Recap: Chicago Fire FC 1, New York Red Bulls 2

Phil West

New York Red Bulls made history Saturday night, becoming just the second-ever MLS team to start a season with five consecutive road wins, getting two second-half goals from Patryk Klimala to beat the nine-man Chicago Fire FC at Soldier Field.

Chicago ended their 385-minute league play goal drought thanks to a penalty shout on Ashley Fletcher for a handball in the box in the 15th minute, leading to Xherdan Shaqiri putting away the resulting penalty kick.

After a half that took longer than usual to end, thanks to an 80-minute weather delay, play resumed on a newly-wet field after a rare three-minute halftime observation.

Speaking of rare, Fire goalkeeper Gaga Slonina gave up a rare goal in the 75th minute, with Klimala collecting and finishing a Luquinhas pass to get the Red Bulls back into it.

Four minutes later, the visitors went a man up when Jhon Duran collected a second yellow card. Three minutes after that, the advantage shifted to two when Rafael Czichos committed his second yellow. Then, it got worse for the Fire, as the visitors were awarded a PK just before the end of the match when Klimala was fouled in the box. The Polish striker took it himself, sending Slonina the wrong way to convert the game-winner.

Goals

17' – CHI – Xherdan Shaqiri | WATCH
75' – NY – Patryk Klimala | WATCH
90'+1' – NY – Patryk Klimala (PK) | WATCH

Three Things

THE BIG PICTURE: Like the Red Bulls’ season to date, it was weird but ultimately satisfying, as they found the goals to get out of Chicago with three points. While the Red Bulls still are looking for their first home win, their five road wins plus the home results they have eked out are enough to (for now) put the Red Bulls atop the Eastern Conference table. Chicago, meanwhile, are headed in the wrong direction conceding five goals in their last two fixtures and failing to score a goal from open play since their 3-1 victory over Sporting Kansas City on March 19.
MOMENT OF THE MATCH: The culmination of an extended weather delay, four yellow cards split between two Fire players, a yellow card on Klimala that very well could have been red, and a penalty call that the home fans are not going to be happy about resulted in this penalty kick conversion to decide the match.