Chicago had a golden opportunity to steal three points from one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, as a depleted and fatigued New York Red Bulls team came to Toyota Park on a clear, perfect day in Chicago. The Fire would show flashes of brilliance, and had sure chances to go ahead in the second half, but ended up with a league-leading 11th draw. In the end, both the Fire and the Red Bulls walked away disappointed and upset, as failures to clear the defensive zone led to both teams surrendering avoidable goals.
The majority of the first half was a back-and-forth affair, with little happening for the most part on either side. There were a handful of scoring opportunities to speak of, although New York got better looks at goal than Chicago in the early going, demanding at least 3 saves from second year keeper Sean Johnson.
In the 32nd minute, Chicago would get one of their only real chances of the half, as Patrick Nyarko made a nice run up the left wing, and found Orr Barouch in the middle of the box after a nice cutback move against the New York defense. Nyarko’s perfectly floated pass found the head of Barouch, who drove home his attempt to the far post. The header caught Red Bull keeper Bouna Coundoul leaning the wrong way, but missed the target by less than a foot.
For the most part, Chicago’s defense stood up to New York’s offensive threats found in Thierry Henry, Joel Lindpere, Dwayne DeRosario, and Dane Richards. Henry, who was playing more of a withdrawn forward/midfield role, was quiet throughout most of the game, and Chicago had, through the first 39 minutes contained the other Red Bull threats.
Then, just before the half, another single defensive gaffe would cause the Fire to surrender a goal. Yamith Cuesta, who collected a ball at his feet, attempted a clearance at the top of the box that slapped New York’s Joel Lindpere in the chest, rolling just to the right where Lindpere would catch up to the ball and trickle home essentially a tap in goal from 15 yards, through a diving Johnson and Cuesta. There’s really no good reason the play should have materialized as it did, and Chicago defenders have cleared out much more dangerous balls from their third countless times this season. It was simply a case of bad contact with the ball from Cuesta resulting in the opposition capitalizing.
New York would carry that lead into the second half, which just minutes in favored a Chicago Fire team now playing from behind. Chicago began to put more pressure on the Red Bulls in forcing turnovers, but had trouble building any momentum, as they fell victim to some errant passing and lost possession. In the 58th minute however, a failed clearance, this time from New York, found itself at the feet of Marco Pappa. Pappa, with seemingly all the time in the world, rolled the ball conveniently forward before sizing up his distance and striking a dipping shot on goal that bounced at the six yard box, and up over Coundoul, who dove to his right, essentially faked out of his kit. From all appearances, Coundoul expected the ball to dip much later than it did, as he could have played the ball from his feet if he wanted. Nonetheless, New York’s continued struggles in the goalkeeper position worked themselves out in Chicago’s favor, and Pappa’s goal brought Chicago even with New York, cancelling out Cuesta’s mistake.
That 1-1 score is how the game would end, with New York playing out most of the second half uninspired, lethargic, and lazy. Henry, DeRosario, and the rest of the offensive set for New York, with the exception of Lindpere, seemed to not even care that a game was going on. Chicago, on the other hand continued to mount pressure. It was obvious that New York was simply trying to preserve their draw, while Chicago was desperate for a win in front of their home crowd of 17,000 faithful fans. Ultimately, another draw was in the cards for Chicago, who now travels on two short day’s rest to Rochester, NY, to face the Rochester Rhinos in US Open Cup play on Tuesday.
Chicago had a number of excellent opportunities in the second half. As a whole, they played an incredibly solid half, showing they had the ability to distribute the ball well and had stretches of play where they could string together a nice series of passes. Numerous shots on target were volleyed by Chicago, but nothing that would ultimately give them the lead. While it is seldom healthy to look back at “what could have been”, it’s hard to ignore the fact that this game would have been a win were it not for another single defensive mistake. Chicago’s defense over the last six games has been incredibly solid. It’s hard to point at occasional defensive mistakes that lead to goals, when the onus of scoring goals falls on an offense that doesn’t produce. It’s the MLS equivalent of a brilliant pitcher who loses because hitters can’t hit.
Chicago has to find a way to be more dangerous offensively. There are definitely some offensive threats for the team, but they have yet to put together a string of goals that would cause teams to fear them. There is much talk coming into the July 15th transfer window opening about Chicago picking up that missing piece, but there’s no real indication of what direction the team may go in attaining a playmaker who can help turn Chicago’s season around. Until the team commits to someone who will be able to come in, possibly in a vacant DP spot, and make an immediate difference in the offensive complexion of this team, I would dare say we won’t see too many losses from the Fire, but we likely won’t see many wins, either.
Scoring Summary:
NY — Joel Lindpere 2 (unassisted) 40
CHI — Marco Pappa 5 (unassisted) 58
New York Red Bulls — Bouna Coundoul, Jan Gunnar Solli, Carlos Mendes, Stephen Keel, Roy Miller, Dane Richards, Teemu Tainio, Joel Lindpere, Mehdi Ballouchy (Austin Da Luz 84), Dwayne De Rosario, Thierry Henry.
Substitutes Not Used: Corey Hertzog, Mike Jones, Matt Kassel, John Rooney, Teddy Schneider, Greg Sutton.
Chicago Fire — Sean Johnson, Jalil Anibaba, Yamith Cuesta, Cory Gibbs, Gonzalo Segares, Patrick Nyarko, Daniel Paladini, Baggio Husidic (Corben Bone 69), Marco Pappa (Gabriel Ferrari 82), Orr Barouch (Diego Chaves 58), Dominic Oduro.
Substitutes Not Used: Josip Mikulic, Bratislav Ristic, Michael Videira, Jon Conway.
Misconduct Summary:
CHI — Yamith Cuesta (caution; Reckless Tackle) 14
CHI — Daniel Paladini (caution; Persistent Infringement) 37
CHI — Patrick Nyarko (caution; Simulation) 49
NY — Teemu Tainio (caution; Tactical Foul) 91+
Referee: Kevin Stott
Image courtesy of David Banks/Getty Images
