"Why not try to make it five:" New England Revolution 1, Chicago Fire 3
Sometimes, you have to win ugly. That’s something the Chicago Fire are likely telling themselves on their return to Chicago after their 3-1 victory over the New England Revolution, in a game where the scoreline flatters the performance. In the end, however, the how is irrelevant: The Fire won, and as a result they advance to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open Cup, with the next round scheduled to be held on July 8-9.
The game could have felt like a renewal of what was once one of the most bitter rivalries between Major League Soccer teams given the eight playoff series between the sides in the 2000s. Instead, multiple factors conspired to make the match feel more like a grind: Playing on a Tuesday, combined, Revolution Head Coach Caleb Porter said, with the fact that his side needed results and had another midweek game next week, meant that the hosts played a heavily rotated squad. Key players like Carles Gil were not only missing from the starting XI, they were absent from the gameday sheet entirely.
The venue – a 3,000 capacity college stadium in Providence, Rhode Island, roughly sixty miles from Revolution fans in Boston with a turf field, also did little to fan the flames of the rivalry. The artificial turf facility, with its official capacity of 3,000 capacity, does not officially meet the standards for a U.S. Open Cup match hosted by a top flight team at this stage of the tournament. Nonetheless, the Revolution won hosting rights for the match and were allowed to use the Providence College athletics facility in lieu of other venues.
For his part, Fire Head Coach Gregg Berhatler rotated his squad, but trusted his depth. “For us, we don’t play midweek next week, so for us we rotated in six new guys – we put six new guys in there but it was a group that had the desire to win.” That meant replacing Sam Rogers at center-back with 16-year-old Fire homegrown Christopher Cupps, playing Guyanese international Omari Glasgow at right-back in lieu of Jonathan Dean, giving winger Philip Zinckernagel rest in favor of Maren Haile-Selassie, and replacing the now-familiar Fire homegrown trio in the midfield. Instead of Brian Gutiérrez, Sergio Oregel Jr. and Mauricio Pineda, the fire fielded Kellyn Acosta, Djé D’Avilla and Rominigue Kouamé.
From the start, the Fire’s stronger lineup felt like it was in control of the match but struggled with final balls. Whether it was the pitch – where balls often felt like they bounced up awkwardly on Chicago’s players – or something else, the Fire dominated possession but failed to have a clear look on goal in the opening half hour. That fell in well with the Revs’ match plan, which relied on capitalizing on Fire mistakes and transition moments while allowing the visitors to dominate the ball.
As the half wore on with the realistic chance that the Fire would return to the locker room with the game tied – a situation that would seemingly start to tilt the game towards the hosts’ plan for a smash-and-grab, the Fire had their opener. Of sorts. In the 39th minute, Jonathan Bamba sent in a cross in one of the Fire’s best opportunities to that point in. It didn’t look like a Fire player was likely to connect with it, but the Revolution’s Eric Klein did, directing the ball into his own net.
That put the Fire ahead 1-0, with Chicago going into half with a lead but without registering a shot. Despite playing many of the same starters as Saturday – and even substituting defense-minded players like Jonathan Dean with attacking options like Omari Glasgow – the Fire looked little like the team that was able to run Charlotte’s defense roughshod three nights prior. That made it feel that although the game was likely to end in the Fire’s favor, victory by the Revolution – who Chicago haven’t defeated since 2019, a streak going back 12 meetings between the sides – was far from impossible.
In the 2nd half, it looked like the Revs might be able to steal the game. 17-year-old Cristiano Olivera fired a shot that looked like it beat goalkeeper Chris Brady but ultimately hit the crossbar. Just a few minutes later, Brady gave the ball away and the Revolution pounced, forcing Brady to make a save, and it felt like the outcome would likely go to the team that scored the next goal.
Berhalter responded with his first substitution of the night, taking off D’Avilla in favor of Gutiérrez, the Fire’s most attacking-minded midfielder. Seconds later, the Fire registered their first shot of the match – a long-range effort from Haile-Selassie that sailed high but reestablished momentum in favor of the Fire.
Not long after, the Gutiérrez substitution yielded results: The Fire homegrown played a cross which hit the crossbar, but the rebound flew within range of Hugo Cuypers, who volleyed it into the net. The goal was Cuypers’ 10th in all competitions this season, but his night was over: He had sustained two rough tackles from former Revolution – and former Fire – defender Wyatt Omsberg, including one just two minutes prior to the goal that caused Cuypers to go to ground and seemingly favor his ankle. “He got kicked that one time pretty badly. To me it was a poor challenge but things happen in the game. He's doing okay,” Berhalter told reporters after the match, but after the goal, Tom Barlow subbed in in his place.
The Fire were up 2-0, but the Revolution’s Jackson Yueill tried to make it interesting five minutes later when he had a free kick from a good position that forced Brady to touch turf to make the save. He left the ball suspended in front of him for a moment before grabbing it in a play that ultimately felt comfortable for the Fire netminder but which briefly looked like an opportunity for the Revolution to pounce.
Five minutes later, Philip Zinckernagel, who had subbed on in the 70th minute, put the game on ice. The Fire winger played from his own half to the midfield, making its way to Haile-Selassie who returned the ball to the Dane who was heading into the box at speed. Zinckernagel forced his way laterally through several Revolution defenders, burying his shot with a clean look on goal.
That put the Fire up 3-0 but the game wasn’t quite over yet: In the 89th minute, former Fire player Alex Monis took a shot that looked like it might be destined towards goal but which ultimately connected with Fire homegrown Justin Reynolds, who had been covering another Revolution attacker and knew little of the attempt before it deflected off his body into Brady’s net.
That gave the games 3-1 win at the final whistle, in a game where their having more than 60% of the ball and outshooting the Revolution 4-3 does little to tell the story on the pitch. Regardless of how the victory was won, it sends the Fire into the quarterfinals of the tournament. “I think like all the teams that are competing in it, if you're in a tournament, you want to try and win it, and for us it's no different. You know, the club has the four Open Cup trophies already, and you know, why not try to make it five. So for us, any time we're on the field, we want to win. So the performance, I think,
indicated that," Berhalter said after the match The Fire will learn their opponent – as well as who will host – their next U.S. Open Cup match on Thursday, May 22nd, with the game set to be played July 8th or 9th. The Fire are next in action this Sunday, with a 2 PM Central kickoff against New York City FC at Yankee Stadium.
