Photo Credit: MLS
Montreal Impact 2-1 Chicago Fire
MONTREAL, QC–It started poorly for the Chicago Fire. It looked better for middle part of the match. Then, it ended poorly for the Fire. A Daniel Lovitz goal in the first minute of second half stoppage time gave Montreal Impact a 2-1 win and condemned the Fire to a ninth straight loss in all competitions.
Ignacio Piatti gave the Impact a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute from the penalty spot after Bastian Schweinsteiger knocked down Saphir Taider in the area. It was Piatti’s 12th goal of the season.
Nemanja Nikolic pulled the Fire level in the 70th minute scoring on a rebound after Evan Bush made an initial save on Nikolic. Both teams pressed for a winner they desperately needed.
However, Montreal dominated the final few minutes of the match and that domination paid off on a late corner. An attempted clearance went right to the feet of Daniel Lovitz who threaded the shot past several players and then a screened Richard Sanchez to give Montreal all three points and keep them above the red line, four points clear of New England who play DC United on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Fire are now ten points adrift of the red line, bottom of the Eastern Conference, and only the San Jose Earthquakes are preventing them from the wooden spoon.
The Fire return home to play Columbus on Thursday at 6pm CT on ESPN+ while the Impact next travel to Toronto FC on Saturday at 8pm ET.
Right now, Fire fans are wondering when the misery will all end. The way the Fire are playing, it may not come until after the final whistle on October 28th at season’s end.
SCORING SUMMARY:
MTL-Ignacio Piatti (penalty kick) 6
CHI-Nemanja Nikolic (unassisted) 70
MTL-Daniel Lovitz (unassisted) 90+1
BOOKING SUMMARY:
MTL-Rudy Camacho (caution, tactical foul) 24
CHI-Jorge Corrales (caution, reckless tackle) 41
MTL-Bacary Sagna (caution, tactical foul) 68
CHI-Dax McCarty (caution, reckless tackle) 80
MONTREAL IMPACT (4-3-3): #1-Evan Bush; #33-Bacary Sagna, #15-Rod Fanni, #4-Rudy Camacho, #3-Daniel Lovitz; #13-Ken Krolicki (#32-Michael Azira 67), #6-Samuel Piette, #8-Saphir Taider; #9-Alejandro Silva (#16-Jeisson Vargas 82), #21-Matteo Mancosu (#30-Quincy Amarikwa 62), #10-Ignacio Piatti
Subs not used: #23-Clement Diop, #22-Jukka Raitala, #18-Chris Duvall, #28-Shamit Shome
CHICAGO FIRE (3-4-2-1): #45-Richard Sanchez, #4-Johan Kappelhof, #31-Bastian Schweinsteiger, #3-Brandon Vincent; #22-Nicolas Hasler, #6-Dax McCarty, #14-Djordje Mihailovic (#8-Michael de Leeuw 59), #25-Jorge Corrales; #10-Aleksandar Katai (#13-Brandt Bronico 64), #7-Raheem Edwards; #23-Nemanja Nikolic (#18-Drew Conner 88)
Subs not used: #30-Stefan Cleveland, #26-Christian Dean, #20-Daniel Johnson, #21-Alan Gordon
TOTAL SHOTS: MTL 12-6 CHI
SHOTS ON GOAL: MTL 2-2 CHI
FOULS: MTL 7-16 CHI
OFFSIDES: MTL 4-7 CHI
CORNER KICKS: MTL 4-2 CHI
SAVES: MTL 1-0 CHI
Referee: Baldomero Toledo
Assistant Referees: Brian Dunn, Andrew Bigelow
4th Official: Rubiel Vazquez
VAR: Geoff Gamble
Weather: Sunny and 75º
Attendance: 18,831
Man of the Match: Daniel Lovitz (MTL)
Chicago Fire
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