Chicago Fire FC II (4-5-4-0) shut out Orlando City B (7-5-2-1) 1-0 Thursday night at SeatGeek Stadium. A lone header by Charlie Ostrem was enough for the Fire in a stalwart defensive effort. The result pushed Chicago up to ninth place in the Eastern Conference with action yet to follow in the weekend.
Following a successful blueprint from previous matches, the Fire started the match with a high press, trying to exploit mistakes by Orlando’s defense. The pressure helped bottle the visitors in their own half, conceding lengthy spells of possession to the Fire.
In one such spell in the 24th minute, Richard Fleming III found Jonathan Dean bombing up the wing. The wingback whipped in a ball from the edge of the 18-yard box, finding Ostrem open at the wide post for a header placed into the back of the net. The goal marked the defender’s second goal of the campaign and was the only tally needed in a half dominated by the home side.
The success carried into a second half in which Chicago enjoyed most of the possession early on. But the early dominance eventually gave way to Orlando’s urgency to draw. The visitors made a few forays into the Fire box, but goalkeeper Jeff Gal kept a clean sheet by winning the ball and the air and making a few necessary saves. Despite the pressure, Orlando was kept at bay and the whistle blew with three home points in Chicago’s pocket.
The Fire next takes to the road on Sunday, June 18 to face Philadelphia Union II at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania. First kick is scheduled at 5 p.m. CT and can be streamed on MLSNEXTPro.com.
Social: Twitter - @ChicagoFireFCII (Hashtags: #ChicagoFireII) | Instagram - @chicagofirefcii | Facebook
Box Score:
Chicago Fire FC II 1:0 Orlando City B
Goals:
CHI - Ostrem (2) (Dean 1) (WATCH) 24’
Discipline:
ORL - Lynn (Yellow Card) 15’
ORL - Granados (Yellow Card) 43’
CHI - Casas, Jr. (Yellow Card) 75’
ORL - Acuña (Yellow Card) 87’
Chicago Fire FC II: GK Gal; D Ostrem, D Reynolds, D Ueland ©, D Egan, D Dean (Prpa, 46’); M Gallina, M Casas, Jr. (Kidd, 90’), M Fleming III; F Bezerra (Oregel, Jr., 67’), F Monis (Nesci, 79’)
Subs not used: GK Mišković; D Rochester, D Leonard; M Rocha, M Flores
Orlando City B: GK Pereira; D Pérez, D Kibunguchy, D Taifi, D Freeman; M Almaguer, M Granados, M Medina, M Mohammed (Acuña, 69’); F Solís, F Lynn (Loyola, 69’)
Subs not used: GK Campagnolo; D Agustoni-Chagas, D Reid-Brown; M Sanchez
Stats Summary: CHI / ORL
Shots: 12 / 12
Passing Accuracy: 76.7% / 80.7%
Saves: 3 / 5
Corners: 9 / 6
Fouls: 18 / 9
Offsides: 2 / 4
Possession: 44% / 56%
Referee: Peter Bernardy
Assistant Ref 1: Eric del Rosario
Assistant Ref 2: Zach Gaidar
4th Official: Calin Radosav