Chicago Fire 1 – 1 Philadelphia Union
Chicago Fire: Sean Johnson; Lovel Palmer, Patrick Ianni, Bakary Soumare, Alex; Grant Ward (Florent Sinama-Pongolle 58’), Jeff Larentowicz ©, Logan Pause, Sanna Nyassi (Patrick Nyarko 71’); Harry Shipp, Quincy Amarikwa (Robert Earnshaw 77’)
Substitutes not used: Kyle Reynish, Gonzalo Segares, Chris Ritter, Matthew Watson
Philadelphia Union: Rais Mbohli; Fabinho, Maurice Edu ©, Carlos Valdes, Raymon Gaddis; Cristian Maidana (Antoine Hoppenot 77’), Amobi Okugo, Fred (Danny Cruz 62’), Vincent Nogueira, Andrew Wenger; Pedro Ribeiro (Brian Brown 62’)
Substitutes not used: Zac MacMath, Brian Carroll, Ethan White, Michael Lahoud
Scoring Summary
PHI – Amobi Okugo (Brian Brown, Danny Cruz) 88’
CHI – Robert Earnshaw (unassisted) 92’
Misconduct Summary
CHI – Lovel Palmer (caution) 5’
CHI – Patrick Nyarko (caution) 86’
CHI – Jeff Larentowicz (caution) 91’
Referee: Chris Penso
Assistants: Craig Lowry, Bill Ditmar
Fourth Official: Robert Sibiga
Attendance: 14,838
Quotes:
Chicago Fire Head Coach and Director of Soccer Frank Yallop
Overall thoughts on the game
“I think that the game itself wasn’t a particularly great game. Both sides felt a little bit cagey until the second half. We weren’t very good in the final third for us. But I thought Philadelphia had some good chances. We’re happy to get the tie. But we found a way to come back into the game and get something out of it. We could play better and do all these things, but we’re finding ways to at least get a point. But we can’t find a way to win a game. And that’s a little bit disappointing.”
On Philadelphia’s early pressure
“I thought that with the situation they’re in, and that we’re in, I felt Philly was going to push us. They weren’t going to sit back and see what happens at home. We didn’t expect that. I expected them to do what they did. I thought we handled it quite well, especially in the first half. I don’t think we played very well; we didn’t move the ball, we didn’t create any chances. But we hung in there and got a result in the end. I think Philly probably had enough chances to win the game.”
On Harry Shipp’s game
“Harry started very well. And then, just because, got the rookie sort of first year blues. He got tired, a little bit jaded, and his game faded a little bit. So I left him out, he had a little bit of a rest and I think now he’s starting to come back into his own. I’m looking forward to working with Harry over the next couple of years and seeing how he actually blossoms. I think he’s got a good chance of becoming a very great player. And we’re seeing signs of that now.”
If the Union’s lineup changes had any effect on the match
“No I think we picked it pretty good. We had a pretty good idea of who was going to be in just because of guys being out. Conor Casey’s a big player. [Sebastien] Le Toux is a huge player for them. Missing Conor and Le Toux — they’re two influential players at this time of the season and you don’t want to be missing those guys. But, you know, we’re missing Mike Magee. It is what it is. And you have to get on with it. I think both teams gave it their all tonight and it was a good effort for us to come back. Again, a little sloppy at times, but I would think it looked pretty entertaining on TV.”
On the two broken plays that led to goals
“Ours was a little bit of a broken play. You know, their goal was a good finish. Jeff [Larentowicz] is obviously trying to follow the ball and the cross pops down… you know it was a tough one. Broken plays are hard. It falls right to his feet, and he puts it in. But I liked our drive. We got back into it. We create the chance and [Robert Earnshaw] finished it fantastically well. I mean it was a great one. It was not so much out of the blue, but he can do that. I thought, ‘why is he going so wide?’ but then I figured it out — he was pulling him in to get him out. He did well. He did very well.”
On breaking the MLS tie record
“All season, we’ve just been the tie kings, if you like. At this point, with our group, it’s growing and we’ve got to add quality to it next season. It’s not going to be easy, but we’ve got a lot of points out of games that maybe we shouldn’t have. I still think in those 17 ties, there was six games that we should have gotten the three points. Not all of them, but some of them. And that makes a difference in the table. I’m not going to say I’m proud of that stat, but if you have 10 wins and 17 ties, you’re rolling. But it isn’t that way. We haven’t won enough games and it shows on the table.”
Chicago Fire forward Robert Earnshaw
On his game-tying goal
“Well, when we conceded the goal so late, I just thought maybe we’ll have one more chance if we’re lucky. But the way the game was going, you knew it would be hard to come by. But with the goal, I just thought if it’s going to go anywhere, it’s going to go in the middle. So I just tried to position myself where if he was going to miss-kick it, it was going to come to me. It came nice. My first touch was perfect. And the second one, as soon as I took it, I made my mind up — I knew I was going to chip it. Because my second touch was just perfect. It was nice, you know. As soon as I took the second touch, I was thinking ‘Messi’. I really was. Just because, you know, I’ve seen him do it. He’s done it so many times. I’ve done it before, but this time was nice.”
On why he took it out wide
“I was just concentrating on the first touch because that was key. If I got the first touch right, I could at least get the ball under control and I could run it. But the first touch was perfect, it dropped in front of me and I had the space. As soon as the keeper half came out, I knew he wasn’t going to get there. He’s a very big guy, so I knew it was going to be difficult to get it around him. But I was very confident in getting it over the top of him.”
On Chicago’s final push with four games left
“Our mindset has been pretty much the same. We’ve just been the same — every game is a must-win for us. It’s just been difficult, you know? We show a never-die attitude, but it just seems like we’re destined to draw. It doesn’t matter what happens or how many chances are in the game, we’re just destined to tie the game. It’s difficult confidence-wise because when you win one and maybe win two, the confidence shoots right up because you’re getting the results. But when you’re tying, it’s like we’re doing everything but we’re just short. And that’s difficult, but we don’t lose.”
Chicago Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson
Overall thoughts on the game
“I thought the game was pretty stagnant for the first 85 minutes. You know, it looked like it was going to be a scoreless game and then all of a sudden the last 10 minutes… But I thought we did well to fight back after giving up a goal late. It’s not easy after fighting for so long. So coming out with a tie is nice. I thought it was a fair result in the end.”
On what he saw on the goal
“Cruz crosses the ball, it pings around and Amobi swings his foot on the other side of the ball and I just didn’t see it until the end.”
On staying on his game despite not facing a lot of shots
“I mean, I’ve been doing this for a few years, so if I can’t keep myself up when there’s a lull in the action, there’s something wrong.”
