Chicago Fire 2, Philadelphia Union 2 | Player Ratings
Theoretically, the Fire could have been in fifth place in the Eastern Conference if they had held the 2-0 scoreline they achieved after a clunky Maren Haile-Selassie tap-in and freak own-goal from Nathan Harriel. The Fire would prove continuously wasteful in front of goal, and after Miguel Ángel Navarro gave up a penalty in the 61st minute, Philadelphia would score again in the 65th minute to set the final score at 2-2. The Fire lined up the same way they ran out against Minnesota last weekend, and as Xherdan Shaqiri made his full return with Jairo Torres and Federico Navarro soon to follow, Gastón Giménez and Carlos Terán were substituted over injury concerns.
*Players are listed in the order they lined up, followed by substitutes in the order they appeared
Starting XI
Chris Brady (6.5) – This would be a hard match to gauge how good Chris Brady actually is as a goalkeeper if spectators had never seen him play anywhere else. He couldn’t have really done anything to stop either of Philadelphia’s two goals, but also only made two saves on the night. It wasn’t a bad performance from the youngster, but Brady cannot really earn too spectacular a rating because of the lack of action.
Arnaud Souquet (6.5) – This section of the article would have been quite entertaining had the Frenchman scored off his early first-half clearance which came out of orbit onto the top of the Philadelphia net. Besides that, he was alright, Souquet had shown some good service into the box here and there and had also shown a pretty high level of energy going forward, but Philadelphia’s second goal originates from Kendall Burks having to track back with haste after Souquet got caught out up the pitch. The lack of tracking back there opened the opportunity for Philadelphia, and that goal deflated the Fire for pretty much the rest of the match.
Carlos Terán (8) – Terán had another wonderful showing before unfortunately being substituted off for injury at the 58th minute for Kendall Burks. Seeing the young center-back face another injury while being in such great form is heartbreaking for Fire fans, but as the Colombian left the field with relative ease, hopefully, it is nothing too serious.
Rafael Czichos (7) – The Fire’s captain continues to prove to be a bargain for the Fire as he has yet to really underperform for the club. Czichos kept Philadelphia tame for the majority of the game, and as yes it was his marked man who would score the equalizer, fault should not waver towards him due to the lack of defense from other members of the team. Czichos led the match across both teams in terms of duels won for players past 10 total engagements, winning 66.7% of his 15.
Miguel Ángel Navarro (5.5) – On the bright side, Miggy got the assist for a great cross onto the feet of Maren Haile-Selassie for the opener. On the other side of things, he gave Philadelphia a penalty after fouling a player who was already being outmatched physically by Rafa Czichos and then failed to challenge Dániel Gazdag in the air, who would then head the ball down to Julián Carranza for the equalizer. For every great play Navarro has, there are likely defensive errors to follow.
Fabian Herbers (6) – Herbers had an alright first half of the match, but his performance dipped a bit as the game progressed in Philadelphia’s favor. His passing was okay, and the German won six of his eight duels, but his spacing and positioning when Philadelphia ran at the backline was not good enough. Herbers is being asked to play a large role despite being a player who has been considered depth most of his career, and that may be too much to ask of him. Fabian Herbers was substituted at the 80th minute for Javier Casas Jr.
Gastón Giménez (7) – Starting in the Fire’s traditional midfield Pivot, Giménez put in a solid performance during the first half, and helped stop Philadelphia from finding any consistency in attack. Gastón would be substituted at halftime due to injury concerns, being replaced by Mauricio Pineda.
Brian Gutiérrez (7) – Guti got the start at the number ten spot despite the return of Xherdan Shaqiri from injury and played a solid match on the night. His pressure against the Philadelphia backline lead to the own goal in the 48th minute, and he was creative for the majority of the game. Just lacking a bit of end product. Brian Gutiérrez would be surprisingly substituted off for the return of Xherdan Shaqiri in the 66th minute.
