Wednesday Blues: Chicago Fire 0, Vancouver Whitecaps 1

Here we go again.

The Chicago Fire lost for the third straight game in MLS as they were defeated 1-0 at home by the Vancouver Whitecaps. A disappointing Wednesday night leaves the Men in Red in an extremely perilous position in the playoff race, just two points above the line.

The Fire entered the night knowing that securing three points was a must, so Frank Klopas opted for a change in system to better cope with Vancouver’s dangerous two-man strikeforce of Brian White and Ryan Gauld. A return was made to the same 3-4-2-1 from earlier in the year, with Rafa Czichos, Carlos Terán, and Mauricio Pineda starting together in defense, as Miguel Ángel Navarro and Maren Haile-Selassie returned as wing backs. Ousmane Doumbia and Fede Navarro started together for the first time with Gastón Giménez suspended, and Xherdan Shaqiri partnered Brian Gutiérrez as a dual number ten underneath Kei Kamara.

In the opening 15 minutes, the home team did certainly have their chances. Kamara came close to scoring with a spectacular bicycle kick, and Gutiérrez looked incredibly good with his creative passing. However, the momentum quick began to shift shortly after.

In the nineteenth minute, a quick attack from the Whitecaps produced the game’s opening goal. Gauld crossed the ball in for White, who redirected the ball towards Brady, who could not keep the ball out despite his best attempts. It may have only crossed the goal line by a millimeter, but it was enough to give Vancouver the lead following a quick check with VAR.

The Whitecaps’ lead gave them continued assurance for the rest of the half, and Gauld in particular made sure to test the Fire’s back line. Brady had to make some important saves, including one from point-blank range, to keep the lead to one before the half, but it was evident that the switch to a back three simply did not work. Vancouver had it figured out after a quarter of an hour, and at the break, Arnaud Souquet came on and the Fire reverted to the standard 4-2-3-1 formation.

Unfortunately for Klopas, though, the adjustment didn’t quite produce the intended reaction. The Fire remained lackluster, and further alterations to introduce Jairo Torres, Fabian Herbers, and Georgios Koutsias couldn’t change things. Late on, Kamara had a glancing header which represented his team’s best chance of the second half, but it hardly challenged the goalkeeper.

The most frustrating aspect of the night was the performance of Shaqiri. The $8 million per year DP had an extremely ineffective outing for the full 90 minutes, and provided absolutely no threat towards the opposition. His passes were inaccurate, he could not find the target, and his giveaways were plentiful before he was eventually pulled in the 78th minute for Koutsias. If the Fire are to make the postseason, he’ll have to return to his form from before the post-Leagues Cup break.

Now, with just eight games to go in the regular season, its crunch time. Klopas’ team simply needs to find a way to start getting some wins back on the board, otherwise, they will miss the postseason once again. There are just three home matches left as well, and one is against Inter Miami on October 4th, so two successive home defeats against Orlando last week and Vancouver this week are enormous missed opportunities.

The first oppotunity to set things right will come next week, on September 2nd, at D.C. United.