The Revs snapped a 10-match winless streak against the Fire | Photo credit: yahoo! sports
An already disappointing week was made that much worse Saturday night as the Fire stumbled to a disheartening 2-0 defeat to rivals New England at Gillette Stadium. Kelyn Rowe and Benny Feilhaber both scored goals within five minutes of each other in the second half, condemning the Fire to a third defeat in the span of just seven days. Continue reading
Filed under Chicago Fire, Match Analysis
Image source: mlssoccer.com. Former Chicago midfielder and current trialist Ivan Guerrero saw 45 minutes of action on Saturday.
2:00 p.m., Oxnard College
In the first match of the Chicago Fire’s second phase of its preseason schedule, the men in red recorded a 1-0 win against Chivas USA to improve to 3-0-1 in preseason play. Following a goalless first half, Daniel Paladini struck the winner four minutes after the restart with a powerful left-footed shot past Chivas goalkeeper Tim Melia. Continue reading
Filed under Chicago Fire, Match Analysis
On June 30th – after week 17 of the MLS season – I published the mid-term report card for the Chicago Fire. It’s amazing how much has changed since then both in terms of player and team performances. After starting the second half of the season off with four draws and three defeats, the Fire picked up 22 points from a possible 30 in the last ten matches of the season to miss out on a playoff spot by a mere four points. The Fire improved drastically across all areas of the pitch during the final stages of the season, although there were still those who fell out favor in the first team.
Here is the final report card for each Chicago Fire player for the 2011 season. Feel free to let me know if you agree or disagree with certain grades in the comment’s section. Continue reading
Filed under Chicago Fire, Report Cards
It was just one of those nights. Despite it being the penultimate home game of the season and a do-or-die match for Chicago’s playoff hopes, a very thin crowd of just 10,362 fans made the trek to Toyota Park Wednesday night to show their support for the men in red. And taking into consideration the importance of last night’s match, it was even more shocking that only a few players actually showed up for the Chicago Fire last night in its 2-1 defeat to FC Dallas. The win for FC Dallas sees the Texas club claim retain the Brimstone Cup for the tenth consecutive year and clinch a spot in the MLS playoffs, a feat that looks all but impossible for the men in red now. Continue reading
Filed under Match Analysis
In the dying minutes of the U.S. Open Cup final on Tuesday night you simply had to question, could such a memorable cup run really end like this? Backs against the wall, defending desperately against a constant sea of green, having the big Sean Johnson and both posts to thank for keeping the Chicago Fire alive, and crossing your fingers and maybe, maybe even praying that the men in red could grab a late and dramatic equalizer to send the match into extra-time. Continue reading
Filed under Match Analysis
