In a stunning turn of events, the Chicago Fire put on an extremely entertaining game at home, even leading defending Supporters’ Shield winners Philadelphia Union multiple times in a 3-3 draw on a rainy night by the lake. Here’s how it happened:
Things kicked off very early with a 2nd minute cross from Miguel Navarro getting a miraculous-looking deflection into the net by Philadelphia Union defender Jakob Glesnes, who would be credited with the own goal. The Union seemed almost in shock from this for the first half hour of the game and the Chicago Fire almost got another couple chances from Luka Stojanovic around the 20th minute, but that run was stopped emphatically in the 28th minute when a corner bounced off Francisco Calvo and set up an amazing bicycle kick for teenager Quinn Sullivan. That wouldn’t even be the end of it for the first half as a poor clearance two minutes into added time led to a quick goal from Corey Burke.
At halftime, it felt like things had finally evened out with Philadelphia on top, but the Chicago Fire once again shocked everyone when Boris Sekulic blew past the defensive line to get on the end of a freekick, heading it home in the 56th minute. In the 67th minute, the Fire took the lead again, with Mauricio Pineda finding himself in just the right spot on a corner to send it in. But this wouldn’t last long and luck always finds a way to take back what it is owed. Bobby Shuttleworth continued his incredible recent form by saving a Kacper Przybylko shot in the 79th minute, but the ball would ricochet straight off of Boris Sekulic and into the net. Things stayed hot in the 86th minute where Jamiro Monteiro was met with a big chance off a through ball from Burke, only to be turned away by Shuttleworth. And the Fire didn’t let up either, instead seeing Chinonso Offor creating an attacking chance out of nothing in the 91st minute, but the eventual shot from Alvaro Medran at the end of the play was easily saved. The score would stay 3-3.
Here are three things we can take away from this surprisingly exciting match.
It’s Wet!
There is no way around talking about it in either Chicago soccer game from Saturday, the pitch was absolutely soaked. The City of Chicago is set to be battered by thunderstorms for the next week and it just happened that the day of the highly anticipated Chicago soccer double-header was Day One of this mini-monsoon season. But it didn’t just hinder fans, the players on the pitch had an incredibly rough time keeping their footing and controlling the ball.
In fact, it almost looked like the reason the Philadelphia Union was so out of it during the first half hour of the match stemmed not only from the weird own goal and the amount of academy players on the pitch, but the nearly unplayable surface they were on. Soldier Field is an NFL stadium and its surface isn’t really meant to be able to drain well enough for a ball to roll across it. This cannot be overlooked as a major factor in the game.
I Like Trash
Something I should mention about me is that I love terrible things. What I mean is that I enjoy watching things that are entertaining because they are bad. Some people watch bad movies, others read “trashy” novels. I watch chaotic soccer. And this game was truly chaotic and wonderful in a way that I was actually expecting for the FC Cincinnati game and not against a team that is supposed to be one of the best in the league. But with the combination of poor weather and pitch conditions, the desperation of the Chicago Fire, and the inexperience of some of the Philadelphia Union squad, we got an absolute banger of trash fire.
But it is important to note that while I enjoy the chaos of the match, it does not make the match any better in terms of helping the Chicago Fire’s chances on the season. When your mentality is that you are lucky to get a draw at home, there’s something wrong with the team. With Raphael Wicky still retaining his job, it’s hard to really say that this game proves anything about his ability to lead this team and the game will likely have little effect on the rest of the season. All we have is the memory of watching such a stupid game unfold in front of us. And one point.
Something To Take Home With You
The Chicago Fire probably should’ve lost this game. While they were in control through some psychological means at the beginning of the match, the Fire did not deserve anything out of the game. At least not until the 63rd minute. In the 63rd minute, two key substitutions were made. First, Robert Beric was replaced by Chinonso Offor. Second, Luka Stojanovic was replaced by a possibly jet-lagged Przemyslaw Frankowski. Something about this substitution changed the Fire’s attack.
Whether it was the addition of Frankowski or the subtraction of Beric, the Fire’s attack felt quite a bit more dangerous than they had in previous games. With Ignacio Aliseda and Alvaro Medran combining into this situation, things just seemed to actually work for once. Maybe what coach Raphael Wicky was saying about needing everyone to finally play together was actually true. Or maybe Beric is the problem and Offor’s amazing work rate is what helped make the attack feel more dynamic. Possibly the best way to test this out is to give Offor the start the next game with the full help of Frankowski, Aliseda, Medran, and Luka Stojanovic, which is something he didn’t have in his original shot against the Columbus Crew.
And while this sort of thing might save Wicky’s job, it doesn’t do him or GM Georg Heitz any favors that Robert Beric has joined the long list of Designated Player flops in Fire history.