All things considered, earning a point on the road is a pretty good result for the Chicago Fire. Going into a hostile environment and coming away with a result is something the team will normally be satisfied with.
But when the club loses a two-goal second half lead, as they did in Saturday’s 2-2 draw at the Kansas City Wizards, a road draw starts to feel a lot less satisfying and a lot more like a missed opportunity.
“It is pretty disheartening—to go up two to zero and work extremely hard—but with the amount of pressure the Wizards put on and the numbers they throw we really needed another goal to put it away, but unfortunately we dropped points tonight,” Fire midfielder Logan Pause said after the match.
“The way this locker room feels right now, this game was like a loss. We did enough to win this game, but we did drop two points and we aren’t happy about it, regardless [of] if it was on the road.”
Head coach Carlos de los Cobos had a similar view of the result.
“It was a difficult game because they are a very good team with good players,” de los Cobos said. “I am happy with our players—they worked hard—but the end result was not good for us.”
Not enough
It’s not too often that we see a head coach pull two starters at halftime. It’s less often that the head coach pulls those starters when his team has a 1-0 lead. But Carlos de los Cobos has proven that he isn’t afraid to throw convention out the window, and he did so again Saturday night, benching forward Collins John and goalscorer Julio Martinez at the break.
De los Cobos’s reasoning for pulling the two starters? A perceived lack of effort.
“I didn’t like the performance of the players,” de los Cobos said. “Even though [Julio] Martinez scored, it was not enough. He needed to work harder to help the team. They need to work harder if they want to play.”
Moving Forward
Brian McBride’s 48th minute goal was the first time a Fire forward found the net since his April 17 goal against D.C. United. McBride was assisted on the play by winger Patrick Nyarko, who is tied with Bobby Convey for second place in MLS with five assists.
“Patrick [Nyarko] saw me early so he played the ball early and it took a little deflection so it sat nicely,” McBride said. “I was able to take it early so the goalkeeper couldn’t close the angle.”
Chicago’s forwards have only registered four goals through the first eight games of the season. Undoubtedly, the Fire would like to see that rate improve.
Repeat performances
Saturday’s match saw a couple of repeat items.
1) First, it was strong winds at BMO Field. Then it was a driving rainstorm at CommunityAmerica Ballpark. One can only hope that Mother Nature has reserved a little bit of sunlight for Wednesday’s opening of the Sister Cities Cup at Toyota Park, or the Fire could be looking at playing a third straight game in less than ideal conditions.
2) Saturday’s result was eerily similar to last year’s Fire-Wizards match at Toyota Park. Both games ended in 2-2 ties; with Kansas City scoring two second-half goals to erase a two-goal Chicago lead and scrape out a point.