Maren Haile-Selassie (7.5) – Maren opened his Major League Soccer goal tally with an almost scuffed tap-in from a Miguel Ángel Navarro cross in the 19th minute of play. Maren definitely could have scored more than one goal this game, but with a mix of overthinking and defensive effort from Philadelphia, the Swiss winger was kept at one goal.
Kei Kamara (7) – After his brace last week, Kei Kamara should have gotten another goal on the night. In general, the Fire’s attack was clumsy and overthought a lot when inside of the Philadelphia box, and Kamara was no exception in terms of not pulling the trigger enough. Despite this, his movement, linkup play, and defensive actions were solid. Kamara was substituted by Georgios Koutsias in the 66th minute.
Chris Mueller (6) – Chris Mueller was uncharacteristically cold on the night, with instances of his dribbling becoming clumsy resulting in turnovers and no recorded shots. With the Fire’s depth on the wings being particularly thin, Mueller would still play the full 90 minutes, but this performance left a lot to be desired in attack given the three points that should have been claimed early in the game.
Substitutes
Mauricio Pineda (6.5) – Pineda swapped places with Gaston Gimenez at halftime following a potential injury, and was good at transitioning the team early on in the second half. After Philadelphia crawled out of their hole, Mauricio struggled a bit with containing the opposition attack. Despite that, he still was one of the best passers of the ball on the entire field continues to be a reliable option for minutes in a paper-thin midfield.
Kendall Burks (6) - Kendall Burks would substituting Carlos Terán in the 58th minute following an injury to the Colombian, but seemed a bit overwhelmed as Philidelphia got an adrenaline rush in attack following their opener. Burks was unable to hustle back fast enough to stop the initial cross for Philadelphia’s equalizer, but that was more down to having to try and quickly cover for Arnaud Souquet. Burks did have a notable block late in the game to stop a likely shot on target, but we have seen him play better before.
Xherdan Shaqiri (6.5) - Making his first appearance since the last match against Philadelphia, Shaqiri would substitute Brian Gutierréz in the 66th minute. Shaqiri started the game rather cold, but did accumulate some quality through balls and linkup play, with the most notable being a chipped pass to Georgios Koutsias in the 82nd minute, with the young striker hitting the crossbar. The defensive effort was questionable as always, but in his limited minute the Swiss international did bring create some chances for the Fire late in the game.
Georgios Koutsias (7) – Taking off Kei Kamara in the 66th minute, Koutsias had a good shot at trying to get the Fire’s attacking going again. The Greek youth international took on defenders here and there, and had a few goalscoring opportunities that never amounted to anything. With more experience, it is likely those chances turn into goals. Koutsias hit the crossbar in the 82nd minute after Xherdan Shaqiri dinked a through-ball over the top to him following a nice linkup between the two of them, with that play being the last major offensive action the Fire would have.
Javi Casas Jr (6.5) - Javier Casas came on as a substitute for Fabian Herbers in the 80th minute, and just barely played enough to warrant a rating as the game went on until the 98th minute. Casas worked hard defensively, and had a good passing output with 85.7% of those passes being accurate.
Manager
Ezra Hendrickson (4.5) – Another team mentality collapse and more head-scratching substitutions put Ezra at one of the lowest ratings I have given so far this season. It is becoming a meme that this Fire team squanders leads and pairs that with consistent altercations with other club’s players and even coaches in this instance, does Ezra have any control over his locker room at all? Like-for-like injury substitutions are understandable, but Wyatt Omsberg would have likely been a better fit to play in this match instead of Kendall Burks. It still remains unknown why Omsberg can barely get a game right now, and the decision to substitute Kei Kamara and Brian Gutierréz off the field left a lot of fans scratching their heads. Kamara is a league veteran and scored a brace last weekend. His replacement was good, but why do it in the first place? Also, is Gaston even healthy? He has played every match and every match he has some moment of injury. Luckily, the Fire got a draw, and in other games this season they have gotten results out of matches after completely tipping the boat over in terms of their form. If they had not gotten the points they currently have, Ezra’s managerial seat would have been on the brink of burning to pieces.
