Chicago Fire 1-0 Columbus Crew SC
BRIDGEVIEW, IL–It won’t be one for the memory books, but the Chicago Fire got a bit of luck and defended with their lives to get their first win of the season in a 1-0 decision over Columbus Crew SC on a cold night at Toyota Park.
The Fire are now 1-2-1 on four points and move off the foot of the Eastern Conference and end a five-match winless streak dating back to last season at Houston. The Crew are now 3-2-1 on ten points and have lost back-to-back games.
The Fire’s goal came in the 27th minute as Zack Steffen pass to Wil Trapp was too nonchalant and was intercepted by Nemanja Nikolic who had an easy finish.
That was the Fire’s only shot on goal. The Crew had two shots on target out of 20. The Crew’s finishing betrayed them on this night. Gyasi Zardes had a sure goal go off the crossbar in the 72nd minute and substitute Mohammad Abu shot one off the post four minutes later. Niko Hansen had a goal chalked off for offside in between.
Bastian Schweinsteiger started at sweeper in a three-back formation between Johan Kappelhof and Kevin Ellis. Schweinsteiger did move up to midfield for a time before moving back to center back after Ellis left the match with a knock in the 64th minute and swept virtually everything in sight to help Richard Sanchez get his first clean sheet of the season.
“[Bastian’s] a smart player,” said Sanchez. “He’s been around defenders that know the game. I’m sure that he took what he learned from those defenders and incorporated that into his game. He was a great help in the back.”
Crew head coach Gregg Berhalter said that it was one of the matches where there was little they did wrong, but still left with no points.
“This is one of the games where you didn’t do much wrong in the game. You presented yourself in a good way. You created a number of chances in the game and you limit your opponent to very few chances and unfortunately we don’t get three points out of the game. I told the guys after the game that I’m proud of the effort and disappointed with the result.
“When you look back at the end of the year at this result, you’re not going to say they gave up 20 shots and conceded 65% possession. You’re going to say they got three points.”
For Fire head coach Veljko Paunovic, he’ll take the three points even though the style of play is not one that he prefers.
“First of all, I want to thank our guys for great mentality and the character we showed. We had to grind out the whole game. This is definitely not a game we want to remember except winning the three points. We learned today how win this way.
“It wasn’t a game that we will remember, but definitely we have to build on top of these three points and the opportunity of another game in front of us next Saturday [against LA Galaxy].”
The Fire host LA Galaxy and The Zlatan next Saturday at 2:30pm on Univision Deportes. The Crew host New England next Saturday at 7:30pm ET on BCSN2, CW Columbus, and Spectrum Sports Ohio.
SCORING SUMMARY:
CHI-Nemanja Nikolic (unassisted) 27
BOOKING SUMMARY:
CHI-Johan Kappelhof (caution, reckless tackle) 6
CLB-Artur (caution, tactical foul) 46
CHI-Richard Sanchez (caution, time wasting) 89
CHICAGO FIRE (3-4-1-2): #45-Richard Sanchez; #4-Johan Kappelhof, #31-Bastian Schweinsteiger, #5-Kevin Ellis (#15-Grant Lillard 64); #18-Drew Conner, #6-Dax McCarty, #12-Tony Tchani, #3-Brandon Vincent; #17-Diego Campos (#28-Elloitt Collier 71); #23-Nemanja Nikolic, #21-Alan Gordon (#13-Brandt Bronico 77)
Subs not used: #32-Patrick McLain, #27-Rafael Ramos, #22-Jon Bakero, #10-Aleksandar Katai
COLUMBUS CREW (4-2-3-1): #23-Zack Steffen; #25-Harrison Afful, #4-Jonathan Mensah (#14-Adam Jahn 88), #3-Josh Williams, #19-Milton Valenzuela; #7-Artur (#8-Mohammed Abu 57), #6-Wil Trapp; #9-Pedro Santos, #10-Federico Higuain, #18-Cristian Martinez (#28-Niko Hansen 56); #11-Gyasi Zardes
Subs not used: #24-Jon Kempin, #17-Lalas Abubakar, #31-Connor Maloney, #16-Hector Jimenez
TOTAL SHOTS: CHI 6-20 CLB
SHOTS ON GOAL: CHI 1-2 CLB
FOULS: CHI 11-7 CLB
OFFSIDES: CHI 0-4 CLB
CORNER KICKS: CHI 4-10 CLB
SAVES: CHI 2-0 CLB
Referee: Jair Marrufo
Assistant Referees: Ian Anderson, Peter Balciunas
4th Official: Victor Rivas
Video Assistant Referee: Kevin Terry Jr.
Weather: Sunny and 38º
Attendance: 11,023
Man of the Match: Bastian Schweinsteiger (CHI)
Chicago Fire
Columbus Crew
April, 2024
