Whole Lotta Red: New York Red Bulls 0, Chicago Fire 0

HARRISON, N.J. — On a night where they may have felt they could have gained more, the Chicago Fire battled the New York Red Bulls to a 0-0 draw. A half-empty Red Bull Arena in New Jersey was the setting as the 10th-placed Fire took on the conference-leading Red Bulls.

Frank Klopas’ team entered the game coming off of a scrappy 2-1 home win over the Houston Dynamo which, while crucial in the larger context of the season, left a lot to be desired in terms of performance. Nonetheless, Klopas named an unchanged starting XI, which left homegrown star Brian Gutiérrez on the bench for a Chris Mueller seeking to regain his best form.

Though the high-flying Red Bulls entered the night atop the league, Sandro Schwarz’s team couldn’t continue their goal-friendly approach in the opening minutes. Homegrown goalkeeper Chris Brady ensured that the Fire goal was well-protected, while on-loan fullback Allan Arigoni once again impressed on both sides of the ball in his unnatural left back position.

Toward the end of the first half, the game’s momentum was brought to a halt by a lengthy VAR check, resulting in an off-the-ball red card for Red Bull defender Andrés Reyes. The sending-off didn’t result in a penalty, as the foul occurred when the ball was not in play. Tobias Salquist was forced to leave the game via a concussion substitution from the incident.

“The red card, [didn’t] change things, but I think then they played a little bit where they sat back and they looked at transition a lot more,” Klopas said.

Despite being up a man for the whole second half, the Fire failed to capitalize on the golden opportunity to steal an unlikely three points. New York not only weathered the storm, but held firm, and the Fire were not even clearly dominant for the majority of the second half. There was some concern for winger Maren Haile-Selassie, who came off with a calf injury around the 64th minute, though its severity will be evaluated later in the week.

In the final stages, it was the short-handed Red Bulls who had the better of the chances. Star DP Emil Forsberg and league-leading assister Dante Vanzeir had been kept fairly anonymous for the majority of the game, and it was substitute Elias Manuel who struck the post from distance in the 91st minute of play but could not score. Inexplicably, the Fire were saved by the post again moments later, and Frankie Amaya’s follow-up shot also struck the woodwork.

The Fire maintained some later pressure, and on the other end, could not break down Red Bull’s low block as the hosts sought to preserve a points. Xherdan Shaqiri had another decent game at the number 10 position, but couldn’t find the final ball his team needed to find a breakthrough. Brian Gutiérrez also provided some energy from bench, perhaps earning a return to the starting eleven next week, but struggled to find enough space in the final third to threaten the goalkeeper.

“We had some good moments,” said forward Tom Barlow. “I think now is a good opportunity for us to really come together as a team with the three home games coming up.”

The Fire will host Real Salt Lake next Saturday at Soldier Field.