Playing its first away match of the 2021 season, Chicago Fire FC (0-1-1, 1 point) fell 3-1 to Atlanta United FC (1-0-1, 4 points) in a high-energy contest at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. After falling behind in the first half from Atlanta midfielder Ezequiel Barco’s long-range strike, the Fire equalized one minute into the second half when midfielder Luka Stojanović scored his second goal in a Fire shirt. However, Atlanta managed to regain the lead in the 66th minute via an own goal, before adding a third when midfielder Emerson Hyndman scored with five minutes left in the match.
NEXT GAME: Chicago Fire FC will head to Harrison, N.J. to take on the New York Red Bulls on Saturday, May 1 at Red Bull Arena. The match will begin at 12:00 p.m. CT and will be broadcast live on WGN-TV and CFFC Live/ChicagoFireFC.com. The match will also be transmitted locally in Spanish on TUDN 1200AM.
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NOTES:
- Stojanović notched his second straight game with a goal when he found the back of the net in the 46th minute. With two goals in two games to start the season, Stojanović leads the Fire in goals scored in 2021.
- Sekulić recorded the assist on Stojanović’s goal, tallying his second assist of the season. Sekulić, who was named Heineken Man of the Match for his performance, has four career assists in MLS play.
- The Fire hit the post three times in tonight’s contest. In addition to the chances off the woodwork from Frankowski and Berić in the ninth and 30th minutes, the Fire struck the post again in the 82nd minute when Berić chipped Guzan with a looping effort.
- Tonight’s match marks the first time the Fire has lost to Atlanta United since June 1, 2019. Entering tonight’s game, the Fire was riding a two-game winning streak against the Five Stripes, including a 7-1 advantage in goals scored.
- Head coach Raphael Wicky employed the same starting lineup as the team’s season opener - a 2-2 draw against the New England Revolution at Soldier Field on April 17.
- With a start in tonight’s match, goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth recorded his 200th regular season start in MLS. Shuttleworth, who has made 19 starts for the Fire, originally began his career with the New England Revolution in 2009.
- Defender Jhon Espinoza made his MLS debut in tonight’s match, entering the match in 87th minute for midfielder Chinonso Offor.
- Midfielder Gastón Giménez faced his former manager Gabriel Heinze for the first time in MLS today. Giménez previously played for Heinze at Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield in Argentina’s first division from 2018-2020, before joining the Fire. Heize became Atlanta’s third head coach in Club history on Dec. 18, 2020.
- Fire Homegrown midfielder Alex Monis was named to the team’s 20-man gameday roster for the first time in his career. Monis, 18, became the 18th Homegrown Player signing on Club history on March 11, 2020.
- Game highlights can be viewed here.
Box Score:
Chicago Fire FC 1:3 Atlanta United FC
Goals:
ATL - Barco (1) (WATCH) 23’
CHI - Stojanović (2) (Sekulić 2, Calvo 1) (WATCH) 46’
ATL - Own Goal (WATCH) 65’
ATL - Hyndman (1) (WATCH) 85’
Discipline:
ATL - Mulraney (Yellow Card - Foul) 27’
ATL - Barco (Yellow Card - Foul) 70’
ATL - Hyndman (Yellow Card - Foul) 81’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Shuttleworth, D Sekulić, D Kappelhof, D Calvo ©, D Bornstein, M Medrán, M Giménez, M Frankowski, M Stojanović, M Offor (Espinoza 87’), F Berić
Subs not used: GK G. Slonina, D Omsberg, D Terán, D Reynolds II, D/M Pineda, M Casas Jr., M Gutiérrez, M Monis
Atlanta United FC: GK Guzan ©, D Lennon (Gurr HT), D Robinson, D Walkes, D Bello, M Barco (M Ibarra 88’), M Sosa, M Hyndman, F Mulraney, F L. López (F Martínez 67’), F Moreno (M Damm 67’)
Subs not used: GK Lundgaard, D Franco, D Ambrose, F E. López, F Torres
Stats Summary: CHI / ATL
Shots: 12 / 18
Shots on Goal: 6 / 6
Saves: 4 / 5
Passing Accuracy: 77.7% / 83.7%
Corners: 4 / 6
Fouls: 25 / 10
Offsides: 1 / 1
Possession: 63% / 37%
Attendance: 20,335
Referee: Allen Chapman
Assistant Referees: Eric Weisbrod, Jeremy Kieso
Fourth Official: Sergi Demianchuk
VAR: Alejandro Mariscal, Ian McKay
Chicago Fire FC Head Coach Raphael Wicky
On if he is considering any changes to the back five or tactics after conceding five goals in two games:
“That's a tough one right now directly after the game. Look, I have to see who is going to be healthy, who is back. Carlos is now slowly coming back. We hope he can have a good full week of training next week. Hopefully some other guys come back and then we'll see. Right now, directly after the game, I'm not saying this is the team who will play the next game. There may be changes but I have to see who is available.”
On why the team didn’t utilize players off the bench such as Javier Casas Jr. and Alex Monis:
“Javi Casas is a center midfielder. He's not an offensive player. And Alex Monis, right now, in this game, I didn't think he's ready to step in there and help us. That's the only thing. He's 18 years old. He doesn't have any games in this league. That's the reason. That's the reason why I kept going with this group, and didn't stop.”
