MLS Preseason 2021: Chicago Fire FC beat another Eastern Conference foe, knocking off Philadelphia Union

It’s two wins in two preseason contests for Chicago Fire FC, which defeated Eastern Conference rival Philadelphia Union, 1-0, at Joe Dimaggio Sports Complex in Clearwater, Fla. Saturday.

Javier Casas Jr scored the decisive goal 10 minutes into a 25-minute extratime period the teams agreed to play before the start of the match. The 17-year-old homegrown midfielder was set up by Przemysław Frankowski, who gathered a loose ball outside the box before connecting with Casas.

Andre Blake came up big early and Jack Elliott cleared a Robert Beric opportunity off the line in the early stages of the first half. Bobby Shuttleworth denied both Anthony Fontana and Kacper Przybylko just past the half-hour mark.

Álvaro Medrán and Miguel Navarro both made their preseason debuts for Chicago after joining up with the team in Florida last week.

The Union next take on Orlando City SC in their final preseason match in Florida March 24 at 12:30 pm ET. Fire FC meet FC Cincinnati in their next preseason fixture March 27 at 11:30 am ET in Orlando

Goals

• 100’ — CHI — Javier Casas Jr.

Lineups

Chicago Fire FC, first 60 minutes (4-2-3-1): Bobby Shuttleworth — Boris Sekulić, Carlos Terán, Francisco Calvo, Jonathan Bornstein — Gaston Giménez, Johan Kappelhof — Elliot Collier (Andre Reynolds 44’), Ignacio Aliseda, Brian Gutiérrez — Robert Berić

Chicago Fire FC, second 65 minutes (4-2-3-1): Gabriel Slonina — Jhon Espinoza, Wyatt Omsberg, Francisco Calvo (Nicolas Slonina 76’), Miguel Angel Navarro — Alvaro Medran, Fabian Herbers (Javier Casas Jr. 80’) — Andre Reynolds (Alex Monis 91’), Luca Stojanović, Przemyslaw Frankowski  — Chinonso Offer

Philadelphia Union (4-1-3-2): Andre Blake (Joe Bendik 72’) — Kai Wagner (Matt Real 61’), Jack Elliott (Aurelien Collin 61’), Jakob Glesnes (Brandan Craig 61’), Olivier Mbaizo (Nathan Harriel (61’) — Jose Martinez (Cole Turner 26’) — Jamiro Monteiro (Matej Oravec 61’), Alejandro Bedoya (Quinn Sullivan 61’), Anthony Fontana (Jack McGlynn 61’) — Jack de Vries (Paxten Aaronson 61’), Kacper Przybylko (Ilsinho 61’, de Vries 97’)