Square One: Philadelphia Union 2 (4), Chicago Fire 2 (2)
CHESTER, Pa. — The Chicago Fire’s playoff dream is hanging by a thread this week in light of a shootout loss in Pennsylvania on Sunday night.
The Men in Red clawed back a ridiculous 2-2 draw with the Supporters Shield champion Philadelphia Union, but lost on spot kicks after a pair of center backs missed from 12 yards.
Gregg Berhalter returned to a back five formation, as predicted heading into the matchup against Bradley Carnell’s two-striker setup. Sam Rogers returned to the XI, with Brian Gutiérrez sacrificed in the midfield three to form a 5-2-3 formation. Despite a lights-out performance in Wednesday’s Wild Card, Sergio Oregel also returned to the bench, with Rominigue Kouamé entering to provide more tenacity and a physical presence.
He was forced into a change before kickoff. Winger Philip Zinckernagel – who led the team with a club-record 15 goals and 15 assists – was injured in warmups. Maren Haile-Selassie entered the lineup in his place, and provided a different kind of spark on the right side of the attack.
As expected, the Union started aggressively and found themselves on the front foot early. The best chance of the opening stages fell to talented Serbian midfielder Jovan Lukić, who fired a shot wide from outside the penalty box in the 8th minute. The Fire had an opportunity of their own a few minutes later when Andrew Gutman headed wide from inside the penalty box.
The Fire did manage to swallow up the Union’s press in the first half. Surprisingly, goal kicks provided an outlet for the visitors; the front two of Tai Baribo and Bruno Damiani left a gap on their defensive setup, allowing Chris Brady to play out of the back right through the middle to either Djé D’Avilla or Rominigue Kouamé. This sparked some counter attack attempts, but none were successful.
Jonathan Bamba missed the Fire’s biggest chance of the first half when he found himself one-on-one with André Blake in the 39th minute. Blake’s positioning gave Bamba the opportunity to score a sneaky goal against the general run of play, but he hit the shot at the center of the goal and allowed the Jamaican to make a save. It was the only shot on target from either team in the entire half.
Kai Wagner nearly scored with the final touch of the first half when the Union were gifted a free kick in the 47th minute. A Milan Iloski shot blocked by D’Avilla was erroneously called as a handball, but fortunately for the Fire, it hit the wall.
In the second half, the Fire had fleeting chances, but the Union were in control. The closest the Men in Red came was when a high-difficulty volley from Haile-Selassie looped wide from inside the penalty area.
Eventually, the home team broke through, and the Fire’s solid resistance was breached. Indiana Vassilev was the man to do it, arriving unmarked at the back post with Sam Rogers and Jonathan Dean nowhere to be found. A few minutes later, after the Fire made some attacking changes, Iloski doubled the advantage with a blast from inside the right wing.
The game seemed to be out of Chicago’s reach, but in the 78th minute, they should have had a penalty. A blast from Sergio Oregel appeared to strike Baribo’s arm, keeping the ball out of the net. VAR was not checked, however, and play resumed; PRO Referees said postgame that it was the correct decision, despite the earlier call going against D’Avilla for a similar offense.
In the 83rd minute, they got a goal back, making the missed handball call even more consequential. Jack Elliott, who had an excellent night, hit the post from a header, and Jonathan Bamba knocked in the rebound. It was game on, and the Union’s march to a Game One victory got much more uncomfortable.
In stoppage time, the impossible happened. After a set piece opportunity popped out to the top of the box, Elliott collected the ball at his feet and saw nothing but net. Despite a crowd of defenders in front of him, the former Union center back drilled a rocket through the penalty box, and tied the game up at two. Proceedings progressed directly to penalty kicks.
Brady saved the Union’s first penalty, preventing Mikael Uhre from scoring. That is where the fun ended for the Fire, however. Jack Elliott missed the next one. Brady did not save another. Joel Waterman rattled the fourth kick off the woodwork, and Jesús Bueno converted, ending the game.
After the gut-wrenching shootout loss, it’s back to Chicago for Game 2. The Fire have six days to prepare and are now in a must-win situation. They left a shock win on the table in Game 1, but that is irrelevant now as they look to stay alive in their first playoff appearance since 2017.
