NEW YORK – It was another lesson learned for the Chicago Fire. But after a 4-1 loss to New York City FC Friday night at Yankee Stadium, Fire coach Veljko Paunovic wondered when the learning will end and the execution will begin.
“This year we’re making all the mistakes that one team can make. That’s of course why we are where we are,” he said. “Yes, it's always a learning process, but you’ve got to learn from the mistakes. If you’re not learning from the mistakes, then something is wrong. We’re here to fix that and we will fix it and come back next year.”
Of particular concern for Paunovic were defensive deficiencies that allowed NYCFC to score twice in 62 seconds early and then tack on two more goals late in each half.
“I think defensively we made mistakes, very important mistakes that decide the game,” he said. “We pushed hard to equalize the game when we were 2-0 down, then, even at 4-1 we were close to score a couple of goals and had good opportunities. Defensively we had a really bad game.”
Conceding two goals in rapid succession was particularly painful, especially after Chicago took the game to NYCFC from the opening kickoff.
“I think it was it was a tough start for us,” forward Arturo Alvarez said. “Going down two goals in a span of a minute or two that brought us down a bit. Its always tough when you go down like that, but I think we had a decent response to score right away. We knew that New York had strong players.”
That goal came when Alvarez found Luis Solignac open the box and the Argentine forward headed in his second goal in nine appearances to pull the Fire to just a goal down in the 35th minute.
“I am trying to do my best. I train every day to score goals,” Solignac said. “Hopefully I can score goals to win the game.”
Winning games down the stretch is the only objective. Despite being last in the Eastern Conference, the Fire are still mathematically alive for the Audi 2016 MLS Playoffs and a strong finish is vital, even if its just to provide hope for next season.
“We have five games left. We just have to make sure that every game we play from now on we have to win,” Alvarez said. “It's been a tough season for us. We have to get better. We have to keep pushing and show people that we can be that team to beat next year.”
