The hard-fought match saw the Fire (0-1-1) earn their first point of the season and the first MLS minutes for Designated Player Gastón Giménez who joined the team in Chicago on Friday. Defender Miguel Ángel Navarro also made his MLS debut as Chicago increased its record to 27-22-14 all-time against the Revolution.
Next on the schedule: The Chicago Fire will play a third consecutive away game on Saturday, March 14, traveling to face Orlando City SC at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Fla. Kickoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. CT and the match will be broadcast live on WGN-TV and ESPN+ and transmitted in Spanish on TUDN Radio WRTO 1200 AM. The pregame show, presented by CIBC, will begin on ESPN+ at 6:15 p.m. CT.
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Notes:
- The Fire will return to Chicago on March 21 for its home opener against Atlanta United FC at Soldier Field. The Club recently announced that more than 30,000 tickets have been sold for its Homecoming Match against Atlanta United;
- After joining the team for training in Chicago this week, Designated Player Gastón Giménez came on in the 63rd minute to earn his first appearance for the Club;
- Defender Miguel Ángel Navarro replaced goal-scorer Jonathan Bornstein in the 81st minute to earn his first appearance for the Club;
- Midfielder Djordje Mihailović earned his 55th Fire appearance and his second assist in as many games;
- Jonathan Bornstein scored in the 70th minute for Chicago, earning his first goal in a Fire shirt;
- Defender Francisco Calvo wore the captain’s armband for Chicago after being given the honor for the first time last Sunday in Seattle. Today’s match marks his 25th appearance for the Fire;
- Saturday’s game marked the second of three consecutive away matches for the Fire, with the Club having kicked off the season at CenturyLink Field against Seattle. The Fire is set to face Orlando City SC next Saturday, March 14.
Goals:
NER - Adam Buksa (1) (Brandon Bye 1) 28th minute (WATCH): Brandon Bye found forward Adam Buska at the top of the box. The Polish forward took a left-footed touch around Calvo and slotted the ball past Kenneth Kronholm to put New England up by one.
CHI - Jonathan Borstein (1) (Djordje Mihailović 2) 70th minute (WATCH): Gastón Giménez played a ball wide to Djordje Mihailović, who tracked it down and sent it to Jonathan Bornstein at the near post. The defender read it well, sending the snap header across the goal, past Brad Knighton and into the far post.
Key attacking plays:
CHI – Fabian Herbers 31st minute (WATCH): The Fire won the ball in transition and took it up the right flank. Przemysław Frankowski slipped a perfectly-timed ball up to Herbers, who ran onto it and sent a quick, deft shot to the near post, forcing Knighton to make the save.
CHI – Brandt Bronico 61st minute (WATCH): Bronico sends a long ball to the top of the six-yard box, where Mihailović is rushing, but the pass just misses the midfielder and rolls out for a goal kick.
CHI – Przemysław Frankowski 74th minute (WATCH): Medrán sends a ball forward to Frankowski, who runs at Knighton one-on-one. Knighton times it well, stifling the attempt with his body.
CHI - Gastón Giménez 88th minute (WATCH): Medrán is dispossessed, but the ball falls back to Giménez, who takes a touch before firing a hard-hit shot that shakes the outside of the side netting.
Stops and key defensive plays:
CHI - Kenneth Kronholm 9th minute (WATCH): New England pressures and wins the ball in the middle of the field, sending it forward to Adam Buksa. Buksa settles it and cuts inside to his left, sending a shot to the lower left corner that Kronholm does well to get down and save. The rebound bounced out to forward Diego Fagundez, who sent his attempt well over the goal.
CHI - Fabian Herbers 77th minute (WATCH): New England sends the ball into the middle of the six-yard box, where Buksa turns and pokes the ball to the far post. Forward Fabian Herbers had come back, stopping the ball on the goal line, preserving the 1-1 score.
