Just short: FC Cincinnati 2-1 Chicago Fire

The Chicago Fire fell just short against a surging FC Cincinnati side, falling 2-1 in a closely-contested match. Throughout the game, the Fire stood toe-to-toe to the team at the top of the MLS Eastern Conference standings at the final whistle, arguably edging the Supporters Shield aspirants, but ultimately came just shy in the one statistic that matters. In the end, Cincinnati’s high-quality attacking talent, lead by the continued strong play of Evander in the midfield, were the difference-maker and gave the home side the edge.

Both teams were dealing with absences related to the CONCACAF Gold Cup which concludes tomorrow. Both Fire goalkeeper Chris Brady and Cincinnati defender Miles Robinson are with the U.S. Men’s National Team, though neither player is likely to feature heavily in tomorrow’s match against México.

The two sides were also were missing several other key players due to injury, but both teams had their primary attacking options available, including three who are near the MLS Golden Boot lead: The Fire’s Hugo Cuypers as well as Cincinnati’s Kevin Dénkey and Evander each had 11 goals going into the match, and the trio all started for their respective sides.

Cuypers spearheaded the attack for the Fire, one of 10 players who started in the team’s previous match against Charlotte. The only change came in the form of Leonardo Barroso, with the Portuguese U22 Initiative player replacing Jonathan Dean in the lineup.

The first action of the game came from a familiar player: Kei Kamara, who played for the Fire (amongst 11 other MLS teams) had a look at Jeff Gal’s net in the opening minute. Although nothing ultimately came from the chance, it set the tone for the game’s opening dozen minutes as the hosts effectively pinned the Fire down into their own third. The Fire’s first signs of life came off a set of corners starting in the 14th minute, but neither yielded anything for the Fire.

Just when it looked like the Fire might have overcome Cincinnati’s torrid start, the home team found their opener. In the 19th minute, Evander received a switch and elected to carry the ball forward before choosing to shoot from about 20 yards out. Gal dove but the backup netminder couldn’t get a touch on it. The goal was Evander’s 12th on the season and came off an effort where somehow the Brazilian – who was at that moment in sole possession of third atop the MLS scoring charts – was left totally unmarked.

Despite the goal, the Fire continued to grow into the game. In the 28th minute, Jonathan Bamba sent a long ball into Cuypers. The Belgian striker’s shot was deflected by a sprawling Roman Celentano, playing out of his net, but Cuypers made it to the rebound with Celentano out of position. Cincinnati’s Matt Miazga, however, cleared it to safety. Just three minutes later, Bamba had his own look on net but again nothing came of it. Five minutes after that, Philip Zinckernagel had a chance from a free kick but it sailed just above Cincinnati’s goal.

In the end, the Fire finished the half with the better chances in both quality and quantity, and limited the hosts to just one shot after their goal, but the visitors couldn’t find their equalizer despite the torrent of chances – and six corners – in the first half.

On the restart, however, Cincinnati didn’t take long to double their lead. In the 50th minute, Evander laid off a perfect pass to Denkey across the box. Gal, who had already advanced out of his box, waited to commit playing the Togolese forward, ultimately giving Denkey an almost-clear look at the net. Denkey notched his 12th of the season, keeping pace with his teammate.

Just five minutes later, however, the Fire pulled one back. Bamba passed the ball to Andrew Gutman in at the left of the box who flung a cross in to Philip Zinckernagel. The Fire All-Star sent it in for his ninth goal of the season. The goal also marked the eighth road game in a row where the Danish attacker has either a goal or an assist.

After the goal, the heat seemed to be taking its toll, and neither team showed anything close to the high-tempo attacking that the both teams had displayed earlier in the bench, and both coaches went to their benches to bring on substitutions as the game's final half hour wore on.

Gregg Berhalter ended up bringing on Dean, Maren Haile-Selassie and Omari Glasgow for Barroso, Gutiérrez, Bamba and Oregel regulation, with Sam Williams coming on for Zinckernagel in stoppage time. The subs gave the Fire fresh legs with as much attacking talent as Chicago’s bench could muster, but as regulation turned away to stoppage time, the team was still searching for an equalizer.

They came close deep in stoppage time, when center-back Jack Elliott was bearing down on the Cincinnati goal to finish a cross. Ultimately his boot clipped the Cincinnati netminder, creating a scrum of Cincinnati defenders taking umbrage at the play –  but not a shot on goal.

That was as close as the Fire would come. The 2-1 victory made Cincinnati the first in MLS to secure more than 40 points as other games around the league continued to be played, and surprisingly, was the first home win in nearly two months for the team.

The Fire, meanwhile, fell to 8W-4D-8L, sliding to ninth place. The team will have little time to lick their wounds – both mental and physical – with their U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal against a strong Minnesota United team kicking off Tuesday evening.