Austin FC 0, Chicago Fire 2 | Man of the Match
https://twitter.com/meninred97/status/1661567536456974336?s=20
In the 19 days since we asked the question if there was still hope for Xherdan Shaqiri in Chicago, he's proven that the answer is a resounding "yes" time and time again. The Swiss DP once again showed his quality in tonight's U.S. Open Cup win over Austin FC, earning man of the match honors.
Shaqiri completed nearly 90% of his passes tonight with many of these completions being inch-perfect through balls to on-running teammates. In particular, Shaq combined well with his fellow countryman, Maren Haile-Selassie. The combination of Shaq’s weight of pass and Haile-Selassie’s speed made the Fire very dangerous down the right-hand side in the first half.
Not only was Shaq able to break defensive lines with his incisive through-passing ability, but was able to spread the field for the Fire with his expansive range pass. Shaq was able to not just keep the ball for his team, but also switch the field and move the Austin defense.
We also saw a new tenacity from Shaqiri from a defensive standpoint tonight. Shaq won seven of his eight attempted duels and fought through Austin defenders to win five fouls.
In the second half, Shaqiri continued to dictate the match with his passing and eventually registered an assist on the Fire’s second goal. Combining well with Jairo Torres off of the left-hand side this time, Shaq was able to get in behind to shoot and retrieve his own rebound before squaring the ball to Kacper Przybyłko to make it 2-0 to the Fire.
