BRIDGEVIEW, IL—For the third time this season, the Chicago Fire conceded the first goal, replied with two of their own, but conceded late in the second half to finish 2-2 before a sparse crowd at Toyota Park. As a result, Columbus was officially eliminated from playoff contention while the Fire’s winless streak extends to six.
The first goal came in the 13th minute as Columbus countered following a cheap giveaway from Arturo Alvarez. Four Fire defenders descended on Justin Meram who passed to an unmarked Adam Jahn who made no mistake 10 yards out.
After another lackluster first half by the Fire, David Arshakyan came in as a sub and actually caused trouble for Columbus. Eight minutes into the second half, a ball intended for him was accidentally knock in by Michael Parkhurst to make it 1-1. Four minutes later, Alvarez redeemed himself after charging into the area and sending a loss cross to Michael de Leeuw for a tap in to give the Fire the lead.
The Fire had a great chance to make it 3-1 in the 79th minute, but Alvarez’s low cross was not met by either Arshakyan or de Leeuw. One minute later, the Fire would be punished by Jahn as he scored from the edge of the area for his second of the night. The Crew desperate for a winner that would keep them in the playoff hunt, moved keeper Steve Clark up for a last-ditch attack, but could muster one while the Fire could not muster an attack with an empty net on the other side.
It was the kind of match where both teams showed why they are where they are this season and the Fire head towards an unwanted place in the history books as the first team to finish bottom overall for two straight seasons.
For the Fire fans who have been suffering all season, head coach Veljko Paunovic simply had this demand for his players for Sunday’s match against New England.
“What I think is that we have one more game left at home, and I just said that to the guys in the locker room,” said Paunovic. “We just have three days left to prepare for the game on Sunday, recover, and do everything to win that game. This year, the people who come, our crowd, our supporters, they suffered too much and we have to give that last game everything we have to win the game. I think that’s very important.
“Yes, we failed. We failed to close, to win the game. Disappointed? Well, yes. You’re disappointed when you don’t win. Of course. But, as we always say, we look forward to improving things and the most important thing is the next game. As I said before, it doesn’t matter what I think about this game because it’s done. It has been too many times we’ve been through this. Now it only matters the next game and I want to see our guys working hard and giving our best to win the game. That’s all I want for the next game. Win the game and we have to do everything to do it. And again, we always said, it’s a process that’s all still there. Process and everything, we said. We need this game, we’ve got to win it for our fans because the people are supporting us during the whole year. We appreciate that. Next game we have got to win.”
The Fire finishing their home fixture list on Sunday against New England at 2pm on CSN Chicago.
SCORING SUMMARY:
CLB-Adam Jahn (Meram) 13
CHI-Michael Parkhurst (own goal) 53
CHI-Michael de Leeuw (Alvarez) 57
CLB-Adam Jahn (Saeid) 80
BOOKING SUMMARY:
CHI-Razvan Cocis (caution, dissent) 80
CHI-Joao Meira (caution, dissent) 85
CHICAGO FIRE (4-4-2): #25-Sean Johnson; #4-Johan Kappelhof, #16-Jonathan Campbell, #66-Joao Meira, #3-Brandon Vincent; #12-Arturo Alvarez, #2-Matt Polster, #30-Razvan Cocis (C), #7-John Goossens (#10-David Arshakyan 46); #8-Michael de Leeuw (#26-Michael Stephens 87, #9-Luis Solignac
Subs not used: #23-Patrick McLain, #6-Eric Gehrig, #5-Michael Harrington, #19-Khaly Thiam, #15-Joey Calistri
COLUMBUS CREW (4-2-3-1): #1-Steve Clark; #21-Chad Barson, #4-Michael Parkhurst (C), #24-Nicolai Naess (#27-Conor Casey 77), #16-Hector Jimenez (#3-Corey Ashe 78); #20-Wil Trapp, #8-Mohammed Saeid; #13-Ethan Finlay, #5-Dilly Duka (#18-Cristian Martinez 65), #9-Justin Meram; #12-Adam Jahn
Subs not used: #41-Brad Stuver, #19-Rodrigo Savia, #6-Tony Tchani, #17-Ola Kamara
TOTAL SHOTS: CHI 0-0 CLB
SHOTS ON GOAL: CHI 0-0 CLB
FOULS: CHI 0-0 CLB
OFFSIDES: CHI 0-0 CLB
CORNER KICKS: CHI 0-0 CLB
SAVES: CHI 0-0 CLB
Referee: David Gantar
Referee’s Assistants: Peter Manilkowski, Nick Uranga
4th Official: Hilario Grajeda
Weather: Clear and 53º
Attendance: 15,883
Man of the Match: Adam Jahn (CLB)
