Philadelphia scored the first goal of the game in the 28th minute. A cross from the right side of the field appeared to hit the hand of Fire defender Francisco Calvo and the Union were awarded a penalty. Philadelphia forward Kacper Przybylko stepped up and converted with a powerful shot to the left side of the goal (WATCH). It was the German’s eighth goal of the season.
The Fire were reduced to 10 men in the 36th minute when Calvo was sent off with a straight red card. The card came as the Fire captain clipped Union midfielder Alejandro Bedoya’s heel.
Despite playing a man down, Chicago found an equalizer in the 42nd minute from forward Robert Berić. A pass from midfielder Przemysław Frankowski found Ignacio Aliseda who put a dangerous shot on goal. Union goalkeeper Andre Blake made a diving save and the rebound seemed to be going out of bounds. At the last second, midfielder Djordje Mihailović kept it in play and served a perfect ball to Beric, who headed it home for his team-leading 10th goal of the season (WATCH).
The Union scored the game-winner in the 65th minute as substitute Cory Burke scored his first goal of the season. Midfielder Brenden Aaronson was able to find his way out of pressure and connect with Olivier Mbaizo on the right flank. The Cameroonian crossed the ball to the back post to the head of Burke who was able to hit it down past a diving Bobby Shuttleworth (WATCH).
The Fire continued to push for the equalizer and nearly found it in the 76th minute. Midfielder Alvaro Medrán served up a free kick and Berić’s header just missed at the near post (WATCH). In the final minutes of play, Chicago kept on pressing. In the 92nd minute, a free kick from Mihailović was flicked toward goal by Mauricio Pineda but cleared off the line by Union forward Andrew Wooten (WATCH ). One minute later, Aaronson blocked a shot from Gimenez to secure the win for the home team (WATCH).
Bobby Shuttleworth made five key saves tonight, including one in the 32nd minute denying Union defender Jack Elliott (WATCH) and one in the 69th minute as Przybylko tried for his second of the match (WATCH).
Next on the schedule: Chicago Fire FC will travel to Nashville on Saturday, October 31 to play Nashville SC in their second consecutive road match. The match will take place at Nissan Stadium and is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. CT. It will be broadcast live on WGN-TV and ESPN+ and transmitted locally in Spanish on TUDN 1200AM. The pregame show, presented by CIBC, will begin at 7:15 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
Social: Twitter - @chicagofire, @vamosfire | Instagram - @chicagofire | Facebook
Notes:
- Berić, who earned Heineken Man of the Match honors, scored his team-leading 10th goal of the season. He is currently tied for third in scoring in MLS. The Slovenian has scored in three straight matches and netted eight goals since the beginning of September, two more than any other MLS player during that time frame.
- Fire defender Carlos Terán made his MLS debut coming on as a substitute in the 78th minute. The 19-year-old Colombian was acquired on Aug. 21 from Colombian first division club Envigado FC.
- Calvo was shown a red card in the 36th minute of play. He’ll miss Saturday’s match at Nashville.
- Midfielder Gastón Giménez rejoined the starting unit after completing his quarantine following participation in World Cup Qualifying with Paraguay. Giménez scored the game-winner against Venezuela on Oct. 13.
- The Union now have a three-point lead in the Supporters' Shield race with just two matches remaining. A victory in their next match would clinch the trophy.
- Every Fire broadcast starts with an original feature, The Open. Tonight’s version, “Fine Wine,” featured TUDN radio analyst Raquel Ortiz. You can watch it here.
- Game highlights can be viewed here (Imagen) and here (MLS Matchcenter).
