Chicago faced USL Pro side Richmond Kickers Tuesday night at Toyota Park in a match to decide who would go on to face eventual winner Seattle Sounders in the US Open Cup finals. After a scrappy 90 minutes, Chicago emerged with a 2-1 victory, sending them to their 6th USOC final in their 14-year history.
The Fire started out flat, spending much of the first 15 minutes on their heels as Richmond controlled possession, but generated little in the way of scoring chances. As the first half progressed, Chicago slowly found their footing and gained control of the game in the 32nd minute, when Sebastian Grazzini slotted Patrick Nyarko in the box, who was taken down by Richmond’s Dave Hertel for the penalty. Grazzini stepped up, and sent Richmond GK Ronnie Pascale the opposite way as he slotted a low drive into the back of the net to put Chicago up 1-0.
Chicago would continue to press, although Richmond would not back down. The Fire doubled their lead in the 61st minute, however, when Patrick Nyarko again involved himself in a game-changing play, finding Dominic Oduro in front of him at midfield, and sending a perfect pass to his fellow Ghanaian up the left flank. Oduro collected Nyarko’s pass, carrying it into the top of the box where he made a beautiful crossover move on Richmond’s William Yomby before blasting his shot into the far upper 90. The goal, Oduro’s 2nd of the 2011 USOC campaign, was possibly one of his best goals in all competitions this season, and would again prove to be a game winner.
Richmond would fight back, on the strength of a Yomby header in the 68th minute off a Michael Callahan cross, but Chicago would hold on in the final 20 minutes to defeat Richmond, ending their USOC run and season, and giving Chicago a chance at collecting their 5th USOC trophy since their inaugural season in 1998. Chicago will face Seattle on October 4th at CenturyLink Field to decide the 2011 USOC champions.
Postgame Notes
-Across all competitions, Dominic Oduro has now scored in 5 of his last 6 games. An impressive streak for a player who many said had “finishing issues” earlier in the season. Across all matches, Oduro’s 2011 tally is an impressive 11 goals.
-Sebastian Grazzini, subbed out at the half, tweaked a hamstring on the last play of the first 45 minutes. In his postgame interview, he cited overcompensating for an ankle knock on his opposite leg from the Colorado game as the reason for the tweak, but expects to be ready for action in Chicago’s September 10th match against San Jose.
-Chicago has now won three games in a row at home across all competitions. The last time they had a three game winning streak of any kind was May 28, 2009.
-Pavel Pardo, who did not dress for Tuesday’s USOC match, is expected to be recovered in time for the San Jose match as well. Pardo tweaked his calf in the Colorado game, although it does not appear serious.
-Sebastian Grazzini, Patrick Nyarko, and Dominic Oduro have all garnered MLS Week 24 Best XI honors. Congrats across the board, the recongition is deserved.
-With August coming to a close today, it’s worth noting that in all matches, Chicago sported a record of 3-1-3, outscoring their opponents 12-9 (four of which came at the hands of Vancouver). With their strong play in MLS matches, the Fire find themselves just 5 points outside the last playoff spot, with upcoming matches against San Jose, Chivas USA, New England and Real Salt Lake in September.
-Chicago now have the next ten days off before their next game at Buck Shaw Stadium against San Jose Earthquakes. During the break, Marco Pappa and Orr Barouch will see action with their international clubs, as Pappa will play for Guatemala in matches against St. Vincent/Grenadines and Belize, and Barouch will travel with Israel’s U-21 team to face England.
-To see Frank Klopas’ postgame press conference,
go here –> http://youtu.be/Ki93qWhmZ7w
Scoring Summary:
CHI – Sebastian Grazzini (penalty kick) 32’
CHI – Dominic Oduro (Patrick Nyarko) 61’
RIC – William Yomby (Michael Callahan) 68’
Misconduct Summary:
RIC – Stanley Nyazamba (caution) 14’
RIC – William Yomby (caution) 77’
Lineups:
Chicago Fire: Sean Johnson; Dan Gargan, Cory Gibbs, Jalil Anibaba, Gonzalo Segares; Marco Pappa, Daniel Paladini, Logan Pause (c); Sebastián Grazzini (Baggio Husidic 46’); Dominic Oduro (Diego Chaves 87’), Patrick Nyarko
Substitutes Not Used: Jon Conway, Josip Mikulic, Corben Bone, Michael Videira, Orr Barouch
Richmond Kickers: Ronnie Pascale (c); David Hertel (Shaka Bangura 66’), Henry Kalungi (Jamel Wallace 85’), William Yomby, Sascha Gorres; Luke Vercollone, Michael Callahan, Ryan Heins, Stanley Nyazamba (Nozomi Hiroyama 55’); Edson Elcock, Matthew Delicate
Substitutes Not Used: Evan Harding, Bobby Fogelsong
Referee: Jasen Anno
Referee’s Assistants: Anthony Vasoli, Peter Balciunas
4th Referee: Michael Kennedy
Attendance: 8,909
Chicago Fire press conference footage courtesy of Guillermo Rivera/Fire Confidential
Image courtesy of mlssoccer.com
