Chicago Fire 4-0 FC Dallas
BRIDGEVIEW, IL—Joe Mansueto could not have asked for a better start in his first match as sole owner of the Chicago Fire. All the damage was done in the first half as the Fire coasted to a 4-0 win over FC Dallas.
With results elsewhere on Saturday, the Fire are now just three points out of the seventh and final playoff spot with three matches to play. Seventh-place New England does have a match in hand.
The fireworks started early for the Fire as CJ Sapong took advantage of a poor backpass by Reggie Cannon exacerbated by miscommunication between Matt Hedges and Jesse Gonzalez to put the ball into an open net in the seventh minute.
Nine minutes later, Brandt Bronico sent a cross into the box that was met by Przemyslaw Frankowski who put it into the roof of the net to double the Fire’s advantage. Just before the half hour mark, CJ Sapong headed in Nico Gaitan’s corner kick to make it 3-0.
Frankowski turned provider in the 39th minute when he fed an unmarked Nemanja Nikolic for the fourth goal of the half.
That really was all the action on the day as the second half was forgettable apart from a couple Fire shots by Dax McCarty and Sapong hitting woodwork in quick succession in the 64th minute.
“Today was one of the days that we had a brilliant start and we converted our opportunities, which in the past sometimes wasn’t that consistent, but now it’s working,” said Fire head coach Veljko Paunovic. “It’s still three games to go and three opportunities for us, starting with the next one. So we are focusing on the positives. We keep the confidence high and we believe that we have our chances. So we’re going to take them all until the end. In the next game, we want to have the same performance, and most importantly have the same outcome: winning the game and get three points. It’s a must-win game. As I said last week, our playoffs already started, so every game, one game at a time and every game is a playoff game for us, which means, you win, you continue with your options and if you don’t win, unfortunately that’s it. But a game like today’s speaks highly about the spirit that the team is having right now and the good performances always help.”
“We are all disappointed. We are all very disappointed,” said FC Dallas head coach Luchio Gonzalez. “I thought we had a pretty good week of preparation, it’s not easy missing over nine guys due to international duty at different age groups. But no excuses. We have to be better. First thing, I have to say sorry to our fans. Very disappointed. We let our fans down and we feel it, it hurts. We have to accept it. We have to own it but also, if there’s something I know about this group, is they respond. We have a quick turnover in Seattle, and what better opportunity than to go over there and to channel everything that we are learning here and the hurt into bouncing back against the next opportunity.”
The Fire will travel to face FC Cincinnati next Saturday at 6:30pm CT on ESPN+. FC Dallas has a quick turnaround and visit Seattle on Wednesday night at 9:30pm CT.
SCORING SUMMARY:
CHI-CJ Sapong (unassisted) 7
CHI-Przemyslaw Frankowski (Bronico) 16
CHI-CJ Sapong (Gaitan) 29
CHI-Nemanja Nikolic (Frankwoski) 39
BOOKING SUMMARY:
FCD-Paxton Pomykal (caution, reckless foul) 5
CHICAGO FIRE (4-2-3-1): #27-Kenneth Kronholm; #4-Johan Kappelhof, #31-Bastian Schweinsteiger (#14-Djordje Mihailoivc 66), #5-Francisco Calvo (#2-Marcelo 80), #3-Jonathan Bornstein; #13-Brandt Bronico, #6-Dax McCarty; #11-Przemyslaw Frankowski, #20-Nico Gaitan, #9-CJ Sapong (#20-Sleksandar Katai 73); #23-Nemanja Nikolic
Subs not used: #45-Richard Sanchez, #16-Michael Azira, #33-Jeremiah Gutjahr, #21-Fabian Herbers
FC DALLAS (4-3-3): #1-Jesse Gonzalez; #2-Reggie Cannon, #24-Matt Hedges, #3-Reto Ziegler, #12-Ryan Hollingshead; #19-Paxton Pomykal, #33-Edwin Cerrillo, #27-Jesus Ferreira (#18-Brandon Servania 46); #21-Michael Barrios (#15-Jacori Hayes 76), #13-Zdenek Ondrasek, #14-Dominique Badji (#11-Santiago Mosquera 66)
Subs not used: #20-Jimmy Maurer, #4-Bressan, #26-John Nelson, #16-Ricardo Pepi
TOTAL SHOTS: CHI 17-11 FCD
SHOTS ON GOAL: CHI 7-4 FCD
FOULS: CHI 9-10 FCD
OFFSIDES: CHI 0-1 FCD
CORNER KICKS: CHI 9-7 FCD
SAVES: CHI 4-3 FCD
Referee: Jair Marrufo
Assistant Referees: Jose Da Silva, Chris Elliott
Fourth Official: Silviu Petrescu
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero
Weather: Sunny and 79º
Attendance: 12,874
Man of the Match: CJ Sapong (CHI)
