BRIDGEVIEW, IL-–Adjustments were the key for the Chicago Fire in their 1-0 win over Columbus Crew SC. The win ended the Crew’s three-match win streak and put the Fire within two points of the East lead in the early going.
One adjustment was made at the start of the match. With Juninho suspended and Johan Kappelhof returning from his suspension, Fire coach Veljko Paunovic went to three central defenders (Kappelhof, Joao Meria, and Jonathan Campbell) with Brandon Vincent and Michael Harrington as roamers on the wings.
That stifled the Crew as much as being without Federico Higuain who was out with an ankle injury. The Fire got the only score in the 22nd minute after a thru ball from Dax McCarty found Nemanja Nikolic who slotted past Zack Steffen for his second of the season.
The Crew took in initiative at the start of the second half and were the more dangerous side. Ten minutes in, Paunovic went back to four defenders subbing out Campbell and bringing in Drew Conner who had played just 12 minutes total in a Fire shirt before Saturday. Conner impressed as did Daniel Johnson once again in a substitute role for the Fire.
Indeed, the Fire had chances to get a second with Bastian Schweinsteiger coming close on a free kick only to be denied by Steffen. Johnson had Steffen off his line and beaten with a shot in the 81st minute, but it was cleared off the line by Nicolai Naess.
Most of the Crew’s attack came from the wings, but mustered just three shots on target coming closest through Niko Hansen in the 70th minute followed by a near miss on a header by Alex Crognale. Adam Jahn had one last shot for the Crew, but was denied by Jorge Bava.
After the match, Paunovic talked about the adjustments.
“We did some adjustments, we prepared for one game when the game started and I think it worked pretty well in the first half,” said Paunovic. “But the second half we had to do a different setup and different organization. Especially offensively, so we could keep more of the ball and I think after the changes we made, the young players who came in did very well, both Drew Connor and Daniel Johnson. So I think the team responded very well under difficult conditions in a difficult game against a very good team and you know we learned last year how tough this league is and how we have to play sometimes and I think today we played that way.
“The way that we have to manage the game until the end when its tough, when its difficult, when the other team is pushing hard and has a lot of qualities. We were capable of managing the game and being dangerous also and creating opportunities and almost score the second goal, which was the plan in the second half. So very happy with three points and now looking forward to our next game.”
Chicago Fire captain Dax McCarty was key for the club’s dominance in the midfield on Saturday against the Columbus Crew (photo credit Don MacGregor)
Man of the Match Dax McCarty noted the improved performance by the defense compared to last week against Montreal.
“Defensively, it was a really strong performance,” said McCarty. “I thought the back five and the midfield did a good job to limit their really good dangerous chances. I still think they had a lot of possession that didn’t really lead to much, but it was good to see the game out.
“The thing that I think was the most frustrating about this game is the fact that we didn’t reward ourselves with a second goal. The chances were there, in possession, in build-up, also on the counter-attack. When you don’t kill off teams, that can tend to come back and bite you at the end of the game. We were very good defensively, it was a gutsy performance, I’d say.”
The Fire play the third of their three-match home stand next Saturday against New England at 4pm on CSN+.
SCORING SUMMARY:
CHI-Nemanja Nikolic (McCarty) 22
BOOKING SUMMARY:
CLB-Alex Crognale (caution, tactical foul) 84
CHI-Dax McCarty (caution, tactical foul) 86
CHICAGO FIRE (3-4-3): #1-Jorge Bava; #4-Johan Kappelhof, #66-Joao Meira, #16-Jonathan Campbell (#18-Drew Conner 55); #5-Michael Harrington, #6-Dax McCarty (C), #31-Bastian Schweinsteiger, #3-Brandon Vincent; #8-Michael de Leeuw, #23-Nemanja Nikolic, #11-David Accam (#20-Daniel Johnson 73)
Subs not used: #28-Matt Lampson, #22-Patrick Doody, #13-Brandt Bronico, #12-Arturo Alvarez, #10-David Arshakyan
COLUMBUS CREW (4-2-3-1): #23-Zack Steffen; #16-Hector Jimenez, #24-Nicolai Naess, #21-Alex Crognale, #2-Jukka Raitala (#14-Waylon Francis 73); #8-Mohammed Abu (#28-Niko Hansen 60), #20-Wil Trapp (C); #13-Ethan Finlay (#12-Adam Jahn 79), #7-Artur, #9-Justin Meram; #11-Ola Kamara
Subs not used: #30-Logan Ketterer, #3-Josh Williams, #31-Connor Maloney, #18-Cristian Martinez
TOTAL SHOTS: CHI 11-12 CLB
SHOTS ON GOAL: CHI 6-3 CLB
FOULS: CHI 8-12 CLB
OFFSIDES: CHI 2-1 CLB
CORNER KICKS: CHI 4-5 CLB
SAVES: CHI 3-5 CLB
Referee: Alan Kelly
Referee’s Assistants: Matthew Nelson, Eric Weisbrod
4th Official: Sorin Stoica
Weather: Sunny and 60º
Attendance: 16,434
Man of the Match: Dax McCarty (CHI)
Chicago Fire
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