Chicago Fire FC 0-1 FC Cincinnati
CHICAGO, IL—In a battle between the two worst teams in Major League Soccer, one of them had to leave Soldier Field as the worst, and it ended up Chicago Fire FC as they fell, 1-0, to FC Cincinnati. The Fire fall to a league-worst 1-7-1 and have just two goals since the first 11 minutes of the season.
FCC were dominant in the first half and perhaps should have had the lead with nine shots on target, but all were stopped by Bobby Shuttleworth. The Fire would have none in the first half and just two on target in the second (out of 19 total shots for the game).
It ended up being tenth time lucky for FC Cincinnati in the 50th minute after Alvaro Barreal’s free kick beat Shuttleworth near post for what would be the only score.
The Fire once again tried to find an equalizer, but for incredibly wasteful finishing once again, Much like the Montreal match before the international break, the Fire though they had an equalizer in stoppage time through Robert Beric, but once again VAR took it away after it determined that Beric was offside as the flick-on header went towards him.
Fire keeper Bobby Shuttleworth admits that it is hard to remain optimistic after experiencing the season the Fire have had so far.
“I’d be lying if I said it’s not difficult,” said Shuttleworth. “It’s hard when you’re going through a season like this. The only way to get through it is to keep grinding and keep working and keep your head down and push forward. We’ve got to continue to work in training and clearly there are lot of things to work on and continue to work on.
“We’re frustrated. We couldn’t be more frustrated. We’re talking about this stuff in our locker room and meetings and it’s not happening for us right now. The only way to get out it is to pull ourselves out of it.”
Shuttleworth did say that the players are still behind coach Raphael Wicky, but Wicky admits that it is not his decision as to whether he gets to continue as coach.
“That’s out of my control,” said Wicky. “Obviously, I like being the head coach here. I like working with my staff and the players. I know we’re not getting results, but this question is not to me. There’s always pressure and when there’s bad results, there’s not many arguments.
“The only thing is that I am here 100% committed. I come every day to work hard for our staff and that’s all I can say. The question has to go to other people.”
The Fire will look to rebound on Saturday at Soldier Field against Philadelphia Union (7pm, WGN). The Fire have hit bottom and there are many changes that are needed if the Fire are ever going to rise up out of the hole they are in right now.
SCORING SUMMARY:
CIN-Alvaro Barreal (unassisted) 50
BOOKING SUMMARY:
CIN-Alvaro Barreal (caution, tactical foul) 80
CIN-Brandon Vazquez (caution, tactical foul) 84
CHICAGO FIRE (4-2-3-1): #1-Bobby Shuttleworth; #2-Boris Sekulic, #22-Maurico Pinieda (#23-Carlos Teran 54), #5-Francisco Calvo, #6-Miguel Navarro; #4-Johan Kappelhof (#10-Alvaro Medran 54), #21-Fabian Herbers; #14-Jhon Espinoza (#40-Brian Gutierrez 54), #8-Luka Stojanovic, #7-Ignacio Aliseda (#9-Chinoso Offor 79); #27-Robert Beric
Subs not used: #32-Gabriel Slonina, #3-Jonathan Bornstein, #28-Eliott Collier, #38-Alex Monis, #9-Chinoso Offor, #37-Javier Casas
FC CINCINNATI (4-3-3): #25-Kenneth Vermeer; #13-Joseph Claude-Gyau. #12-Geoff Cameron, #5-Gustavo Vallecilla, #16-Ronald Matarrita; #7-Yuya Kubo, #8-Allan Cruz, #11-Luciano Acosta; #31-Alvaro Barreal (#14-Nick Hagglund 83), #9-Brenner (#19-Brandon Vazquez 73), #23-Issac Atanga (#10-Juergen Locadia 73)
Subs not used: #22-Przemyslaw Tyton, #14-Nick Hagglund, #21-Franko Kovacevic, #2-Edgar Castillo, #33-Caleb Stanko, #6-Haris Medunjanin, #15-Kamohelo Mokotjo
TOTAL SHOTS: CHI 19-19 CIN
SHOTS ON GOAL: CHI 2-12 CIN
FOULS: CHI 23-20 CIN
OFFSIDES: CHI 1-6 CIN
CORNER KICKS: CHI 7-7 CIN
SAVES: CHI 11-2 CIN
Referee: Ismir Pekmic
Assistant Referees: Corey Rockwell, Peter Manilkowski
Fourth Official: Fotis Bazakos
VAR: Edvin Jurisevic
Weather: Partly Cloudy and 78º
Attendance: 5,926
Man of the Match: Bobby Shuttleworth (CHI)
