Something's Gotta Change: Fire 0-1 New England Revolution

The Fire completed a crucial three game homestand against the struggling New England Revolution, but it was the Fire who left the match looking like the team at the bottom of the conference, losing 1-0 off a goal by Tomás Chancalay.

It’s now been 372 minutes since the Fire have scored a goal, and the Fire’s homestand ends with just a single point of the nine that were on offer.

The force simply wasn’t with the Fire on the evening: For the second consecutive year, storms delayed the kickoff on the team’s Star Wars Night, this time causing kickoff to happen about just under an hour later than scheduled. It might have been best if the weather continued.

For the second match in a row, Fire Head Coach Frank Klopas started elected to lineup in a 4-4-2, keeping Georgios Koutsias on as a second options at striker in hope of generating more offense for the team that had failed to score in 282 minutes and had managed just two goals – one in open play – in the five matches since the last time these teams met March 23. The only change in the starting XI lineup was the addition of Brian Gutiérrez and the subtraction of the now-injured Tobias Salquist, but there were a number of shifts within the formation: Chris Mueller returned to his natural position on the left, flanked by Gutiérrez on the right. This pushed Fabian Herbers to play centrally next to Kellyn Acosta, thereby pushing Mauricio Pineda to the back line, in lieu of the stricken Salquist.

New England Head Coach Caleb Porter made four changes to his lineup, including giving goalkeeper Alvaž Ivačič his first start in a Revolution uniform after being selected off waivers on April 23. He also returned Giacomo Vrioni to the XI, after starting the struggling DP on the bench for their previous match, trying to find his forward his second goal of the campaign and trying to find his team their second win and just their third result of the season in the team’s 10th match.

The opening half highlighted the struggles of both teams: The Fire opened the game controlling the majority of possession and they put pressure on the Revolution, but they failed to get a shot on target. Hugo Cuypers had a glorious chance in the 13th minute from inside the six yard box, but the play was in a sea of bodies and it was blocked. The ball ricocheted and made its way to Mauricio Pineda who also had a go, but his attempt, too, was blocked. In total, the Fire had eight shots in the opening frame, but none were on target, as three were blocked and the remainder sailed wide of or (more often) above the goal.

As the Fire’s attempts proved futile, New England grew into the game. Carles Gil, in particular, showed off why he’s been such a heralded player for the Revs, playing the ball upfield and laying it off to players in dangerous areas, but it was the Tomás Chancalay who had the first shot on frame of the match when he one-timed a ball from just outside the six yard box. Chris Brady was equal to the task, parrying the ball away and keeping the score level.

Six minutes later, Chancalay, who scored a goal and was generally a handful for the Fire the last time the teams met in Soldier Field, again tried Brady but this time his shot, like so many of the Fire’s, sailed high.

Late in the half, the Fire started regaining the hand in pressure, but were unable to get a shot on target, let alone a goal. As the half ended, both team’s struggles were evident: Neither team could sustain pressure; shots were wide, and Vrioni was almost entirely anonymous for the Revs, making it plain why Porter benched the DP in the prior match. As the team's entered the tunnel, the Fire had yet to manage a shot on target (something they had also failed to do in the entirety of the previous match), and both teams seemed more curious of, rather than interested in, the opposing goal.

The Revolution came out flying on the restart, and Esmir Bajraktarevic had a shot in the first minute of the second half but the Fire blocked it. A minute later, the Revolution recorded their second shot on target as Xavier Arreaga tested Brady who was equal to the task. Bajraktarevic would try Brady again with a shot from just inside the box a few minutes later, but he would once again deny the Appleton, Wisconsin native.

Klopas went to his bench in the 53rd minute, bringing on Carlos Terán for Rafael Czichos, who to that point had played every minute of the Fire’s 2024 campaign. After that, play was inconclusive, with neither team looking particularly dangerous until the 62nd minute  when – unsurprisingly – it was Tomás Chancalay who recovered the ball from the Fire deep in the team’s own half and blasted a shot past Brady from the top of the arc, putting the visitors up 1-0.

That spurred Klopas to go to his bench for the second time, this time bringing on Xherdan Shaqiri, marking the Swiss stars’ return from injury for Chris Mueller, and bringing on Tom Barlow for Georgiou Koutsias as the game went to the final 25 minutes of regulation. The moves didn’t cause the Fire to shift formations, and Shaqiri played largely out of a spot wide on the field, though he’d cut in and play centrally at times.

The subs helped the Fire regain the initiative, and in the 68th minute, Arigoni had a beautiful ball into the box, but no Fire players were able to connect.

A few minutes later, Chancalay earned a yellow and gave the Fire a free kick in a beautiful location a few yards past the arc, taken by Xherdan Shaqiri who fired a hard shot that Ivačič caught. No goal, but it marked the first time in the past two games that the Fire got a shot on frame.

The pressure made Caleb Porter go to his bench for the first time, ending Bajraktarevicv’s night in favor of Dylan Borrrero.

In the 79th minute, Klopas used his final substitution window to bring off Herbers for Gastón Giménez and replaced Gutiérrez with Omari Glasgow. The move marked the MLS debut for the young Guyanese international, to applause from the Fire supporters section in the 18,379 crowd. Glasgow’s first touches were dangerous, but he wasn’t able to corral the ball for a final cross for the Fire.

Glasgow ultimately wasn't able to change the team's fates, but he was active in the time he was on the pitch, corralling balls, running forward with dynamism and winning corners for the team. When asked about deciding the play Glasgow, Klopas said "we believe in him as coaches, but it's another thing to get respect from the players and that's what he has, because he's earned that with his play... He deserved an opportunity and we were waiting to get this moment for him," adding that "he's earned this opportunity and... I wish we can find a way where we can have him on a permanent basis."

When asked about his debut, Glasgow said that it was an "exciting moment," but noted that he "came out here to play and get a result, but unfortunately we didn't get a result."

Following the subs, the Fire had the majority of the pressure, including a glorious chance on net in the 88th minute, but it sailed wide.  In the 90th minute, Arigoni played the ball in for a cross to Cuypers, but his shot was easily handled by Ivačič.

In the 5th minute of second half stoppage time, the Revolution almost doubled their lead, when a Fire corner eventually resulted in Dylan Borrero recovering for New England. He passed the ball to Chancalay, running in tandem with Gil. Both the Revs players were 10 yards clear of any Fire defenders, but he played the ball to Gil instead of taking the shot, but his pass was misweighted and Gil had to go off his run to recover the ball, allowing the Fire to set on defense. The Revs may have their second win of the season, but they still aren't really out of their rut.

Ultimately, the Fire had pressure and opportunities but lacked the final touch and never seemed to follow up a chance with a second look.  When asked the team's performance after the game, Shaqiri said that "everyone's disappointed because we lost today, but I think the team fought and we did everything... In these games you have to score, and this is the only thing we missed today, we didn't score a goal."

The Fire return to action next week in St. Louis, in their first-ever MLS match at the home of their budding regional rivals, the Fire’s first opponent under current Head Coach Frank Klopas after he replaced Ezra Hendrickson after 10 games into the team’s 2023 campaign.