt.) (Manoel, 85’), M Carmona, F Vanzier (S. Nealis, 43’)
Subs not used: GK Meara, M Zakrzewski, M Harper, F Gjengaar, F Mitchell
Stats Summary: NYR / CHI
Shots: 19 / 9
Shots on Goal: 5 / 3
Saves: 3 / 5
Passing Accuracy: 74.5% / 86.5%
Corners: 4 / 4
Fouls: 5 / 7
Offsides: 1 / 4
Possession: 34.2% / 65.8%
Referee: Sergii Boiko
Assistant Referees: Cameron Blanchard, Matthew Nelson
Fourth Official: Jeremy Scheer
VAR: Michael Radchuk
Assistant VAR: Chantal Boudreau
Chicago Fire FC Quotes
Chicago Fire FC Head Coach Frank Klopas
On the game…
“On the road, you always take the point. You know, I mean, I thought the first half [it] took us a little bit to get into the game. Once we got into the game I felt we were organized. We had some really good moments.
And then obviously the red card, not changed things, but I think that, you know, I think then they played a little bit where they sat back and they looked at transition a lot more.
You know, we tried to push the game, and we pushed the game late and then I think we took some risk at times as you're pushing the game and I felt that we could have done a little bit better job when we played with the two strikers that, you know, we move the ball well and then at some point when we get the ball from one side to the other, we have to either take guys on, get more crosses in the box and try to provide more service to the strikers. We were shifting them. We were moving them but then the penetration, the crosses, I felt we could have done a better job with that and giving our strikers opportunities to get the goal.
But then, look, you take the point, we've built on this as a team, and now we have to regroup and focus on the next three games at home.”
On whether he considers it to be a missed opportunity that the team wasn’t able to get a goal…
“I think you take a point. Of course you always want to get the three points. That’s the thing. But as you're pushing the game, you always have to be disciplined. We took some risks in moments and then you could just see, I think they are a team in transition, that they were good, and they also had their chances as we pushed forward.
But in the end, yeah, you feel like every time you step on the field you want to get the three points. But we'll take the point on the road against a good team and we'll build on this and, for sure, we have to find somewhere to get the points that we dropped at home against [FC Cincinnati].”
On how he thinks the team responded to the physicality of the game in the second half…
“We knew it was going to be a physical match. Even before we came in here, the duels, we talked about winning the individual battles, the duels, the second balls. This is the type of game that we knew we were going to face but there was no issue. I think it was a good physical match. I think it was really competitive from both sides, good energy, and I didn't see anything. We felt good and I think our team is prepared to play any type of match.”
On what he can do to get the best out of Xherdan Shaqiri…
“I think he was very good today. He was committed. He worked extremely hard. The last game, he obviously had a big impact and you know, we get the ball to him in better spots up the field and I felt today he was more dynamic and he was attacking the space. He was very aggressive, and you know, he always has the ability to provide that final pass, and I think he got in some good spots today.
He had some good opportunities, some shots that they were blocked, and you know, as long as he's aggressive and he's playing like that, I think we'll see he's always going to contribute and be a really big factor for us, and we need him to be at his best in order for us to really be a team that's competing and contending in the end for trophies.”
On whether there are any updates about Maren Haile-Selassie…
“No. We'll evaluate tomorrow. It's a calf injury. We have to see. It's hard to say right now.”
Chicago Fire FC Forward Tom Barlow
On his initial thoughts about playing in a difficult stadium and earning a point on the road…
“Yeah, we obviously played a great team tonight, and in a tough environment. So yeah, I think like Coach said, we'll take the point on the road against a good team like the Red Bulls. A little disappointed we couldn't find the back of the net, especially being up a man for the majority of the game.
But it's just, you know, time to regroup and then we'll get back, watch some film, see what we can do better and move on to the next game. I think we've got three home games in a row, so it's a good opportunity to get some points on the board. Yeah, we'll just reevaluate the game and move from there.”
On being recognized by the New York Red Bulls before the match in his first game back at Red Bull Arena since leaving the team…
“Yeah, it was neat. I was here for six years, and you know, really had a good experience here. Yeah, it was really cool of them to do that for me. I wasn't expecting that. It was nice to come back and see a lot of familiar faces and so yeah, I'm very appreciative and it was pretty cool.”
On emotionally separating the game from the feeling of going back to Red Bull Arena after playing there for so long…
“Yeah, it was a cool moment for me, and getting to see everybody again was really awesome. Once I was in the game, just focus on trying to help my team and trying to win. Obviously, you know, we didn't do that but we took the point. But, like I said, it's nice to come back here and see all these guys. Bummed we didn't get the win but we'll take the point and move on.”
On how different the current Red Bulls team looks from the team on which he played last year…
“Obviously Lewis [Morgan] is back. He's having a heck of a start to the year. Adding [Emil] Forsberg this year who is a top player. They look good. They are dangerous. They were good on the transition today. They did obviously the normal press and stuff. Yeah, they are a good team and look forward to playing them again later this year.”
On his relationship with Hugo Cuypers and Georgios Koutsias…
“Yeah, it's been good. Two great guys, really good players. Koutsi obviously has been here for a little bit. Hugo is new like me. We've just been developing those relationships and competing on the training ground, which has been a lot of fun.
But it's been good for us. We're pushing each other and [I’m] able to take some things from those two guys and work on my game with it. So yeah, it's been really good.”
On how the team is progressing and how close he thinks they are to being where they want to be going into the summer…
“Yeah, we've had some good moments. We've had some moments that, you know, we need to work on. I think now is a good opportunity for us to really come together as a team with the three home games coming up. We've had some good performances. Obviously, yeah, still fairly early is the season. So we do, like most teams, have a lot to work on. We are looking forward to it.
It's a good group, it's a hungry group and we enjoy playing with each other. And I think we can be really, you know, really competitive this season and we are looking to go far. Now it's just getting back to training and looking forward to the next game.”