Chicago Fire 2-o Atlanta United
CHICAGO, IL—It’s starting to be just old times for Chicago Fire FC. They made Soldier Field a fortress back in their first few years of existence and the last two games have them steering at least in that direction at home. For the first time under Raphael Wicky and for the first time in over a year, the Fire won back-to-back matches after Sunday night’s 2-0 win over Atlanta United.
The win puts the Fire into the tenth and final playoff place in the Eastern Conference while Atlanta slide back below the red line with the loss—their fourth in five games.
It was a fast start for the Fire as Gaston Gimenez dispossessed an Atlanta midfielder and then fed Fabian Herbers who beat Brad Guzan far post in the seventh minute for his third goal at Soldier Field this season.
“One of their central midfielders received the ball with his back turned,” Giménez explained. “When he controlled it, I noticed the ball went forward. So that’s when I stepped in, and was able to take the ball, move it forward, and pass it for [Herbers], who was already looking toward the goal.
The lead was doubled in the 39th minute after some brilliant ball movement from the Fire that culminated in Djordje Mihailovic setting up Robert Beric for his fourth goal in four matches.
Bobby Shuttleworth made five saves on the night and the first big one was against Adam Jahn who had a free header from point-blank range in the 19th minute. He would make another brilliant save on Jahn in the 58th minute again getting a tip on Jahn’s shot and pushing it onto the post.
Shuttleworth would get his second consecutive clean sheet and the Fire held on for the well-deserved victory. That said, Fire head coach Raphael Wicky is not resting on his laurels as the focus turns to next Saturday against Montreal.
“Look in football, tomorrow’s a new day,” Wicky said. “We have to keep working. That’s the beauty of this sport. You can enjoy. They should enjoy, but we cannot relax. There’s no reason for us to relax. We haven’t achieved anything.”
The Fire next play on Saturday against the Montreal Impact at Red Bull Arena. Kickoff is at 6:30pm on WGN-TV and ESPN+.
SCORING SUMMARY:
CHI-Fabian Herbers (Gimenez) 7
CHI-Robert Beric (Mihailovic) 39
BOOKING SUMMARY:
ATL-Mo Adams (caution, tactical foul) 85
CHICAGO FIRE (4-2-3-1): #1-Bobby Shuttleworth; #2-Boris Sekulic, #22-Mauricio Pineda, #5-Francisco Calvo, #3-Jonathan Bornstein (#36-Andre Reynolds 90+1); #30-Gaston Gimenez, #10-Alvaro Medran; #14-Djordje Mihailovic (#28-Elliot Collier 79), #21-Fabian Herbers (#13-Brandt Bronico 90+1), #7-Ignacio Aliseda (#6-Miguel Angel Navarro 79); #27-Robert Beric (#9-CJ Sapong 66)
Subs not used: #32-Gabriel Slonina, #20-Wyatt Omsberg, #16-Micheal Azira, #40-Brian Gutierrez
ATLANTA UNITED FC (4-2-3-1): #1-Brad Guzan; #2-Franco Escobar, #6-Fernando Meza, #5-Eric Remedi, #21-George Bello; #18-Jeff Larentowicz (#29-Mo Adams 73), #20-Emerson Hyndman; #11-Brooks Lennon, #26-Jon Gallagher, #23-Jake Mulraney (#15-Manuel Castro 82); #14-Adam Jahn (#28-Tyler Wolff 65)
Subs not used: #25-Alec Kann, #19-Edgar Castillo, #4-Anton Walkes, #32-George Campbell, #27-Laurence Wyke
TOTAL SHOTS: CHI 15-9 ATL
SHOTS ON GOAL: CHI 6-5 ATL
FOULS: CHI 14-9 ATL
OFFSIDES: CHI 5-3 ATL
CORNER KICKS: CHI 3-4 ATL
SAVES: CHI 5-4 ATL
Referee: Kevin Stott
Assistant Referees: Eric Weisbrod, Benjamin Hall-Volpenhein
Fourth Official: Lukasz Szpala
VAR: Hilario Grajeda
Weather: Cloudy and 72º
Man of the Match: Fabian Herbers (CHI)
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