NASHVILLE, TN—The Fire had a bad first half, but got an equalizer. They had a terrific second half, but couldn’t net the winner. A 1-1 draw against Nashville SC is not the worst thing in the world, but it does mean that their final two games (assuming Wednesday’s match at Minnesota does not get cancelled) become more must-win.
Nashville scored first in the 28th minute off a restart where Walker Zimmerman kept a ball in play and sent a cross to Randall Leal, who then flicked it on to Daniel Rios who headed past Bobby Shuttleworth. It would b their only shot on target the whole night.
For most of the first half, the Fire could not get anything going offensively. That was until the 42nd minute when Mauricio Pineda sent a through ball to Boris Sekulic who got in behind the Nashville defense and beat Joe Willis near post.
In the second half, it was virtually all Chicago Fire. However, the final touch was not there. The closest they got was in the 88th minute when Elliot Collier headed a shot off the goal post.
Fire head coach Raphael Wicky is happy with the progress his team has made over the past two months, but is frustrated that they have not converted that progress into wins, like on Online Casino Snoop.
“I’m proud of the reaction of the guys,” said Wicky. “We are in a very difficult place here, and we all know that, Nashville is a team that defends very well and doesn’t concede a lot of chances; if you look over the whole season, who doesn’t concede a lot of goals. And we came back, which is not easy against them, coming back away; we did, and a good reaction from the team. And then a totally dominant second half with moments with hitting the post, and actually being quite good, organized, for not running into counterattack.
“Of course they had one or two opportunities or moments where they counterattack, and that’s normal when you play against a team who is sitting that low that at one point may have a counterattack. We actually did well in that. I’m happy with what I see from my team and I’m happy with the progress over the last two and a half, three months, the team, I’m very happy with that. That gives me a very positive feeling for the future whatever happens. But I’m frustrated that we cannot win these games because we came here to win. I mean, a lot of those games in the last two months, two and a half months, were there for us to win, as well. Yeah, that’s frustrating, but on the other side, like I said, I’m very happy with a lot of things I see from the team.”
The Fire are due to play Minnesota United in a makeup game on Wednesday, but the Loons had their game on Sunday against Sporting Kansas City cancelled due to two players on Minnesota testing positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19). We will see if this match goes off. Regardless, the Fire will need at least one win to keep their playoff hopes alive.
SCORING SUMMARY:
NSH-Daniel Rios (Leal, Zimmerman) 28
CHI-Boris Sekulic (Pineda) 42
BOOKING SUMMARY:
NSH-Dax McCarty (caution, tactical foul) 90
NASHVILLE SC (4-4-1-1): #1-Joe Willis; #12-Alistair Johnston, #25-Walker Zimmerman, #4-Dave Romney, #2-Daniel Lovitz; #8-Randall Leal (#3-Jalil Anibaba 89), #20-Anibal Godoy, #6-Dax McCarty, #29-Alex Muyl (#27-Tah Anunga 70); #21-Derrick Jones (#7-Abu Danladi 59), #14-Daniel Rios (#99-Jhonder Cadiz 59)
Subs not used: #30-Elliot Panicco, #15-Eric Miller, #23-Tyler Washington, #18-Jack Maher, #22-Matt LaGrassa
CHICAGO FIRE (4-2-3-1): #1-Bobby Shuttleworth; #2-Boris Sekulic, #22-Mauricio Pineda, #5-Francisco Calvo, #6-Miguel Angel Navarro (#3-Jonathan Bornstein 76); #30-Gaston Gimenez, #10-Alvaro Medran; #11-Przemyslaw Frankowski (#28-Elliot Collier 82), #14-Djordje Mihailovic (#21-Fabian Herbers 76), #7-Ignacio Aliseda; #27-Robert Beric
Subs not used: #24-Connor Sparrow, #36-Andre Reynolds, #20-Wyatt Omsberg, #23-Carlos Teran, #16-Micheal Azira, #40-Brian Gutierrez
TOTAL SHOTS: NSH 10-12 CHI
SHOTS ON GOAL: NSH 1-5 CHI
FOULS: NSH 14-14 CHI
OFFSIDES: NSH 3-1 CHI
CORNER KICKS: NSH 3-4 CHI
SAVES: NSH 4-0 CHI
Referee: Malik Badawi
Assistant Referees: Corey Parker, Brooke Mayo
Fourth Official: Marcos de Oliveria
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero
Weather: Fair and 61º
Man of the Match: Boris Sekulic (CHI)
