Falling short: Chicago Fire 1, D.C. United 2
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. ― The Fire kicked off against D.C. United, in a battle between two teams that trying to climb the way into a postseason spot and break one of the two longest active playoff streaks in the league.
D.C. found a way to win, despite being out possessed by the Fire by a nearly 2-1 margin, and as a result, are now in the ninth and final postseason spot while the Fire remain in 14th place in the East with just six games remaining on the schedule. In addition to D.C.’s victory on the scoreboard, they also had a moral win, with Russell Canouse making his first appearance of the season following surgery to correct ulcerative colitis.
The match began on a somber note, with a moment of remembrance for former Fire Academy goalkeeper Jakub Skiba, who passed away this week, shortly after his 19th birthday.
Both D.C. United Head Coach Troy Lesesne and Fire Head Coach Frank Klopas had to deal with absences from injuries, international callups and in the case of the Fire, a suspension to former team captain Rafael Czichos for yellow card accumulation.
All told, D.C. United were out a total of seven players, including all of their natural central defensive midfielders, D.C. United lined up in an uncommon 4-5-1, with star striker Christian Benteke, who has been involved in a majority of D.C. United’s goals this season, as the sole striker.
The Fire returned to the 5-3-2 that has been the team’s preferred formation since mid-May after reverting playing out of a narrower 4-4-2 diamond last week against Miami. Wyatt Omsberg returned to the Starting XI for the first time since the team’s 1-0 victory over FC Cincinnati in mid-July, and Kellyn Acosta got the start after coming off the bench against Inter Miami last week.
The opening quarter of the match put the offensive struggles of both teams on display, with neither team looking particularly dangerous as the Fire had more of the ball but where D.C. had more of the pressure. Although D.C.’s Cristian Dajome took a shot in the sixth minute that landed well wide of, the next shot of the game didn’t happen until the 21st minute, when Jared Stroud took a shot just inside the box that was blocked.
Five minutes later, Stroud again tried Brady, and again, the shot was blocked but the Fire’s Carlos Terán missed heading the ball out of harm’s way after, and it landed at the feet of Benteke right by the penalty spot. Chris Brady made an attempt at a save but given a wide open net, guessed the wrong way, putting D.C. United up 1-0 in the 26th minute.
Shortly after the restart, Carlos Terán saw the ball out for D.C. throw in that made its way to Benteke who set up Gabriel Pirani, who took a shot from just inside the box, narrowly kept onside by Terán, putting the guests up 2-0 in the 29th minute. The goals weren’t against the run of play, but only because there really hadn’t been a run of play to that point.
After a few nervy moments, the Fire regained their footing, though the hosts didn’t have their first shot until the 40th minute, when Acosta lasered a ball from the top of the penalty arc that hit the left post before flying out and away across the face of Bono’s net, putting the Fire within inches of a goal.
On the restart, looking for an offensive spark that had so far eluded the team, Frank Klopas went to his short bench and brought on Tom Barlow for Allan Arigoni Whether due to the substitution or the halftime talk, the Fire came out looking like the much stronger team in the second half, dominating the ball and generally looking sharper than they did earlier in the game.
Maren Haile-Selassie took a corner that was cleared by D.C., but only as far as Andrew Gutman, who took one touch to settle the ball, and the second to cannonball it past Bono, and bringing the Fire within a goal in the 54th minute.
The Fire continued to press, as Lesesne went to his bench trying to preserve the lead, taking off both goalscorers between the 57th and 68th minutes. Five minutes later, the Klopas brought on substitutions of his own, bringing on Fabian Herbers for Gutman and taking off Acosta for Justin Reynolds, giving the young homegrown player his fourth MLS appearance.
The Fire continued to dominate the ball, but every promising cross found its way to a D.C. defender and every chance was stifled before it fully developed, and the next real opportunity on goal came off from D.C.’s Jacob Murrell, forcing Brady to make an acrobatic save to steer the ball clear of his net.
That was as close as either team would get, though, and the match ended Fire 1, D.C. United 2 in front of 16,426 fans in the first Fire regular season match at SeatGeek stadium of the season. The Fire’s three game homestand concludes next Saturday as the Fire host the New York Red Bulls at Soldier Field, still looking for their first win after the Leagues Cup break.
