CHICAGO FIRE vs. NEW YORK RED BULLS
TOYOTA PARK | Bridgeview, Illinois
July 31, 2016 | Week 21 | MLS Game #215
7 pm ET (MLS LIVE)
Teams at opposite ends of the Eastern Conference meet for a second time this season as the Chicago Fire play host to the New York Red Bulls on Sunday evening at Toyota Park. The Fire sit at the foot of the conference table, their record road winless and losing slides extended yet again in a 1-0 loss at the New England Revolution last weekend. The Red Bulls sit in second place in the East, rolling to yet another victory over their cross-river rivals in a 4-1 defeat of New York City FC at Red Bull Arena last Sunday.
- The Chicago Fire were shutout in a 1-0 loss on the road vs. a fellow Eastern Conference side in the New England Revolution. The Fire dropped to 4-10-5 on the season, and are now on a two-game losing streak in league play.
- The New York Red Bulls routed arch-rivals New York City FC, 4-1, in Week 20 thanks to a two-goal performance from Bradley Wright-Phillips. The Red Bulls improved their record to 9-9-4 with the win despite being 1-7-3 on the road.
- Chicago and New York will meet for the second and final time this regular season in this game. The two sides previously faced off at Red Bull Arena on May 18, with the Red Bulls coming out on top via a 1-0 scoreline.
REFEREE: Fotis Bazakos. AR1 (bench): Brian Poeschel; AR2 (opposite): Logan Brown; 4th: Chris Penso
MLS Career: 56 games; FC/gm: 26.6; Y/gm: 3.7; R: 13; pens: 18
SUSPENDED: none
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: CHI: Matt Polster -- NYR: Connor Lade
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: CHI: Joao Meira -- NYR: Ronald Zubar, Felipe Martins, Mike Grella
DISABLED LIST: NYR: Kemar Lawrence, Gideon Baah (season-ending injury)
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none
HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (52 meetings): Fire 26 wins, 86 goals -- Red Bulls 16 wins, 67 goals -- Ties 10
AT CHICAGO (26 meetings): Fire 15 wins, 46 goals -- Red Bulls 4 wins, 25 goals -- Ties 7
- When the teams met, as part of Decision Day on Oct. 25 last season, the Red Bulls took a 2-1 win at Toyota Park - their first win ever in Bridgeview. The Red Bulls' last away win against Chicago had come May 14, 2005, a 3-0 win at Soldier Field; in between, the Fire were unbeaten in 14 home games in the league series (9-0-5).
- The Fire have come away with a victory on two of their last five trips to Red Bull Arena, their last win in Harrison coming in a wild 5-4 victory May 10, 2014, as Chicago's Harry Shipp and New York's Bradley Wright-Phillips each scored hat tricks - the only time in MLS history two hat tricks were scored in the same game. The Red Bulls have won the last two meetings in Harrison.
- Coaches record: Jesse Marsch vs. CHI: P6 W3 L2 T1 -- Veljko Paunovic vs. NYR: P1 W0 L1 T0
LAST MEETING (MLS):
5/18: NYR 1, CHI 0 (Grella 59)
- The Red Bulls found the breakthrough just before the hour mark, as Lloyd Sam received a backheel pass from Bradley Wright-Phillips on the right and sent a square pass in the box to Mike Grella, who coolly finished with a side-foot effort inside the right post.
- The goal was the only shot on target for the Red Bulls, as Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson did not record a save. New York goalkeeper Luis Robles was credited with two saves for the shutout.
- NEW YORK RED BULLS (4-2-3-1): Luis Robles - Connor Lade, Chris Duvall, Aurelien Collin, Kemar Lawrence - Felipe Martins, Dax McCarty - Lloyd Sam (Gonzalo Veron 66), Sacha Kljestan, Mike Grella (Alex Muyl 73) - Bradley Wright-Phillips (Sal Zizzo 86).
- CHICAGO FIRE (4-1-2-3): Sean Johnson - Rodrigo Ramos, Johan Kappelhof, Jonathan Campbell, Brandon Vincent - Joao Meira (Alex Morrell 82) - Khaly Thiam (Nick LaBrocca 62), Razvan Cocis - Joey Calistri, Kennedy Igboananike, David Accam (Gilberto 72).
Try the best deal in streaming soccer. Watch hundreds of out-of-market MLS matches live or on-demand with MLS LIVE. Season Subscriptions are just $39.99.Start watching today
