Fire goalkeeper Matt Lampson can only look on as Chicago drops their third straight in a 3-1 defeat against Toronto FC (photo credit: Don MacGregor)
Toronto FC 3- Chicago Fire 1
BRIDGEVIEW, IL—In front of a record Toyota Park crowd for a Fire game (21,891), the Fire dropped their first home match of the year to the team that last beat them at home in Toronto FC, 3-1. It is the Fire’s fourth straight loss. They are now nine points adrift of league-leading Toronto and just six points clear of 7th-place Atlanta.
Toronto took the lead in the 13th minute after Matt Lampson dropped Nicolas Hasler’s initial shot and Marco Delgado put in the rebound.
The Fire equalized in the 54th minute. After Bastian Schweinsteiger’s initial shot hit the goal post, David Accam was there to put in the rebound for his 12th of the season.
But just nine minutes later, Toronto was back in front and for good. Chris Mavinga since a long ball into the box that found Hasler unmarked and the latter headed the ball in.
The three points were sealed for the visitors off a quick free kick in the 90th minute as Toisant Ricketts and Sebastian Giovinco were 2-v1 defender and the latter would finish the scoring on the night.
Schweinsteiger kicked the ball in frustration after the third goal. He really has not been through a situation where the team has lost five of their last six matches.
“It is very frustrating,” said Schweinsteiger. “I absolutely don’t like that.
“It’s [both the team making too many mistakes and opponents figuring out how to play the Fire]. Sometimes [players in the]wrong position. Sometimes not 100% concentration. We played the first half of the season above our (weight) and did a great job. Now we can see what we are missing in our game and we have to find a way to come back and win again. We all have to play on a better level.”
For the remaining nine matches of the regular season, it’s a matter of being mentally stronger according to David Accam.
“For us from the beginning, our goal is to make the playoffs,” said Accam. “We’re still in a good position. We have good playoffs. We just need to be mentally stronger. For us, we need to make the playoffs and I think we have the quality to make the playoffs, so we will make the playoffs.”
The Fire stay at home next Saturday in what now is considered a must-win to get back on track against Minnesota United. Kickoff is at 7:30pm on CSN +.
Not sure why Drew Moor is signing an ET doll but he is (photo credit: Don MacGregor)
SCORING SUMMARY:
TOR-Marco Delgado (unassisted) 13
CHI-David Accam (Schweinsteiger) 54
TOR-Nicolas Hasler (Mavinga) 64
TOR-Sebastian Giovinco (Ricketts) 90
BOOKING SUMMARY:
TOR-Michael Bradley (caution, tactical foul) 5
TOR-Eriq Zavaleta (caution, delaying a restart) 75
CHICAGO FIRE (4-3-3): #28-Matt Lampson; #18-Drew Conner, #4-Johan Kappelhof, #26-Christian Dean, #22-Patrick Doody; #6-Dax McCarty, #31-Bastian Schweinsteiger, #19-Juninho (#14-Djordje Mihailovic 64); #11-David Accam, #23-Nemanja Nikolic (#12-Arturo Alvarez 82), #8-Michael de Leeuw (#9-Luis Soliganc 59)
Subs not used: #30-Stefan Cleveland, #5-Michael Harrington, #16-Jonathan Campbell, #10-David Arshakyan
TORONTO FC (3-5-2): #25-Alex Bono; #15-Eriq Zavaleta, #3-Drew Moor, #23-Chris Mavinga; #26-Nicolas Hasler (#33-Steven Beitashour 77), #18-Marco Delgado, #4-Michael Bradley, #7-Victor Vazquez (#24-Jonathan Osorio 74), #2-Justin Morrow; #10-Sebastian Giovinco, #17-Jozy Altidore (#87-Toisant Ricketts 80)
Subs not used: #1-Clint Irwin, #12-Jason Hernandez, #14-Jay Chapman, #44-Raheem Edwards
TOTAL SHOTS: CHI 15-18 TOR
SHOTS ON GOAL: CHI 7-8 TOR
FOULS: CHI 6-7 TOR
OFFSIDES: CHI 5-4 TOR
CORNER KICKS: CHI 2-1 TOR
SAVES: CHI 5-6 TOR
Referee: Jair Marrufo
Referee’s Assistants: Jose Da Silva, Danny Thornberry
4th Official: Jose Carlos Rivero
Video Assistant Referee: Ramy Touchan
Attendance: 21,891
Weather: Sunny and 81º
Man of the Match: Nicolas Hasler (TOR)
Chicago Fire
Toronto FC
