It was a match where the Fire could have scored multiple goals. The final score certainly didn’t reflect the number of chances had by both teams. Shots were 19-19 and the Fire controlled 54% of the possession.
The first half alone saw the Fire hit the crossbar, the post, have a goal called back by Video Assistant Referee (VAR), and have a penalty saved. The second half had a second goal disallowed by VAR.
The Fire started attacking from the get-go, with Heineken Man of the Match Robert Berić’s deflected shot hitting the crossbar in the 4th minute (WATCH).
Chicagoland native Chris Mueller opened the scoring for Orlando City SC in the 11th minute, receiving the ball on the right side, cutting inside and getting a weak shot off that was deflected and dribbled in (WATCH).
Forward Ignacio Aliseda found the woodwork for a second time in the 20th minute. A cross from Berić was mishandled by Orlando goalkeeper Pedro Gallese and bounced out to Aliseda who charged toward goal and after a pinball-like sequence, hit the post (WATCH).
Nani doubled Orlando’s lead in the 24th minute. Mueller served a ball in from the right side and Orlando’s star player eluded a Fire defender and headed the ball into the back of the net (WATCH).
Shortly after, the Fire appeared to pull one back when a perfectly-weighted set piece from Álvaro Medrán found Francisco Calvo in the box. The Fire captain headed the ball into the goal, but the play was reviewed by VAR and disallowed due to Elliot Collier being in an offside position earlier in the play (WATCH).
The Fire continued to attack. As Chicago pushed forward, Orlando defender Ruan was called for a hand ball in the box and referee Nima Saghafi pointed to the spot. Medrán stepped up to take the kick. The Spaniard hit the ball with force, but Gallese was able to react and reach back with his left arm to save the penalty in the 36th minute (WATCH).
The second half kicked off with Miguel Navarro and Aliseda connecting on the left side and Mueller taking down Navarro in the box (WATCH). This time Berić stepped up to take the kick, cutting the lead in half in the 48th minute with a calm finish low and to the right.
In the 57th minute, Chicago appeared to level the score. Mauricio Pineda chested down a flicked header off a corner kick and took a shot that was blocked by a defender. The ball fell to Boris Sekulić whose shot found its way through traffic into the back of the net. The goal was, once again, disallowed after a VAR review, in which it was determined that Pineda’s hand had touched the ball (WATCH).
Orlando took advantage of the calls that went their way and scored two additional goals. Junior Urso scored in the 78th minute (WATCH) and a stoppage-time goal from second-half sub Benji Michel made it 4-1 for the home squad (WATCH).
Next on the schedule: Chicago Fire FC will return to Soldier Field for back-to-back home games, beginning on Wednesday, Sept. 23 against the Houston Dynamo. The match will begin at 6:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcast live on WGN-TV and ESPN+ and transmitted locally in Spanish on TUDN 1200AM. The pregame show, presented by CIBC, will begin at 6:15 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
Social: Twitter - @chicagofire, @vamosfire | Instagram - @chicagofire | Facebook
Notes:
- Berić scored for the second straight game. He leads the team with four goals.
- Berić also earned Heineken Man of the Match honors for the second straight game.
- The penalty kick awarded to the Fire in the first half was the first for the team in 2020.
- Fire forward Fabian Herbers missed the match due to yellow card accumulation.
- Chicago Fire FC has teamed up with Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and Ronald McDonald House Charities during the month of September to bring awareness to Kick Childhood Cancer. Player jerseys featured a yellow ribbon patch that represents Kick Childhood Cancer.
- Game highlights can be viewed here.
- Every Fire broadcast starts with an original video, The Open. Tonight’s version, “The Room Where it Happens,” featured Fire kit man Brian Sauer. You can watch it here.
Goals:
ORL - Chris Mueller 11th minute (WATCH)
ORL - Nani 24th minute (WATCH)
CHI - Robert Berić 48th minute (WATCH)
ORL - Junior Urso 78th minute (WATCH)
ORL - Benji Michel 90+5 minute (WATCH)
Box Score:
Orlando City SC 4:1 Chicago Fire FC
Scoring Summary:
ORL - Mueller (7) 11’
ORL - Nani (4) (Mueller 5, Pereyra 4) 24’
CHI - Berić (4) 48’
ORL - Urso (2) (Perea 2) 78’
ORL - Michel (3) (Nani 3) 90+5’
Misconduct Summary:
CHI - Pineda (Caution) 15’
CHI - Sekulić (Caution) 60’
ORL - Mendez (Caution) 66’
CHI - Calvo (Caution) 76’
CHI - Bronico (Caution) 86’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Shuttleworth, D Sekulić (M Azira 85’), D Pineda (D Omsberg 85’), D Calvo ©, D Navarro, M Mihailović (M Gutiérrez 81’), M Giménez, M Medrán (D Bronico 85’), M Aliseda, M Collier (F Sapong 65’), F Berić
Subs not used: GK Slonina, D Bornstein, D Reynolds II, M Casas Jr.
