Chicago Fire FC (8-9-8, 32 points) fell 3-0 to the Los Angeles Galaxy (6-10-7, 25 points) at Dignity Health Sports Park on Saturday night. Despite the result, Chicago remains above the playoff line, sitting in ninth place in the Eastern Conference.
Chicago went down to 10 men in the 27th minute when a second yellow card was issued to midfielder Gastón Giménez for a tackle on Douglas Costa. It was Costa’s ensuing free kick that led to the Galaxy’s goal by Tyler Boyd in the 29th minute.
An error by goalkeeper Jonathan Bond in the first minute gave Chicago the first chance of the night. High pressure by striker Kei Kamara on Bond caused him to miss a pass to his teammate in the box. Xherdan Shaqiri was following Kamara on the run and pounced on the weak pass, but Bond was able to get down to save his low shot.
On the other end of the field, Chicago goalkeeper Chris Brady was put to the test just two minutes later, when a free kick was awarded to the Galaxy. Forward Douglas Costa sent a strike to the left side of the goal where Brady parried it away with a diving save. Brady finished the first half with five saves. His sixth and final save came in the 79th minute, when Billy Sharp found himself in behind the Fire defense and sent a low shot on target that Brady was able to deflect with his foot with an acrobatic reactionary save.
Galaxy midfielder Riqui Puig doubled the score in the 72nd minute. Despite the numerical disadvantage, Chicago was able to find their way into the Galaxy’s end on several occasions. Most notably, second-half sub Jairo Torres gained possession of the ball on the left flank and carried it up the field before cutting inside and hitting the top right post.
Los Angeles increased their lead with a penalty kick goal in the 90th minute, scored by Sharp.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago will return to the lakefront to face another Western Conference foe as the team plays host to Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday, Aug. 30 at Soldier Field.The match will be broadcast on Apple TV, transmitted locally on wlsam.com in English and in Spanish on TUDN 1200 AM.
Social: Twitter - @chicagofire, @vamosfire (Hashtags: #CF97 #VamosFire) | Instagram - @chicagofire | Facebook
Notes:
- Striker Kei Kamara played in his 413th career match, tying Chris Wondolowski for fourth place in MLS all-time appearances.
- Goalkeeper Chris Brady returned to the starting lineup for the 21st time during the 2023 MLS regular season, and the 24th time across all competitions. Brady started in net for all three of Chicago’s Leagues Cup 2023 matches, obtaining a knock in the game against Club América that kept him out of the lineup last Sunday against Orlando.
- Captain Rafael Czichos returned to anchor the backline from the outset, joining Jonathan Dean, Carlos Terán and Miguel Navarro.
- Midfielder Federico Navarro returned to the Starting XI for the first time since June 24 against Sporting Kansas City.
- Defender/midfielder Mauricio Pineda (yellow card accumulation), midfielder Chris Mueller (right upper leg) and forward Victor Bezerra (right lower leg) were not available for tonight’s match.
Box Score:
LA Galaxy 3:0 Chicago Fire FC
Goals:
LAG - Boyd (5) (WATCH) 29’
LAG - Puig (4) (Costa 7) (WATCH) 72’
LAG - Sharp (1) (penalty) (WATCH) 90’
Discipline:
CHI - Giménez (Yellow Card) 2’
CHI - Giménez (Second Yellow, Ejection) 27’
CHI - Dean (Yellow Card) 89’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Brady, D Dean, D Czichos (capt.), D Terán, D M. Navarro (D Aceves, 84’), M F. Navarro, M Giménez, M Herbers (M Doumbia, 46’), M Shaqiri (M Haile-Selassie, 77’), M Gutiérrez (M Torres, 77’), F Kamara (F Koutsias, 78’)
Subs not used: GK Gal, GK Richey, D Souquet, D Omsberg
LA Galaxy: GK Bond, D Calegari, D Yoshida, D Zavaleta (D Alfaro, 69’), D Edwards, M Puig (capt.), M Cerillo, M Boyd (M Aguirre, 86’), M Rosell (M Delgado, 81’), F Joveljic (F Sharp, 69’), F Costa (M Barrios, 81’)
Subs not used: GK Micovic, D Aude, D Leerdam, M Fagundez
Stats Summary: LAG / CHI
Shots: 19 / 12
Shots on Goal: 9 / 4
Saves: 4 / 6
Passing Accuracy: 94.8% / 86.4%
Corners: 10 / 6
Fouls: 11 / 6
Offsides: 0 / 0
Possession: 64.2% / 35.8%
Attendance: 19,762
Referee: Ismail Elfath
Assistant Referees: Corey Parker
Fourth Official: Kyle Atkins
VAR: Edvin Jurisevic
Assistant VAR: Jonathan Johnson
Chicago Fire FC Head Coach Frank Klopas
On the result and the team’s performance…
“Performance had nothing to do with it. Performance, we came out really good. If you really saw the game, performance, we came out really good. The game, we should have been up at least two goals in the first ten minutes. We came out really good. We pressed them really well. We created the opportunities. Should have been a penalty on (Brian Gutiérrez), 100 percent in my book; it's not given.