On what caused the second goal and if he’s discussed it with the players:
“No, I haven't spoken with the players yet. I have seen it. I think first we need to put more pressure on the ball on the side, not to let them cross. We can do better there and then in the middle, yeah, I mean, if Bobby comes out, Bobby needs to clear that ball. If he wouldn't come out, then we need a center back there. I think they were there, but I haven't spoken to them so that's what I saw and, yeah, that's obviously then in that moment of the game, a tough one.”
On why the team played so narrow:
“No, we knew that they have this man marking system, more or less man marking. We wanted to create spaces, either by coming inside and create spaces for a fullback to overlap or like that.
That was one of the things we wanted to do. Chinonso naturally is more of a nine, more of a player who is more inside, better inside, feels more comfortable inside. That's why he often comes inside as well.
And the other point is that we didn't want both fullbacks at the same time going very high and wide to not run into counterattacks. Otherwise there's no other reason for that.”
On any positives from tonight’s game:
“If you're asking for positives, we (had) chances. We (had) chances. We hit, I think, the post or the crossbar three times. Yeah, we had our chances.
But we know this is a tough opponent and a tough place to play so we knew if you want to come here and make a point or have a win, you've got to suffer and not make the easy mistakes. So we knew that coming in here.
But yeah, look, when you lose 3-1, you cannot be happy, especially with the way you concede the goals. We keep working. We keep working, moving forward and that's the only thing to do and that's the only way to go.”
On why Ignacio Aliseda and Miguel Navarro were not on the 20-man roster tonight:
“Navarro still has problems with his ankle. He wasn't training with the team this week. After the game last week against New England, he felt more pain even though he only played 15 minutes so we took him out.
And Nacho has again a little bit of a hamstring problem. We hope it's not too bad. That’s the reason.”
Chicago Fire FC Defender Jonathan Bornstein
On the match against Atlanta United FC:
“Man, it's tough to lose in a game like that but, you know, obviously Atlanta is a good team. We knew that coming in. We knew what we needed to battle, and we put up a good fight there for quite a long time. We got a little unlucky, hit the post a few times but it's a game of inches. We just came up a little short today. A lot of things to build on. It's a long season. We don't want to be losing too many of these, but got to go back, keep working hard and learn from these mistakes and from the loss.
On how concerning it is that some of the issues that plagued the team last year have begun to crop up again:
“We are trying to work on those things and we are trying to limit as many mistakes as possible. I think we don't want that to be a common theme this year either. I think we've talked about it. We are training those things. It's unfortunate to see them creeping in there again, but we have to continue to work hard. I think when you come off a loss like this the only thing that's left is to go out and work hard in training and wait for the next test which is on the weekend. That's kind of all I know how to say about that.”
On whether the team uses a zonal marking system:
“You mean in set pieces? Second goal came off of a cross in open play. But I think in general terms, we have a mixed system. I think guys are responsible for their areas and things like that. I think we have been training really well. We've done a good job in general. So obviously set pieces are a huge part of the game, and most games they are won and lost by those types of plays.
“So I think the better we can be in those situations throughout the year and learn from what we've done wrong and continue to try and get better at that, the better it will be for the season.”
On whether not having won a true road game since October 2019 is something the team thinks about or whether they take it one game at a time:
“Yeah, you know, historically this team hasn't done well on the road. We are trying to break that cycle that the team has been through. I think, you know, we talk about it, how we want to be better on the road, we need to be better on the road and we need to be stealing points on the road. I think our mentality is good going into the game. Unfortunately we are putting in a lot of work, but I think the results just aren't falling our way; we're not being rewarded for some of the plays, nice plays we're doing. After a loss like this, the only thing you can say is keep working hard and things will start falling our way. Put in the work; it's unfortunate to go out the way we did today, but I'm extremely proud of the group and how we did it, the work we put in. The guys all fought until the last second. Unfortunately we just didn't come out on the right end of the stick.”
Chicago Fire FC Midfielder Chinonso Offor
On how he grades his performance as a wide player through the first two games of the season:
“Well, it's been average, to be honest, because I feel like I can do more. Even if it's not my position, I feel like I can do more in the game. Today wasn't as good as I would have wanted, but we keep working hard in training and try to get better.”
On whether the team played narrow as part of the game plan or if it happened naturally during the run of play:
“I think it just happened naturally because of the outcome of the game. Sometimes you plan for something, but when you go out there, it changes so quickly. I feel like at times, the situation in the game just changed hands. Yeah, maybe that's why we were a bit narrow in the game.”
On whether he wishes he could have the shot he took late in the first half back for a second chance:
“Well, I don't know, to be honest, because it could have gone in. I just hit it. If it comes back, if I have the chance for it to come back, maybe yes, maybe yes, I would have wanted it to come back, so I would have done better or something.”
On whether the team not having used many substitutions in the first two games adds pressure to the starting 11:
“I don't think that really matters because everyone on the bench are capable of coming into the team and changing it. So it all depends on the coaches, but I know we have a lot of young guys on the bench, but still, there are players who can change games. That’s why they’re in the team.”