Goals:
PHI - Kacper Przybylko (8) 28’ (WATCH)
CHI - Robert Berić (10) (Djordje Mihailović 5) 42’ (WATCH)
PHI - Cory Burke (1) (Oliver Mbaizo 2, Brenden Aaronson 7) 65’ (WATCH)
Box Score:
Philadelphia Union 2:1 Chicago Fire FC
Misconduct Summary:
PHI - Elliot (Caution) 16’
CHI - Calvo (Ejection) 36’
CHI - Berić (Caution) 45’
PHI - Fontana (Caution) 48’
CHI - Medrán (Caution) 57’
PHI - Bedoya (Caution) 68’
CHI - Mihailović (Caution) 88’
PHI - Ilsinho (Caution) 90+4’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Shuttleworth, D Sekulić (F Collier 72’), D Bornstein (D Navarro 72’), D Calvo ©, D Pineda, M Medrán (D Terán 78’), M Mihailović, M Aliseda (M Herbers 72’), M Frankowski, M Giménez, F Berić
Subs not used: GK Sparrow, M Azira, M Casas Jr., D N. Slonina, D Reynolds II, M Gutiérrez
Philadelphia Union: GK Blake (GK Bendik 90’), D Elliott, D McKenzie, D Glesnes, D Wagner, D Gaddis (D Mbaizo HT), M Bedoya ©, M Fontana (M Ilsinho 60’), M Aaronson, F Santos (F Burke 60’), F Przybylko (F Wooten 87’)
Subs not used: M Turner, M De Vries, F Ngalina, D Collin
Stats Summary: PHI / CHI
Shots: 14 / 12
Shots on Target: 7/ 4
Saves: 3 / 5
Corners: 2 / 2
Fouls: 20 / 17
Offsides: 2 / 0
Possession: 53.2% / 46.8%
Referee: Guido Gonzales Jr.
Assistant Referees: Charles Morgante, Eric Weisbrod
Fourth Official: Natalie Simon
VAR: Younes Marrakchi
Chicago Fire FC Quotes
Chicago Fire FC Head Coach Raphael Wicky
On what he saw on the handball call against Francisco Calvo and the decision on the red card…
“I have not seen the images yet on TV. The penalty situation for me on live, it's a situation, the problem is there is no consistency over the whole year in these moments. It's a ball which is crossed. It deflects, and from two or three meters or four meters, it hits the hand of a defender. That 's the way I saw it live. I haven't seen the images, but the problem is there's no consistency of hand balls over the whole season. That's a problem.”
“The red card, I can’t say. I have to watch the pictures. Only thing I can say, it wasn't a nasty game. It wasn't a game where there was a lot of nasty, hard fouls and suddenly you have to have a red card. Francisco is a player who never, never tries to hurt anyone. Never tries intentionally to make a foul or anything. That's just what I can say. I haven't seen the images. People have told me it's not a red card, but that's all I can say.”
On whether there was any concern about the game being played in light of Philadelphia announcing a positive COVID-19 test before the game…
“We were aware of that this morning before flying, and we trust the league. They have a protocol they follow, and in every moment today, actually, we felt that we're going to play. I never had any information that the game wouldn't be on, so we flew over here and prepared our game normally.”
On his overall thoughts on the game…
“It was like the whole season. I think there was a lot of positive. We came here away from home and played against the leader of the whole MLS, a team which is in great confidence, and our team is not scared. We played from the beginning and we took the game in our hands. Of course we knew that at one point they will have some chances. Philadelphia Union is a good team that often creates and scores a lot of goals. We knew that there will be something. But until the penalty came, we had a few moments where we had to suffer but in general we actually had the game under good control.”
“After that, I think we showed a really good reaction and I'm proud of the reaction the team showed after the red card and then down, coming back. Second half, trying everything. Again we are talking here, we are playing away from home against the leader of the MLS who just beat Toronto 5-0 a few days ago. Overall a lot of positives and I'm convinced of what we do. It's just very frustrating to lose a game like that but like I said, I'm proud of the reaction of the guys, of the effort they put in. Never gave up and never were exposed to lose three, four, five, six, one, which could easily happen here, we saw a few days ago. So yeah, we will be there. We will come back.”
Chicago Fire FC Midfielder Gastón Giménez
On how much the game changed after the red card and the team’s reaction to playing with 10 men…
“I think we had a great reaction. We fought hard and it was very difficult when you're playing with one man down, especially from so early on almost the whole game, and especially against a great team, but we were in there fighting, battling hard, and it's difficult when they make things a little bit one-sided and it seems that the fouls are going mostly one-way.”
On how much pressure there is on the team to get results on the road with the playoff race getting tighter…
“We still have three games left and we need to get nine points from those three games or the maximum amount of points possible. We are still in control of our fate and we are going to keep fighting and keep going with everything that we have because that's what we want.”
On how a defeat such as the one against Philadelphia impacts the team…
“We can't have a negative reaction within the team. Everything is positive with us. We are doing well. We are going through a good moment. We are playing well, and we know that everything still depends on us. We still depend on ourselves and that's the best motivation that you can have. So while the math is still working out and we are still in the playoff race, we are going to keep working hard to obtain our objective, which has been to get into the playoffs, and we are still depending on ourselves and we are still in a fight for it.”