Box score:
Chicago Fire FC 1:1 New England Revolution
Scoring Summary:
NER – Buksa (1) (Bye 1) 28’
CHI – Bornstein (1) (Mihailović 2) 70’
Misconduct Summary:
NER – Kessler (Caution) 40’
CHI – Kappelhof (Caution) 47’
NER – Jones (Caution) 90+1’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Kronholm, D Bronico (M Giménez 63’), D Kappelhof, D Calvo ©, D Bornstein (D Navarro, 81’), M Medrán, M Pineda, M Herbers, F Frankowski, F Berić, F Mihailović
Subs not used: GK Shuttlworth, F Aliseda, D Azira, D Omsberg, F Collier
Shots: 15 Shots on goal: 6 Fouls: 16 Offsides: 0 Corners: 7 Possession: 55.7%
New England Revolution: GK Knighton, D Jones, D Kessler, D Farrell, D Bye, M Fagundez, M Zahibo, F Bunbury (F Rennicks 79’), F Bou, F Penilla (F Buchanan 79’), F Buksa
Subs not used: M S. Caldwell, M Rowe, D Mancienne, GK J. Caldwell, M Rivera
Shots: 15 Shots on goal: 3 Fouls: 11 Offsides: 1 Corners: 3 Possession: 44.3%
Referee: Fotis Bazakos
Assistant Referees: Peter Balciunas, Brian Poeschel
Fourth Official: Sergii Demianchuk
VAR: Alan Kelly
Attendance: 15,289
Chicago Fire FC Quotes
Chicago Fire FC Head Coach Raphael Wicky
On how he felt about the heart shown by the team against New England…
“Good, happy. That’s the basic thing we ask from the players is that they all work and fight together and that’s also something I said on the first day, that this is what we want to see. I think they showed that. We have to keep working. There were lots of positives, again, and we had a lot of chances. Of course in the end, the game can go to both sides, but we’re happy. It’s not easy to get a point here, on the road, against a home team, and we’re very happy with that point.”
On the build-up and goal…
“Beautiful goal. Jonny Bornstein doesn’t have that many goals like he did today but I’m happy for him and I’m happy for the team. At the end of the day, I’m happy that the team came back, showed a lot of character, again, coming back after losing. I’m happy with that.”
On the MLS debuts of Gastón Giménez and Miguel Ángel Navarro…
“Obviously, Gastón gave us what I expect that he gives us; calmness, he gives us experience, he gives us quality. It wasn’t easy for him. He just flew in a day ago. He’s never trained with the team, actually. It was not easy to bring him on the field, but he did good. You see he has quality. And Miguel has now been with us for a week. He’s dynamic. It’s not easy coming into a game like that when the rhythm is very high, but the whole team did well. The new players who are here did well and I’m happy with my group.”
Chicago Fire FC Defender Jonathan Bornstein
On scoring his first goal with the Chicago Fire…
“It felt really great. First goal here with the Chicago Fire. You know, to get a point, the first point of the season, I think will really lift up the team. For me, it’s always about just doing what’s best for the team. Even my coach came in and asked, ‘What are you doing there in the box?’ It was a great goal. Djordje [Mihailović] had a great service. Before that, Gastón [Giménez] puts in a great ball to Djordje, so I think this group has really come together and I’m really excited and hoping that we can get more points here in the next one on the road in Orlando and then definitely in that home opener on the 21st in Chicago.”
On the fight of the team to come back from being down a goal in the first half…
“I think it showed a lot of heart and character on this team. In preseason we had one against the Galaxy that kind of went similar. We showed a lot of fight in that one, too. In the last game against Seattle, we battled to the end, also. We got a little unfortunate there, at the end. But I think that’s how this group has to be. We have to fight until the end, we have to do what it takes to always put ourselves in a position to get three points. That’s what we did tonight and we come away with one, and we’re happy to go home with that.”
On the goal…
“We kind of moved to coming out of the back with three so the outside back can get a little bit higher. I found myself a little bit higher, and Djordje and I kind of switched roles when Gastón got the ball. He put a really nice ball up to Djordje. It went a little bit far for him so he kind of saved it from going out of bounds and cut back. I was already inside the 18-yard-box and just kind of waited a little bit to see what Djordje was going to do. When I saw him starting to cross it with his right foot, I just made a run to the front post and I just knew it was coming to my head. In the moment, I was just trying to get it on goal, get it in the goal, and that’s what happened. It was a great goal for me, for my career. I dedicate that to my family, for sure. It was a good feeling to get the point with it.”