Nothing Doing: Chicago Fire 0-0 Atlanta United

The Fire faced Atlanta United for the second time in the past month, looking for their first goal in 192 minutes of competitive play, having been shutout in Atlanta on Easter and two of the three games since, needing a win in the second match of a three game homestand after facing their worst defeat at home since the 2017 playoffs a week prior.

They had some reason for optimism – since the two teams met in Atlanta, the visitors hadn’t been playing particularly well, managing just two draws and a loss, as their star players, including Thiago Almada and Giorgous Giakoumakis both have hit dips in form.

In the end, they had to settle for a 0-0 draw, and the team’s goalless drought now extends to 272 minutes and counting, a frustrating continuation of lengthy goalless stretches that the team saw last year, when it notched the two longest goalless droughts of team history.

There were positives, including the strong play of Chris Brady, who had to be sharp against Atlanta's high-powered offense to earn his second clean sheet of the season – fitting as it came on the night that current Goalkeeping Coach Zach Thornton was inducted to the Ring of Fire. Both Fire Head coach – and Ring of Fire member – Frank Klopas and Brady noted the importance of keeping a clean sheet on the night in honor of Thornton.

Another positive: Andrew Gutman, making his Fire debut in front of home fans, showed why he was a key offseason target for the Fire and added an extra dimension on both ends of the ball.

Even if the point – which came with the Fire down to ten men, not due to disciplinary action but because of an injury to Tobias Salquist when the team was out of substitution windows – counts as a moral victory of sort, it still leaves the team in an increasing mathematical deficit in the standings.

The team was also looking for their first goal in April that didn’t come off the foot of either Brian Gutiérrez or Xherdan Shaqiri, both of whom were amongst the several players that were forced out of the Starting XI due to injury concerns.

The injuries kept Gutiérrez on the bench and Shaqiri, Gastón Giménez and Federico Navarro outside of the lineup, where they were joined by Chase Gasper and Maren Haile-Selassie. The absences forced Frank Klopas to get creative with his lineup, opting to play out of a 4-4-2 from the debut for the first time this season, and overall there were four changes from the XI that took to the pitch against Real Salt Lake.

Two of the changes, however, were welcome: Tobias Salquist returned to the XI after being released from concussion protocol, and Andrew Gutman return was welcome.

Atlanta Head Coach Gonzalo Pineda had most of his choice XI available, though two of Atlanta’s normal starting center backs weren’t in the XI, and midfielder Xande Silva was also out with injury.

The early pressure was Atlanta’s, winning a corner in the third minute of play, resulting in a shot that had heat on it but sailed wide of Chris Brady’s ne, but the first real chance was the Fire’s, as Georgios Koutsias connected with a cross from Chris Mueller and had Brad Guzan beat but ended up going off the woodwork in the eighth minute.

That would ultimately be as close as the Fire would get in the first half.  Atlanta had more chances, and the ball ended up in the back of Brady’s net in the 24th minute, but the play was ruled offside. Seven minutes later, Brady made a sharp save off a header from Saba Lobhanidze to keep the hosts level.

Though the Fire would have occasional chances and looks at Guzan’s net, Atlanta seemed to control the terms of play and have over 60% of the possession in the first half, and the visitors seemed able to play through Chicago’s lines and into the Fire’s box with little opposition, and Atlanta wound up outshooting the Fire significantly in the first frame, but each time, the Fire’s last defender was able to see the ball to safety, getting a toe or head onto the ball at the last second.

The closest Atalanta was able to come to a goal in the first half came courtesy of Tobias Salquist, who got on the way of a Thiago Almada cross and sent Brady flying to recover, but the ball landed just above Brady’s net.

The second frame started much as the first did, with Atlanta content to play out of the back - eventually, after trying, unsuccessfully, to goad the Fire into pressing high, while the Fire would play mostly long balls over the top. Slowly, slowly, the Fire seemed to be coming though Atlanta still felt like they could quickly become dangerous.

Andrew Gutman would show the Fire home crowd why he was such a highly coveted target for the team as he took on a cadre of Atlanta players in the box to get a look at Brad Guzan’s goal in the 60’, but nothing came of his work as he had little help in the box. Just four minutes later, he had a chance - but not a look - on net, as he intentionally tried playing a Fabian Herbers cross with the back of his head, but the chance sailed wide. When asked about it post match, after laughing about taking it intentionally off the back of his head,  he said "we had a good little combination and it was a little bit behind me and I just tried to, maybe it hits off my head perfectly and goes top corner or something, but obviously it didn't, but yeah, it was a nice little chance."

That would end his night, as each team made a duo of substitutions: Jonathan Dean replaced Gutman and Brian Gutiérrez came on for Kellyn Acosta for the Fire to audible cheers from the 18,236 in attendance, while Atlanta’s star striker Georgios Giakoumakis would give way to Daniel Rios after a quiet night, and Edwin Mosquera would replace Tyler Wolff.

With indecisive play continuing, Klopas would again go to his bench, first bringing on Tom Barlow for Georgios Koutsias, then bringing on Arnaud Souquet for Chris Mueller in the Fire’s third and final substitution window.  A few minutes later, former Fire player Dax McCarty came on for Atlanta to scattered applause from the Fire crowd.

Shortly after, Atlanta would have two shots in short succession, forcing Brady to make saves on both, but the second didn’t seem comfortable, forcing training staff to come on with the Fire out of substitutions. On the restart, Barlow almost pierced into the Atlanta box but was denied, and Atlanta, once again, recovered while seeming more than content to play slowly out of their own end. Moments later, Barlow would again pose questions for Atlanta, including ringing a shot off of Efrain Morales’s head.

Atlanta would soon retaliate, with Daniel Rios connecting off a cross from Thiago Almada, but Brady was able to parry it away as regulation time waned.

As the match turned to stoppage time, Rios would again try Brady, who again had to be sharp֫ As Atlanta continued to press, defensive play by Tobias Salquist resulted in an injury that saw the Fire defender stretchered off in the 2nd minute of stoppage time. With the Fire out of substitutions, that left them with no choice but to play down a man for the remainder of the match. The Fire held firm, however, keeping the point, even though the chances of victory were dimmed.

Fire 0, Atlanta 0.  Both teams will take the point, but both will leave the match thinking that they lost more than they gained.

The Fire now have one game left in their homestand looking as they still look for their first win of the series at home.