Photo Credit: New York Red Bulls
New York Red Bulls 1-2 Chicago Fire
Chicago Fire
Portland
Photo Credit: New York Red Bulls
Fire Win Away at Red Bull Arena
0HARRISON, NJ–A wonder strike by Aleksandar Katai, a penalty from Nemanja Nikolic, and nine saves by Richard Sanchez gave the Fire a somewhat improbable road victory, 2-1, over New York Red Bulls.
The win vaults the Fire (2-3-1) to seventh place in the East, two points behind the Red Bulls (3-3-0) now in sixth in the East. The Red Bulls lost at home for the first time this season after three wins from their first three home matches.
The Fire went with a 5-3-2 formation with Bastian Schweinsteiger at center back and a first-time start for Mo Adams at midfield on the left side alongside Dax McCarty and Katai.
At the half hour mark, Aaron Long headed away a corner out of the area and right to Katai who struck on the volley and left Luis Robles no chance to give the Fire the lead.
Sanchez was busy often and made a terrific double save on 36 minutes on first Daniel Royer and then Kaku. Sanchez came up big once again in the 62nd minute with a wonder save on Tyler Adams after Royer struck one off the post.
The Fire doubled their advantage in the 69th minute. Katai was tripped on a breakaway by Robles (who only saw yellow) and Nikolic converted the spot kick for his fifth of the season.
The Red Bulls did pull one back in the 81st minute as Bradley Wright-Phillips scored off a rebound after an initial shot was cleared off the line by Nikolic, but the Red Bulls would get no closer as the Fire saw things out to get three valuable points on the road.
“Definitely very important win for us,” said Fire head coach Veljko Paunovic. “Very proud of the guys and the job they did. We stuck to our plan and we adjusted every time Red Bulls changed. So fantastic reaction. Fantastic win and especially after the sloppy start we had this season, I think this win helps us to boost our confidence, to build on top of this and face the next phase of the season with a different perspective.”
The Fire travel to Toronto who will be done with their CONCACAF Champions League campaign by that time at BMO Field, next Saturday at 2pm CT on ESPN+ in Chicago. The Red Bulls travel to LA Galaxy next Saturday at 10:30pm ET, on MSG.
SCORING SUMMARY:
CHI-Aleksandar Katai (unassisted) 30
CHI-Nemanja Nikolic (penalty kick) 69
RBNY-Bradley Wright-Phillips (unassisted) 81
BOOKING SUMMARY:
RBNY-Luis Robles (caution, tactical foul) 68
CHI-Mo Adams (caution, tactical foul) 90+2
NEW YORK RED BULLS (4-2-3-1): #31-Luis Robles; #62-Michael Murillo, #33-Aaron Long, #26-Tim Parker, #92-Kemar Lawrence; #4-Tyler Adams, #90-Marc Rzatkowski (#27-Sean Davis 57); #22-Florian Valot (#7-Derrick Etienne Jr. 70), #10-Kaku (#88-Vincent Bezecourt 77), #77-Daniel Royer; #99-Bradley Wright-Phillips
Subs not used: #18-Ryan Meara, #78-Aurelien Collin, #17-Benjamin Mines, #19-Alex Muyl
CHICAGO FIRE (5-3-2): #45-Richard Sanchez; #5-Kevin Ellis, #4-Johan Kappelhof, #31-Bastian Schweinsteiger, #15-Grant Lillard, #3-Brandon Vincent; #10-Aleksandar Katai (#17-Diego Campos 82), #6-Dax McCarty, #19-Mo Adams; #23-Nemanja Nikolic (#16-Jonathan Campbell 89), #28-Elliott Collier (#21-Alan Gordon 74)
Subs not used: #32-Patrick McClain, #18-Drew Conner, #12-Tony Tchani, #22-Jon Bakero
TOTAL SHOTS: NY 22-4 CHI
SHOTS ON GOAL: NY 11-3 CHI
FOULS: NY 5-11 CHI
OFFSIDES: NY 2-5 CHI
CORNER KICKS: NY 7-4 CHI
SAVES: NY 1-9 CHI
Referee: Robert Sibiga
Assistant Referees: Corey Parker, TJ Zablocki
Fourth Official: Jose Carlos Rivero
Video Assistant Referee: Jorge Gonzalez
Weather: Partly Cloudy and 60º
Attendance: 18,784
Man of the Match: Richard Sanchez (CHI)
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