“Take a point and run:” Chicago Fire 1, CF Montréal 1

A year ago, the Fire hosted an early spring game against CF Montréal and managed to turn a three goal deficit into a 4-3 victory off a Kellyn Acosta goal assisted by the elements at Soldier Field. This year, there would be no Windy City miracle, and the Fire’s three game winning streak has cooled to a five game unbeaten streak grâce à 1-1 draw.

Despite continuing an unbeaten run it was a disappointing result. Speaking after the match Fire Head Coach Gregg Berhalter said “we’ll take the point and run, because we didn’t deserve a point.” While the draw may have felt like a hard-earned point to previous editions of the Fire, this year, it feels like a disappointment.

Along with the continuation of the undefeated run, that may be the only real succor from this match, which also marked the first time on the season that the Fire were held to a single goal.

A week after the international break pulled over 100 players from across the league away, both teams still had to deal with absences: The Fire were out Brian Gutiérrez, injured while on international duty a week prior, while Designated Player Giacomo Vrioni headline’d Montréal’s list of injured players. Also in the infirmary for the visitors: Former Fire player Fabian Herbers, alongside Jalen Neal and three other players. The Fire, meanwhile, were also without Kellyn Acosta and Jonathan Dean alongside several longer-term absences.

Ahead of the match, Montréal became the first team looking to change their fortunes by a change in the dugout, firing head coach Laurent Courtois just five games into his second season and giving new assistant Marco Donadel – who reportedly had been under consideration for the job ahead of Courtois’s hire – the job. The team had just two goals and a single point on the year going into their game against the Fire, but had looked more dangerous than those numbers suggested as they started the season on a seven game road trip, waiting for the thaw to arrive in Montréal.

After a game that started slowly, Montréal were the first team to make a case for a goal, testing Brady with a series of shots, including one in the 19th minute from Dante Sealy off a fast break that forced Brady to make an aerial save.

The play seemed to energize the visitors, who hadn’t scored since their season opener against Atlanta at the end of February. Striker Prince Owusu tested Brady a few minutes later, again forcing the Fire netkeeper to be sharp.

In the 28th minute, Victor Loturi was the next Montreal player to take a shot at the Fire net. Brady was equal to the task, but wasn’t able to hang on to the ball and it made its way to Barroso who started the play the other way. He found Hugo Cuypers on a break, but Montréal players were able to get back before he could test Sirois. He instead played it to Philip Zinckernagel who sent it in for a header to Mauricio Pineda, but the Fire homegrown’s header was off the post.

Still, the hometeam wasn’t done: In the 40th minute, Jonathan Bamba played through Montréal defenders with a casual-looking flick that found its way Andrew Gutman, who drove in towards the net and sent a cross into the box. Philip Zinckernagel connected, beating Sirois, giving the Danish winger his second goal in as many games.

Fire, 1, Montréal, 0, a lead they would take with them back to the locker room. Neither coach went to their bench at the break, as heavy rain had started cascading down on Soldier Field.

A few minutes into the restart, Hugo Cuypers tested Sirois with a shot that went across the box but it sailed wide of the Montréal net. Still, the Fire felt like they were finally establishing the pace and tone that you’d expect from a team that was hoping to extend a three game winning streak.

That is, until Sealy had a say again. He received the ball just six yards from Brady’s net on a pass from Luca Petrasso and sent it past Brady in the 50th minute. The goal was Montréal’s first since their season opener against Atlanta, ending their goalless drought just 11 minutes shy of the six hour mark, at 349 minutes.

Looking to give his team an advantage, Berhalter was the first to go to his bench, bringing on Riminigue Kouamé, who scored in his Fire debut last week after coming on as a late substitute.

The next action after the substitution, though, was Montrèal’s, as Brady was caught well out of his net with a number of Montréal players bearing down. Scrambling, he managed to get his leg on the ensuing shot from Montréal’s scrum, seeing the ball out for a corner. Asked about the play after the game, Brady said “it’s not typically a ball where I would prefer myself going for, but you know, in the moment, it felt like the right thing to do,” while noting that “the most important thing is the recovery.”

Afterwards, there were a series of substitutions from both benches.  With the teams battling the elements, however, none of the changes really altered the tenor of the match, although CF Montréal had the advantage in chances – both quantitatively and qualitatively, and the Fire failed to register a shot after the 55th minute, though they did have pressure in the box on rare occasions.

Montréal tried their hardest to break through late, with a flurry of shots coming in the 89th minute or later, forcing Brady to make two saves and his teammates to block two others as another two attempts were off the mark. The two late saves marked Brady’s fifth and sixth on the evening, the most he’s been asked to make since the seven he recorded in a 2-1 loss to Inter Miami in Florida.

In the end, the 16,278 gathered at Soldier Field witnessed both teams leave with a soggy one-all draw that felt more like a defeat for the home side, who are in the odd position of being winless – and yet also undefeated – at home going into the season’s third month.

Player Ratings

Starting XI (4-3-3): Chris Brady (7); Andrew Gutman (7), Jack Elliott (6.5), Sam Rogers (6), Leonardo Barroso (6.5); Sam Williams (6), Mauricio Pineda (6), Sergio Oregel Jr. (8.5); Jonathan Bamba (6), Hugo Cuypers (6), Philip Zinckernagel (7)

Substitutes: Rominigue Kouamé (6), Maren Haile-Selassie (6.5), Tom Barlow (6), Omari Glasgow (NR)