Photo Don MacGregor (Windy City Soccer)
This time, it was Lovel Palmer’s errant header of a Pedro Morales cross that went right to the feet of Steven Beitashour who fed Octavio Rivero for the only score of the match in the 86th minute and the Vancouver Whitecaps wound up with a 1-0 victory—their first-ever goal and win in Bridgeview (0-1-2, previously).
It is the third consecutive home opener without a win for the Fire and they are still stuck on just one win in 22 tries against Cascadian opposition (1-14-7) in all competitions.
Jon Busch started in goal in place of Sean Johnson who was out with an infection on an arm that was cut during preseason while in England. Busch would end up making five saves.
The Whitecaps had 18 attempts on goal overall and plenty of them were wasted. One such chance was just before halftime where Morales was in alone on Busch, but scuffed his shot wide of target. Rivero also missed wide on a golden chance in the 74th minute.
The Fire had 13 attempts on goal, four on target. Harry Shipp had a shot saved by David Ousted in the 37th minutes after being setup by Michael Stephens and Quincy Amarikwa. Shaun Maloney had a free kick from just outside the area headed away by Pa Modou Kah in the 56th minute. Earlier, he had a shot denied by Sam Adekugbe.
“Obviously not the result that I or the club wanted,” said Fire Head Coach Yallop. “I thought progress-wise and performance-wise, we played some decent stuff against a team that plays counter-attacking style. The game was pretty open, especially in the second half. Both teams created decent chances and they took the one that came along their way. Football-wise, I was pleased with the ball movement, not for the whole game. I thought we fell off a little bit towards the end. I thought we had enough chances to at least score a goal and a tie would have been a fair result for us.”
The crowd was announced at 15,731, but that figure had its skeptics. Fire midfielder Harry Shipp admitted that it’s up to the club to give fans reason to fill up Toyota Park.
“It’s on us to attract fans,” said Shipp. “If you start winning games, then they’ll come. That’s our goal and that’s what we’re trying to work towards towards the middle and end of this year.
“We’re still missing pieces. We’re still getting used to the pieces that we do have. We have a totally new set of guys working in different positions still working things out. We’ve got enough creative guys on the field to create chances. Once you start scoring goals it’s a mentality and it will be all right.
“We desperately need a win, but also have the personalities that no matter what happens, we’re going to keep cool and this is something to build on for next weekend. It’s frustrating coming off last year, but it’s only two games out of 34. If we get on a hot streak and win a few games in a row I think we’ll be totally fine in the end.”
While luck continues to elude the Fire, for Whitecaps Head Coach Carl Robinson, he knew the luck would eventually come for his side.
“Lively,” said Robinson. “Interesting, as I always say. A very good hard fought victory for us against a good team.
“It was an open game. I always thought one goal was going to win it. Especially in the second half, the game opened up too much for my liking, but I knew we had the players who could do it on the break. And after missing a number of clear cut chances, fortunately Octavio puts one away.
“If you put yourself in the right positions for a number of times throughout the game and do the basics on the defensive side, you get your own luck. Last week, we didn’t get any luck even though we played well against Toronto for 45 minutes. Today, we got a little break on the goal, but I think we fully deserved it. To get 18 attempts on goal away from home was a thoroughly professional performance.”
The Fire travel to San Jose a week from Sunday (March 22nd) to take on the San Jose Earthquakes at the new Avaya Stadium. Kickoff is at 6pm CT on Fox Sports 1.
SCORING SUMMARY:
VAN-Octavio Rivero (Beitashour) 86′
BOOKING SUMMARY:
CHI-Matt Polster (caution, persistent infringement) 4′
VAN-Kendall Waston (caution, reckless foul) 21′
VAN-Perdo Morales (caution, dissent) 66′
VAN-Nicolas Mezquida (caution, dissent) 76′
VAN-Octavio Rivero (caution, simulation) 82′
CHI-Kennedy Igboananike (caution, reckless foul) 90+6′
CHICAGO FIRE (4-1-4-1): #18-Jon Busch; #6-Eric Gehrig, #20-Jeff Larentowicz (C), #4-Adailton, #5-Lovel Palmer; #2-Matt Polster (#77-Kennedy Igboananike 59′); #26-Michael Stephens (#7-Alex 82′), #10-Shaun Maloney, #19-Harry Shipp, #3-Joevin Jones; #24-Quincy Amarikwa (#23-Guly do Prado 76′)
Subs not used: #1-Alec Kann, #16-Greg Cochrane, #21-Chris Ritter, #8-Matt Watson
VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC (4-2-3-1): #1-David Ousted; #3-Sam Adekugbe, #4-Kendall Waston, #44-Pa Modou Kah, #33-Steven Beitashour; #31-Russell Teibert, #15-Matias Laba; #23-Kekuta Manneh (#11-Darren Mattocks 82′), #77-Pedro Morales (C) (#28-Gershon Koffie 88′), #7-Mauro Rosales (#9-Nicolas Mezquida 45+2′); #29-Octavio Rivero
Subs not used: #70-Paolo Tornaghi, #2-Jordan Harvey, #18-Diego Rodriguez, #19-Erik Hurtado
TOTAL SHOTS: CHI 13-18 VAN
SHOTS ON GOAL: CHI 4-6 VAN
FOULS: CHI 11-24 VAN
OFFSIDES: CHI 0-3 VAN
CORNER KICKS: CHI 5-2 VAN
SAVES: CHI 5-4 VAN
Referee: Fotis Bazakos
Referee’s Assistants: Anthony Vasoli, Eduardo Mariscal
4th Official: Kevin Terry Jr.
Weather: Sunny and 57º
Attendance: 15,731
Man of the Match: Octavio Rivero (VAN)