And then obviously we get a second yellow that changes a lot in the game, you know, and we give up the goal. I think the effort was great. We continue, yes, we're defending, you're in a really big pitch with a man down, and then we have to pick our moments to stay compact and be organized.
We came in at halftime, I think even in moments in the first half, after being a man down we got into some good spots. And the chances were there, and we talked about not giving a second goal, and you know unfortunately, the guys tried. Maybe throughout the game, there were some fatigued legs. We made some mistakes, and then after that, I'm thinking about Wednesday.
But the opportunities were there for us. We came really prepared, good mentality from the guys. You know, those little details, and obviously not getting the calls to go our way really changes momentums in games. You're 1-0 up or 2-0, it really changes, and unfortunately it didn't go our way. But I think the mentality, the attitude from the guys was excellent.”
On the team’s mentality in response to that performance…
“I'm feeling, you know, when you lose a game, I'm always a harsh critic. I look at the game. I just felt like the way we came out, the way we started the game and stuff, we definitely came out with a really good mentality, a really good game plan. The execution was good. It was just about not putting chances away.
And then when certain things, sometimes that don't go our way, whether it's calls or this or that, there's frustration, because at the end of the day we need some of those to go our way. We need, you know, just fair. And there's always an interpretation, but it can't be a different interpretation every time of what the call is.”
On the decision to start Fabian Herbers over Maren Haile-Selassie…
“Yeah, I wanted more runs behind. Fabi has looked really good in training. He's been sharp. And it's all about the team. The starting spot is not guaranteed to anyone. You have to earn that, the way you play and the way you train. That's very clear from day one.”
Chicago Fire FC Goalkeeper Chris Brady
On the result and the feeling in the locker room…
“All of us are obviously disappointed. Yeah, 3-0 is not what we expected this game to be like, what we planned it to be like. I felt like the energy coming into the game was very positive. The first, 10, 15, 20 minutes were very good, back and forth, both teams had chances but I felt like we were still in it.
It's unfortunate, the red card; I'm not so sure that was one, but you know, you've got to deal with it, and even throughout the beginning and the end of the first half, I felt like we still had chances and still had opportunities to get back in the game.
But for us, the key was, in the second half, not conceding that second goal because then the second goal leads to the third, and the second goal leads to more chances.
So for us, the big thing was not conceding in the second half and keeping the spirits high. Unfortunately after we conceded the second, we all kind of justdropped our heads, which is something we can't be doing on the road.
The belief, no matter what the score line is, always has to be there. It just wasn't our night, yeah, that's all.”
On how going down to 10 players affects him as goalkeeper and the team in general…
“You touched on the first part, was how it affects the team. I think that's the biggest thing, is when you lose a guy, how do you adapt quickly on the field to make sure that ten men are able to do the job of 11. But for me as a ’keeper, I think just the biggest change for me would be removing whichever player got the red card out of the tactics and improvising. So you're down a man on the field but you're also down a man on set pieces, corners, free kicks, all of it. So you've got to kind of think quick on your feet.
I know when Gastón (Giménez) went out, there were a few changes we had to make for defensive set pieces, so that was probably the biggest thing for me, and typically is. Hopefully we don’t have to deal with any more red cards throughout the season but that’s the biggest thing for me in my defense when a player gets sent off.”