Bastian Schweinsteiger and David Accam teamed up on Saturday to create several promising chances for the Chicago Fire (photo credit: Don MacGregor/Windy City Soccer)
Chicago Fire 2-Montreal Impact 2
BRIDGEVIEW, IL—Starting off with a world class goal from a world class player, Bastian Schweinsteiger wasted no time recording his first-ever Major League soccer goal for the Chicago Fire on Saturday afternoon.
However, Luis Solignac’s 93rd minute-goal pulled out a 2-2 draw for the Chicago Fire against the visiting Montreal Impact at Toyota Park.
The recently acquired Schweinsteiger was given the start from Chicago Fire coach Veljko Paunovic playing in the midfield and showed he was fit and ready for the assignment.
He followed it up with a ringing header in the 17th minute after taking a cross from David Accam, which all he did after scoring was pick up the ball out of the net, carry it over to the corner of the field and raise it like it was a winning trophy. The rest of the team followed over and joined in the celebration surrounding him.
“It was a great finish from a perfect cross,” Schweinsteiger said. “It was a good header and a good feeling. But I’m a little bit sad, not so happy that we couldn’t win the game.”
We have to remember that Schweinsteiger just stepped off a plane four to five days ago, coming over from England and really hasn’t played much soccer or training on a consistent basis. The expectations for him to play really had no timetable, but the match dictated how much playing time he would end up.
“I was prepared. I will work more on my fitness hoping to get more power and energy in the game,” Schweinsteiger said. “But I’m actually satisfied. It was OK, but everyone can improve.”
Even Chicago Fire head coach Veljko Paunovic knew what the World Class player, Schweinsteiger, had to offer and the expectations lived up to more than was expected in his first appearance.
“I thought his debut was good with excellent stuff,” Paunovic said. “A debut with a goal is always something that we dream of. Starting and opening the game with his goal was something important for our team. I think he proved his quality of passes in the final third, smoothness in the buildup and being calm. He was passionate with the ball, he showed with his character. Even going a man down, he was pushing our guys and demanding to try to win the game and adjust. Everything, we were expecting he showed. We have to work on giving him the best possible support and recovery to prepare him for the whole season.”
Schweinsteiger was placed in the middle of the field along with Dax McCarty and Juninho, which he showed what he can do moving around the midfield going forward and showing signs off falling back on defense when the club needed him. His efforts did impress fellow teammate McCarty.
Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla stoppage time goal gave the Impact a brief lead over the Fire (photo credit: Don MacGregor/Windy City Soccer)
“He’s a world class player,” McCarty said. “Obviously, he hasn’t played much recently. But he comes in and plays 90 minutes. He has two to three training sessions and you can tell an amazing player when you see one. Obviously, he’s capable of scoring goals and making assists. More than that, he put in a lot of work on the defensive side of the ball. Just a lot of good attacking, we had went through him. Clearly, he’s going to help us.”
The Fire (1-1-2, 5 points) had some great opportunities to pad onto the one goal lead to two or even three goals before the break, but they found themselves only up a goal at the half.
Montreal (0-1-3, 3 points) tied the match up at one apiece in the 61st minute when Matteo Mancosu’s header found the back of the net off Chris Duvall’s cross.
Both sides suffered through some physical play the rest of the way with each team losing a player. First, the Fire’s Juninho received a second yellow and was sent off in the 71st minute. Then, the Impact’s Victor Cabrera was given a red card for denying a goal scoring opportunity on Luis Solignac in the 80th minute outside the top of the box.
However, Chicago’s defense collapsed late in the contest. Montreal’s Ballou Jean-Yves Table scored what had appeared to be the game-winning goal in the 90th minute for a 2-1 lead.
But in injury time, the Fire was resilient in getting a goal back. As Dax McCarty found Solignac, who brought the ball down quickly and sent it into the corner for the 2-2 draw in the 93rd minute.
Another home match for the Fire will be hosting the Columbus Crew next Saturday at 1pm. It will be a rematch from the season opening draw in Columbus last month.
SCORING SUMMARY:
CHI-Bastian Schweinsteiger (David Accam) 17
MTL-Matteo Mancosu (Chris Duvall) 61
MTL-Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla (Patrice Bernier) 90
CHI– Luis Solignac (Dax McCarty) 93
BOOKING SUMMARY:
CHI-Juninho (caution, tactical foul) 41
MTL-Chris Duvall (caution, reckless tackle) 57
MTL-Adrian Arregui (caution, delaying a restart) 60
CHI-Juninho (sent off, second bookable offense) 71
MTL-Victor Cabrera (caution, tactical foul) 76
MTL-Daniel Lovitz (caution, reckless foul) 78
MTL-Victor Cabrera (sent off, denial of a goal scoring opportunity) 80
CHICAGO FIRE (4-3-3): #1-Jorge Bava; #5-Michael Harrington, #66-Joao Meira, #16-Jonathan Campbell, #3-Brandon Vincent; #12-Arturo Alvarez (#8-Micheal de Leeuw 66; #20-Daniel Johnson 79), #6-Dax McCarty, #31-Bastian Schweinsteiger, #19-Juninho, #11-David Accam; #23-Nemanja Nikolic (#9-Luis Solignac 65),
Subs not used: #28-Matt Lampson, #22-Patrick Doody,, #14-Djordje Mihailovic, #13-Brandt Bronico.
MONTREAL IMPACT (4-3-3): #1-Evan Bush, #3-Daniel Lovitz, #18-Chris Duvall, #36-Victor Cabrera, #6-Hassoun Camera, #14-Adrian Arregui (#8-Patrica Bernier 62), #33-Marcos Donotel (#19-Michael Salazar 74), #30-Hernan Bernarello, #7-Dominic Oduro (#5-Wandrille Lefevre 83), #13-Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla, #21Matteo Mancosu.
Subs not used: #24-Anthony Jackson-Hamel, #40-Maxime Crepeau, #2-Ambroise Oyongo, #16-Calum Mallace.
TOTAL SHOTS: CHI 12-10 MONT
SHOTS ON GOAL: CHI 4-4 MONT
FOULS: CHI 14-20 MONT
OFFSIDES: CHI 3-5 MONT
CORNER KICKS: CHI 8-1 MONT
SAVES: CHI 2-3 MONT
Referee: Ismail Elfath
Referee’s Assistants: Frank Anderson, Corey Parker
Fourth Official: Geoff Gamble
Weather: Partly Cloudy and 55
Attendance: 15,103
Man of the Match: Bastian Schweinsteiger (CHI)
Chicago Fire
Montreal Impact
