In a match that included a lengthy weather delay, two penalty kicks and two ejections, Chicago Fire FC (2-3-4, 10 points) fell 2-1 to the New York Red Bulls (5-2-2, 17 points) at Soldier Field on Saturday night.
The Fire took an early lead when midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri scored his second goal of the season to lift the team to a 1-0 advantage. Chicago earned a penalty kick when defender Boris Sekulić fired a powerful shot that forced a handball in the box. Stepping up to the spot, the Swiss midfielder carefully placed his shot down the middle of the goal, sending goalkeeper Carlos Coronel the wrong way to secure the lead for Club in the 17th minute (WATCH).
As the match approached halftime, the tightly contested battle was paused for a weather delay and resumed 80-minutes later. After struggling to find any clear opportunities for the majority of the match, the Red Bulls managed to level the score when second-half substitute Patryk Klimala collected a pass from midfielder Luca Linhares and slotted it past goalkeeper Gaga Slonina in the 75th minute.
Four minutes later, the match would take a turn when Chicago forward Jhon Durán received a controversial second yellow card and was ejected from the match. The Fire would then be reduced to nine players shortly after Durán’s ejection when captain Rafael Czichos also received a second yellow card. With the Fire playing two men down for the final seven minutes of the contest, Klimala managed to add another goal to his tally, converting a penalty kick in the 91st minute.
The result marked the Fire’s first defeat at home in regular season action this season.
NEXT MATCH: The Fire will play its fifth away match of the season against Atlanta United FC on Saturday, May 7 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Beginning at 5:00 p.m. CT, the match will be broadcast live on WGN-TV, CF97 Live and transmitted locally in Spanish on Univision Radio.
Social: Twitter - @chicagofire, @vamosfire (Hashtags: #CF97 #VamosFire) | Instagram - @chicagofire | Facebook
Notes:
- Today’s match was the first meeting between the two teams this season.
- With forward Kacper Przybyłko sidelined due to injury, 18-year-old striker Jhon Durán made his first career MLS start in tonight’s match.
- After scoring two goals in Chicago Fire FC II’s most recent match, forward Chinonso Offor earned his first MLS start of the 2022 campaign tonight.
- Defender Carlos Teránm made his first regular season appearance in 2022.
Box Score:
Chicago Fire FC 1:2 New York Red Bulls
Goals:
CHI - Shaqiri (2) (penalty kick) (WATCH) 17’
NYR - Klimala (2) (Luquinhas 2) (WATCH) 75’
NYR - Klimala (2) (penalty kick) (WATCH) 90+1’
Discipline:
NYR - Fletcher (Yellow Card) 15’
NYR - Tolkin (Yellow Card) 27’
CHI - Czichos (Yellow Card) 37’
CHI - M. Navarro (Yellow Card) 45+1’
NYR - Klimala (Yellow Card) 65’
CHI - Durán (Yellow Card) 71’
CHI - Durán (Second Yellow, Ejection) 80’
CHI - Czichos (Second Yellow, Ejection) 83’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Slonina, D Sekulić, D Omsberg, D Czichos ©, M. Navarro, M Pineda, M Giménez (Bornstein, 66’), M Offor, M Shaqiri, M Gutiérrez (Terán, 90+2’), F Durán
Subs not used: GK Brady, D Espinoza, D Burks, M Monis, M Ivanov, F Bezerra, F Rodríguez
New York Red Bulls: GK Coronel, D Edwards, D S. Nealis, D Long ©, D Tolkin, M Amaya, M Morgan (D. Nealis, 63’), M Fernandez (Klimala, 46’), M Casseres Jr., F Fletcher (Barlow, 56’), F Luquinhas (Yearwood, 90+4’)
Subs not used: GK Meara, M Edelman, F Ryan
Stats Summary: CHI / NYR
Shots: 7 / 14
Shots on Goal: 3 / 4
Passing Accuracy: 64.0% / 70.0%
Saves: 2 / 2
Corners: 4 / 6
Fouls: 23 / 16
Offsides: 2 / 2
Possession: 44.2% / 55.8%
Attendance: 11,108
Referee: Jon Freeman
Assistant Referees: Jason White, Meghan Mullen
Fourth Official: Chris Ruska
VAR: Victor Rivas, Peter Manikwoski
Chicago Fire FC Quotes
Chicago Fire FC Head Coach Ezra Hendrickson
On the officiating tonight…
“I mean, as far as the ref goes, I want to commend the ref. I thought he made a very good call. Fletcher threw an elbow on Gaston. Fletcher was carrying a yellow already so he reaches in his pocket, realized that he was carrying a yellow so he doesn't give him a second yellow and I think that's how, you know, I applaud him for that because that way you keep the game level, 11 for 11, and you let the players decide the game, so I want to commend him on that. That's all I'm going to say about the refs.”
On the weather conditions tonight and the rain delay…
“Well, I think, you know, both teams had the delay and it's something that obviously affects the players because now you have to get cooled down, you have to warm up again and get going again, and it takes a while to get going. But you know, both teams have to deal with that. So there's nothing we could do there. That's just one of those variables that we can't control in this game.”
On Jairo Torres’s arrival and what it’ll take to score more goals…
“Well, Jairo definitely helps us but from a team standpoint, I thought tonight we were creating some chances. I thought we were getting out on the break. We were able to play through their press which is a very, you know, strong press. But it's just about finishing. Once we get in the final third, we just got to finish our chances. Jairo will definitely help us create more chances. And I think the more chances we get, the more likelihood we get to score goals from the run of play, as you said, but we don't really care how we score goals. You know, a lot of the goals that we've given up have been set pieces, tonight we gave up a PK goal. So for us, it doesn't matter how we get the goals, we just know that we need to get more goals.”
Chicago Fire FC Defender Jonathan Bornstein
On what was challenging about the conditions and the playing surface tonight…
“I think anytime you play in a game with weather the way it was tonight, the pauses, heavy rain came down during that pause, the field started really well the first half, but then the second half was really wet. It slowed it down a bit. It’s always a challenge to play in those, but I think both teams have to play on that field. It was kind of two different games, to be honest, the first half and the second half.”
On how difficult it was to play with the break due to weather and going down to nine men…
“It was not a normal day, right? I think we started the game really well. I have to applaud my teammates because they gave everything in the first half and the majority of the second half, they gave everything. We were in a good place to win the game. Yes, it was difficult to make that pause for the weather, the rain and the lightning, but we stayed focused and I think we still came out of the pause really well. Of course, playing with nine men on the field is difficult. I applaud my teammates. Nobody put their arms down and everyone gave their all to the very end.”