Chicago Fire 1-2 Atlanta United FC
BRIDGEVIEW, IL–No one will fault the effort of the Chicago Fire, but no one is going to doubt Atlanta has more quality right now. It was in a five-minute span where the Five Stripes did their damage and held on for a 2-1 win.
Atlanta (7-1-1) are now unbeaten in eight matches and go top of MLS while the Fire (2-4-2) exceed their home-loss total from last season with their third and have gone 3-6-3 at Toyota Park (including last season’s playoff loss) after opening 2017 unbeaten in their first 11 home games.
The Fire had an unchanged lineup from the 2-2 draw with Toronto, but the formation was different with Bastian Schweinsteiger in central midfield. The difference was notable as the Fire had several chances, but none were on target.
Nemanja Nikolic had a shot cleared off the line in the 8th minute by Franco Escobar. Five minutes later, Elliott Collier was unmarked and in on goal, but skied his shot well over the bar. Schweinsteiger would also miss wide in the first half.
In the second half, Atlanta would eventually punish the Fire. Miguel Almiron stripped Mo Adams in midfield and then fed Ezequiel Barco for his first goal in MLS in the 53rd minute. The Fire defense were cut apart again four minutes later as Greg Garza’s picture perfect pass to Darlington Nagbe beat the offside trap and Nagbe fed Josef Martinez to double Atlanta’s advantage.
Kevin Ellis pulled one back for the Fire four minutes after that with a goal on the volley from 17 yards out, but the Fire unable to truly trouble Brad Guzan after that.
Despite the slow start, Fire head coach Veljko Paunovic believes that his team is growing and their efforts will be rewarded in due time.
“I’m proud of the effort of our guys,” said Paunovic. “I think we played a mature game against a very good team. We were the better team the first half and we also had a good second half except for two details that decided the game.
“The first one was the moment where the game breaks down and the game opens and then we conceded another goal which is something that cannot allow. We need to work and fix that. But I’m very happy how this team is in this moment when we need everyone’s effort and everyone to give support and confidence to their teammates. We keep growing and I see my team every game getting better and better. We left everything on the field, all the pieces in order to win in the end, but this time it didn’t happen. But with this attitude we will for sure win more games.”
While the team does have spirit and the effort to try to get back in games, losing this match after four points on the road is a step back and it’s those details that are the difference between Atlanta and the Fire at the moment.
“Obviously, when you lose it’s always a step back,” said Fire midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger. “But we played a very good team. We have accept that they have some very good players. We have very good situations in the first half, we won the ball, we created chances, we didn’t score a goal. I think could have been 1-0 up at halftime and it would have been different. Small details decide games and unfortunately we couldn’t score that goal and when Atlanta had one chance they scored the goal.”
Both teams have matches on Wednesday. Atlanta will return home to face Sporting Kansas City while the Fire host Montreal at 7:30pm on ESPN+.
SCORING SUMMARY:
ATL-Ezequeil Barco (Almiron) 53
ATL-Josef Martinez (Nagbe, Garza) 57
CHI-Kevin Ellis (unassisted) 61
BOOKING SUMMARY:
CHI-Johan Kappelhof (caution, dissent) 24
ATL-Leandro Gonzalez Pirez (caution, tactical foul) 65
ATL-Ezequiel Barco (caution, reckless foul) 73
CHI-Grant Lillard (caution, tactical foul) 80
ATL-Miles Robinson (caution, time wasting) 90+5
CHICAGO FIRE (4-2-3-1): #45-Richard Sanchez; #5-Kevin Ellis, #4-Johan Kappelhof, #15-Grant Lillard (#16-Jonathan Campbell 81), #3-Brandon Vincent; #6-Dax McCarty, #19-Mo Adams (#21-Alan Gordon 59); #28-Elliott Collier (#17-Diego Campos 59), #31-Bastian Schweinsteiger, #10-Aleksandar Katai; #23-Nemanja Nikolic
Subs not used: #32-Patrick McLain, #13-Brandt Bronico, #20-Daniel Johnson, #12-Tony Tchani
ATLANTA UNITED FC (3-4-1-2): #1-Brad Guzan; #2-Franco Escobar (#12-Miles Robinson 90+1), #3-Michael Parkhurst, #5-Leandro Gonzalez Pirez; #24-Julian Gressel, #6-Darlington Nagbe, #18-Jeff Larentowicz, #4-Greg Garza; #10-Miguel Almiron; #8-Ezequiel Barco (#15-Hector Villalba 81), #7-Josef Martinez (#32-Kevin Kratz 71)
Subs not used: #33-Paul Christensen, #14-Sal Zizzo, #19-Brandon Vazquez, #9-Romario Williams
TOTAL SHOTS: CHI 14-10 ATL
SHOTS ON GOAL: CHI 3-6 ATL
FOULS: CHI 10-8 ATL
OFFSIDES: CHI 2-5 ATL
CORNER KICKS: CHI 4-1 ATL
SAVES: CHI 4-2 ATL
Referee: Drew Fischer
Assistant Referees: Apolinar Mariscal, Chris Wattam
Fourth Official: Rubiel Vazquez
VAR: Younes Marrakchi
Weather: Partly Cloudy and 80º
Attendance: 15,024
Man of the Match: Miguel Almiron (ATL)
Chicago Fire
Atlanta United FC
