Atlanta United buried the Chicago Fire under a four goal avalanche on Saturday.
An early red card to Johan Kappelhof sabotaged any positive result Chicago Fire could have mustered. Atlanta’s offense took advantage, looking every bit of dangerous as MLS pundits have predicted.
Here are the takeaways, including, setbacks, stat extrapolations, roster needs and TREMENDOUS TRANSFER NEWS.
Setbacks
The Fire entered the match missing Michael de Leeuw.
Almost time. Here is your #cf97 starting XI pres. by @UIHealth. Coverage of #ATLvCHI kicks off on @UniMas & Facebook Live at 3 pm CT! pic.twitter.com/JHixymI9wx
— Chicago Fire FC (@ChicagoFire) March 18, 2017
An early own goal followed closely by the aforementioned red card saw the Fire on the back foot by the 11th minute. Missing their best defender for 80 minutes, in addition to being down a man, proved too much for the Chicago Fire.
More frustrating than the loss is that we really can't make any forecasts about the team... this game was over so quickly. #cf97
— OTF Soccer (@OTFSoccer) March 18, 2017
From an analysis perspective, playing a man down nearly 80 minutes somewhat reduces the overall negative impact of this game.
On the bright side, the Fire didn’t concede the next goal until the 60th minute. The effort was there, but Atlanta was able to overmatch the Fire’s right side, and eventually break through.
Last two Atlanta goals have come as a result of zero pressure on the ball from the right side of the defense. #cf97
— Guillermo Rivera (@FireConf) March 18, 2017
Atlanta’s offense looked fantastic, but the Fire were never able to get things going. We’ll have wait for the upcoming three game home-stand before we can really get a bead on this Chicago team. Atlanta, meanwhile, will have to prove they’re the real deal over their next four fixtures, all away from home.