Orlando City SC: GK Gallese, D Ruan, D Jansson, D Carlos, D Miller (D Smith HT), M Mendez (M Perea 66’), M Mueller (F Michel 75’), M Pereyra (M DeZart 75’), M Urso, F Nani ©, F Dike (F Akindele 66’)
Subs not used: D De John, D Schlegel, GK Rowe, M Robinho
Stats Summary: ORL / CHI
Shots: 19 / 19
Shots on Target: 7 / 3
Saves: 2 / 3
Corners: 5 / 4
Fouls: 11 / 11
Offsides: 1 / 2
Possession 45.6% / 54.4%
Referee: Nima Saghafi
Assistant Referees: Jason White, Tyler Wyrostek
Fourth Official: Natalie Simon
VAR: Kevin Terry Jr.
Chicago Fire FC Quotes
Chicago Fire FC Head Coach Raphael Wicky
On his thoughts about the game…
“Look, it reflects a little bit the whole season. We are playing well, we’re creating a lot of big, big chances. We are giving up too many, too easy goals again, but it reflects a little bit the whole season. Right now, for whatever reason, those little things go against us. Yeah, they don't fall to our side, the game before, we missed a lot of chances and then they shoot -- it touches a player's leg, it goes in front of (Gyasi) Zardes, he scores. All of these little things right now are not going our way. Sometimes in life, it happens. I don't know why. I don't have the answer for that.”
“I still am pleased with a lot of things I see. Creating so many chances, scoring goals. I say the same as what I always do. We have to keep working but we have to become better in those ends otherwise we will talk all year about that and at the end of the day, we will be there with empty hands. It's nice to play good. It's nice to create, but we've got to be better on both ends of the field.”
On the first half penalty kick and whether the team has a designated penalty kick taker…
“Yeah, I told the team in the halftime it's my fault. I take it on me. I didn't assign a player who takes a penalty. But then what happened after cannot happen. It's unacceptable. If a player says, ‘I'm going to take it,’ then the other player has to say, ‘Okay, yeah, I support you.’ And that didn't happen on the field. They were arguing and that's not the team we want to be. So yeah, that's all I can say to that. I take it on me that I didn't assign a player. I assigned in the halftime, the next penalty is Robert (Beric), and yeah, things happen. It will never happen again.”
On his first message to the players after the game…
“Heads up. My first message to the players is heads up. Look, I was a player. A player feels when you play really bad and you have no chance and you lose 4-1, or the player also feels when you are actually playing well over a certain amount of games and the ideas are there. So the players feel that. But I usually don't talk. It's my way of doing it. I usually don't talk directly after the game because I really don't want to talk on emotions. I shake hands and say heads up and that's what I did today, as well, because that's the only way. I think in these moments, it's difficult for everyone, for anyone to find the right words. That's the reason why I don't really talk, and the only way is moving forward and heads up and keep working hard and getting better.”
Chicago Fire FC Forward CJ Sapong
On the mood in the locker room…
“We're all upset. We're upset we're not getting the results we feel we deserve, but there still is an optimism when we look back at games and we come off the field, while it stings more knowing that you had your chances and that it might have been mental lapses in moments in the game; we still understand that we have quality and we have the ability to turn these results around.”
On whether the team’s results are a matter of being unlucky…
“Yeah, I think anybody that's watching that game says that that's unlucky. I believe that energetically, you know, there's always an opportunity to approach the game with an optimism and obviously as the results don't go your way, that's harder and harder to do. If you look on the flipside for them, you have a goal goes in off the post. You have a goal that takes a deflection and trickles in. They get two goals disallowed for the opposing team. It's easy to say that there was luck on their side. You know, luck is they say when preparation meets opportunity, so that's where we have to do our due diligence and keep preparing the right way, and then when we get the opportunity or we get those chances, we put them away.
On how it feels to be back with the team and on the field, but also not being with his family as he was the past month…
“Yeah, all that is quite the whirlwind. I think we've all kind of had to be malleable in 2020 and for me, I'm in a situation where I was able to see my daughter come into this world, and while I ensured that things on that front are as safe and secure as possible, I'm here with the team and trying to bring energy and impact onto the field. Once the off-season gets here, I'll be able to really just soak in the family time. But that's what's my fuel and motivation right now.”