Chicago Fire 0-4 New York Red Bulls
BRIDGEVIEW, IL—In the end, the injuries, lack of true depth, and lack of playoff experience caught up to the Fire in the end. New York Red Bull put on a dominating display, thrashing the Fire, 4-0, at Toyota Park. The Red Bulls are the first #6-seed to win in the playoffs since #6-seeds were added in 2015. For the Fire, it still waits for its first playoff win since 2009.
The scoring started in the 7th minute after Damien Perrinelle send a looping ball to Bradley Wright-Phillips who got in between the center backs and past Matt Lampson for the opening score. Four minutes later, Sacha Kljestan got in between Johan Kappelhof and Juninho after collecting a cross from Tyler Adams to double the advantage.
Bastian Schweinsteiger was a second half sub in the 65th minute after Djordje Mihailovic went down with what Fire head coach Veljko Paunovic called ‘a difficult injury.’ Seconds after the Fire made two more subs in the 70th minute, the Red Bulls got their third goal through Daniel Royer after a give-and-go with Sean Davis. Three minutes from time, a David Arshakyan turnover turned into a Gonzalo Veron goal to complete the Fire’s misery.
“Realistically, we barely put up a fight there in the beginning,” said Fire midfielder Dax McCarty, “I though the first 20 minutes, we were struggling to feel like we were in a playoff game. Doesn’t matter if you’re at home or not. When don’t bring the intensity and the desire to want to compete at the beginning of the game, you’re always going to struggle. We weren’t very good, tonight. It’s a sad way to end the season. The better team won tonight and it’s a shame that we couldn’t at least give our fans something to be proud of.”
Fire head coach Veljko Paunovic took the blame for the loss….
“But not because of a lack of preparation,” an upbeat Paunovic said. “We ran like (heck) today. Not because of the lack of talent; we are all proud of our guys. We are so, so happy with the talent that we have, and we are proud and grateful to our guys for the effort they did the whole season.
“It’s my fault. If there is somebody to blame, it’s my fault because we all could do better. That’s it.”
It was a sad way to end a season where the Fire did finish with the third-best record in MLS and a turnaround of 24 points from last season. While a lot of progress was made this season, more than expected, the rebuild continues.
SCORING SUMMARY:
NY-Bradley Wright-Phillips (Perrinelle) 7
NY-Sacha Kljestan (Adams, Wright-Phillips) 11
NY-Daniel Royer (Davis) 70
NY-Gonzalo Veron (Kljestan) 87
BOOKING SUMMARY:
NY-Gonzalo Veron (caution, reckless foul) 86
CHICAGO FIRE (4-2-3-1): #28-Matt Lampson; #2-Matt Polster, #4-Johan Kappelhof, #66-Joao Meira (#12-Arturo Alvarez 70), #3-Brandon Vincent; #14-Djordje Mihailovic (#31-Bastian Schweinsteiger 65), #6-Dax McCarty; #9-Luis Solignac, #19-Juninho (#10-David Arshakyan 70), #11-David Accam; #23-Nemanja Nikolic
Subs not used: #45-Richard Sanchez, #22-Patrick Doody, #16-Jonathan Campbell, #13-Brandt Bronico
NEW YORK RED BULLS (3-5-1-1): #31-Luis Robles; #62-Michael Murillo, #33-Aaron Long, #55-Damien Perrinelle; #4-Tyler Adams, #27-Sean Davis, #8-Felipe, #77-Daniel Royer (#19-Alex Muyl 83), #92-Kemar Lawrence (#5-Connor Lade 90+1); #16-Sacha Kjlestan; #99-Bradley Wright-Phillips (#30-Gonzalo Veron 77)
Subs not used: #18-Ryan Meara, #7-Derrick Etienne, #88-Vincent Bezecourt, #29-Fidel Escobar
TOTAL SHOTS: CHI 12-11 NY
SHOTS ON GOAL: CHI 4-6 NY
FOULS: CHI 8-11 NY
OFFSIDES: CHI 5-2 NY
CORNER KICKS: CHI 8-1 NY
SAVES: CHI 3-4 NY
Referee: Ismael Elfath
Assistant Referees: Corey Parker, Ian Anderson
Fourth Official: Silviu Petrescu
Video Assistant Referee: Edvin Jurisevic
Weather: Fair and 49º
Attendance: 11,647
Man of the Match: Bradley Wright-Phillips (NY)
Chicago Fire
New York Red Bulls
