Chicago Fire FC (2-2-4, 10 points) fell 3-0 to Minnesota United FC (4-2-2, 14 points) at Allianz Field on Saturday afternoon. The result marked just the second loss for the Fire in league play and the first time the team has conceded more than one goal in a single match this season.
Despite limiting Minnesota to zero shots on target for the first 70 minutes of the match, the Fire would concede the game’s opening goal in the 72nd minute when midfielder Emmanuel Reynoso scored his second of the season.
With the Fire playing a man down for the final 13 minutes of the match, due to a second yellow card issued to midfielder Federico Navarro, the home side managed to add two more goals in the final six minutes to secure all three points.
NEXT MATCH: The Fire will return to Soldier Field to face Eastern Conference foe New York Red Bulls on Saturday, April 30. Beginning at 7:00 p.m. CT, the match will serve as the Club’s Chicago Sports Night, celebrating the city’s professional sports teams and athletes. The first 5,000 fans in attendance will receive an exclusive Shaqiri-themed Chicago Fire basketball jersey. The match will also be televised on WGN and CF97 Live, and will be transmitted locally in Spanish on TUDN 1200 AM.
Social: Twitter - @chicagofire, @vamosfire (Hashtags: #CF97 #VamosFire) | Instagram - @chicagofire | Facebook
Notes:
- Midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri started and played 82 minutes after missing the last two matches due to injury.
- Midfielder Fabian Herbers missed a third straight match due to a hip injury.
- Chicago’s record against Minnesota United in league play now stands at 1-3-1.
Box Score:
Chicago Fire FC 0:3 Minnesota United FC
Goals:
MIN - Reynoso (2) (Hlongwane 1, Trapp 1) (WATCH) 72’
MIN - Arriaga (1) (Reynoso 3) (WATCH) 84’
MIN - Lod (3) (Hlongwane 1) (WATCH) 88’
Discipline:
CHI - M. Navarro (Yellow Card) 35’
MIN - Trapp (Yellow Card) 36’
CHI - Giménez (Yellow Card) 41’
CHI - F. Navarro (Yellow Card) 52’
CHI - F. Navarro (Second Yellow, Ejection) 77’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Slonina, D Sekulić, D Czichos, D M. Navarro, D Omsberg, M Shaqiri (Pineda, 82’), Giménez, M F. Navarro, M Gutiérrez (Bornstein, 63’), M Ivanov (D Espinoza, 78’), F Przybyłko (Durán, 82’)
Subs not used: GK Richey, F Offor, D Terán, F Bezerra, D Reynolds II
Minnesota United FC: GK St. Clair, D Dibassy, D Boxall, D Fisher, D Lawrence, M Fragapane (Danladi, 62’), M Reynoso (Rosales, 86’), M Lod (Hunou, 89’), M Trapp ©, M Arriaga, F Amarilla (Hlongwane, 62’)
Subs not used: GK Miller, M Hayes, M Hansen, D Kallman, M Taylor
Stats Summary: CHI / MIN
Shots: 12 / 11
Shots on Goal: 4 / 3
Passing Accuracy: 73.9% / 80.7%
Saves: 0 / 4
Corners: 3 / 8
Fouls: 12 / 15
Offsides: 3 / 2
Possession: 43.7% / 56.3%
Referee: Silviu Petrescu
Assistant Referees: Adam Wienckowski, Lyes Arfa
Fourth Official: Joe Dickerson
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero, Corey Rockwell
Chicago Fire FC Quotes
Chicago Fire FC Head Coach Ezra Hendrickson
On whether there is a lack of communication amongst the attacking players…
“I don't think there's a lack of communication. I thought maybe we just made some bad decisions tonight, especially in the first half. You know, we have opportunities, like you said, to play a guy who may be in a better position and we chose to do otherwise with the ball. So these are things that we have to look at this game again and talk about it and discuss it with the team because we need to improve going forward.
I thought, especially in the first half, when we defended and we won the ball, we just gave it away too easily, sometimes not even under pressure. So we weren't very clinical. We weren't very technical on the night. But these are things we can improve and we just have to keep working.”
On the second yellow card shown to Federico Navarro…
“Well, I haven't got a chance to look at it yet but I thought maybe he was a little quick. The fact that he was carrying another yellow, but I have to look at it again before I could even comment on that.
At the end of the day, we shouldn't put ourselves in that position to have to make that tackle. So we can't really blame the refs for anything tonight. I thought once we went down a man, though, it changed the game, because you're on the road trying to play a man down just like we did in Orlando, and it's very difficult. Our two losses have come when we've had to play short, and that's difficult to do, especially on the road.”
On whether the substitutions for Kacper Przybyłko and Xherdan Shaqiri were due to fatigue…
“Well, Shaq, we have to be careful. He's just coming back from injury. He's been out two, three weeks now. We knew coming into the game, he couldn't play 90. We were expecting maybe 60, 65 but once they scored, we tried to keep him on the field, because he's a guy who is possibly going to get us a goal. But after a while, it's the risk versus reward: Do we keep him out there and risk him re-injuring that calf or do we just try to go to someone else?
And as far as Kacper, we wanted to give (Jhon) Durán a run and see if maybe he can get us something, maybe we could defend and get behind with his pace, but it just didn't happen on the night for us.”