BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. - A clean sheet from both ends is never the most appealing for the fan base. But the Chicago Fire care more about first place, and not about the lack of scoring.Despite an 11-4 shots on goal advantage, the Fire settled for a scoreless draw against the defending champion Columbus Crew on Saturday night in Major League Soccer play at Toyota Park.
With D.C. United idle this week, Chicago (6-3-7) briefly jumped into sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference with 25 points (one ahead of D.C.). The Crew are now 5-3-9, with 23 points. Later Saturday, Toronto FC topped the San Jose Earthquakes, 3-1, and now have 25 points, as well.
It was a difficult game to establish possession with multiple players slipping on the surface, particularly in the first half. There were some errant passes, holding on the ball too long. But the Chicago defense of Bakary Soumare, C.J. Brown, Tim Ward and Daniel Woolard, and Jon Busch’s (pictured) four saves, proved to be enough to contain Guillermo Barros Schelotto and the Crew attack.
“I think each team has spurts of when they possessed it,” Busch said. “At times we didn’t make the simple play. We’ve got to do a little better possessing it and moving around like we did in Colorado. At the end of the day, we got a clean sheet. And the guys in front of me - Baky, C.J. and Timmy and Danny - did a great job.
On the flip side, Crew goalkeeper William Hesmer had to come up big on several occasions, as his 11 saves indicate.
“Their goalkeeper made some great saves in the second half that kept them in the game,” Fire head coach Denis Hamlett said of Hesmer. “It’s sure frustrating that we could have gotten three and we didn’t.”
Chicago’s best scoring chance in the first half was on a header from Brian McBride in the 25th minute. The header came off of a Cuauhtemoc Blanco corner kick and was placed solidly toward the left of the Columbus goal. But Crew goalkeeper William Hesmer stretched to his right and got a glove on the ball to bat it away.
The Fire also had a strong offensive chance in the 39th minute when McBride had open space on the left side. He crossed the ball for Chris Rolfe, who slipped on the playing surface. But the ball did get to Marco Pappa, who had a high-percentage opportunity but struck the ball right to Hesmer.
The Fire’s best second-half chance came in the 63rd minute. Rolfe was darting for the ball against a defender and Hesmer, and the ball popped out to Blanco for a rebound opportunity. With Hesmer will away from the net and a couple Crew defenders trying to move into Blanco’s path, the Fire midfielder still had a good angle. Instead, he shanked the ball and did not even put it on net.
Notes: Libertyville native and Fire midfielder Baggio Husidic got his second straight start. … Chicago was without midfielder Logan Pause and defender Gonzalo Segares, who were not available because of CONCACAF Gold Cup duty for the U.S. and Costa Rica, respectively. … The Fire are now 1-2-4 at Toyota Park.
Next up: The Fire head to New England to take on the Revolution in SuperLiga at 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 15. The game is on TeleFutura.
SlideTackles.net thoughts: Forgive my brashness, but this was a pretty sloppy game to watch. The slips on the surface certainly are legitimate since the field was slick in spots for both teams. But there were quite a few errant passes, several Fire players hanging onto the ball way too long - McBride flailing his hands in the air for Pappa to get him the ball in the second half stood out.
This might be a bit harsh to say all of this, especially since this is a first place team. But it deserves mention because despite those mishaps, they contained the Crew on the defensive side and possessed the ball longer than Columbus to attain a necessary edge. They once again missed an opportunity for three points at home. Instead, the Fire are 1-2-4 at Toyota Park.
The players and coaching staff are correct on one thing: They are in first place. And if it means a continuation of draws at home and maintaining a strong record on the road, that will eventually get them to where they want to be - a chance for a postseason run.
No comments:
Post a Comment