FOXBOROUGH, Mass – On some level, the Chicago Fire's 35-match winless streak away from Toyota Park seems unfeasible. At some point, you'd think, the Fire would catch an opponent on an off-night, receive some friendly calls, catch some fortuitous bounces or just be the recipient of some dumb luck that would snap the skid before it became a recurring storyline.
And for a brief moment in Saturday's 1-0 loss at New England, there was a small window, a glimmer of hope that the Fire would catch a break for their first away victory in more than two calendar years.
The Revolution had dominated play in the first half but couldn’t solve goalkeeper Sean Johnson. Then in the 57th minute, at the end of a 10-minute flurry in which Chicago unleashed six shots – four of which were blocked, and two of which missed the target – it looked like the away team might grab a gift.
David Accam sent a dangerous low cross into the box, which New England defender Jose Goncalves accidentally deflected on frame. Just when it seemed the Fire would grab the lead on an own-goal, Revolution goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth reversed direction and made an excellent reaction save to keep the visitors off the board.
Kennedy Igboananike, who had six of Chicago’s 14 shot attempts, pounced on the rebound but his shot flew harmlessly into the side net.
“We were a very good team, very competitive. I think we deserved more," said Fire coach Veljko Paunovic. "… We were very close, maybe the first time on the road that we were very close to winning the game, and in the end we learn from our mistakes and go forward.”
He added, “We play our games to win, so facts like [the streak], they’re there but we don’t think about it because we want to win our games and that’s how we play.”
Nonetheless, it appeared for most of the match that Chicago would leave Gillette Stadium with at least a point, and the bulk of the credit for that was down to Johnson. The 'keeper had 10 saves, some of which were quite acrobatic. But Johnson's heroics were forgotten in an instant in the 85th minute, after the Fire keeper flailed at a Chris Tierney corner kick and allowed New England’s Je-Vaughn Watson to easily head in the lone goal.
Paunovic, who lavished praise for Johnson’s overall effort, tried to deflect the blame. But Johnson was nonetheless kicking himself for his lone mistake in an otherwise brilliant night.
“The goal is disappointing after fighting so hard," Johnson said, "but you go down fighting trying to do the best you can to grind out a result and it just didn’t come off.
"I’ll take that one on me and really look to come out next week and do it all over again. These things happen when you’re trying to do all you can to help your team win, but it’s a part of the game. We just have to bounce back and do it all again."
