Chicago Fire FC II (11-5-5-3, 41 points) earned a 2-0 shutout victory against Philadelphia Union II (10-4-7-5, 42 points) Friday night at SeatGeek Stadium.
Forward David Tchétchao scored his first goal with Chicago Fire II and midfielder Darris Hyte made his professional debut, coming on for goal scorer Claudio Cassano in the 87th minute. Goalkeeper David Molenda recorded seven saves in the first clean sheet of his MLS NEXT Pro career.
Homegrown defender Justin Reynolds wore the captain’s armband as Trip Fleming and Chase Nagle marshaled the midfield. The two teams went into the half scoreless, with goalkeeper David Molenda registering five saves in the first half and finished the game with eight saves.
Second-half substitute Tchétchao broke the deadlock in the 81st minute when he picked up a loose ball after a dribble by Vitaliy Hlyut. Tchétchao stepped up to the ball, sending a low driven shot from the left into the lower left corner for his first goal of the season. Chicago doubled the lead in the 86th minute when Reynolds carried the ball up the right flank and squared into the box for Cassano. The Italian fired a shot that was saved point-blank by Philadelphia goalkeeper Pierce Holbrook. Cassano cleaned up his own rebound, firing in a shot from close range.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago Fire FC II will embark on a two-game East Coast road trip, making its first stop in New Jersey for an Eastern Conference matchup against New York Red Bulls II. First kick on Sunday August 24 is set for 6:00 p.m. CT and can be streamed for free on MLSNEXTPro.com.
Social: X - @ChicagoFireFCII (Hashtags: #ChicagoFireII) | Instagram - @chicagofirefcii | Facebook
Box Score:
Chicago Fire FC II 2:0 Philadelphia Union II
Goals:
CHI - Tchétchao (1) (WATCH) 81’
CHI - Cassano (10) (WATCH) 86’
Discipline:
PHI - Uzcategui (Yellow Card) 3’
PHI - Pariano (Yellow Card) 6’
PHI - Sequera (Yellow Card) 30’
CHI - Reynolds (Yellow Card) 35’
PHI - Anderson (Yellow Card) 71’
Chicago Fire FC II: GK Molenda, D Pfrommer (Kanyane, 58’), D Cupps, D Diouf, D Reynolds (capt.), M Nagle, M Fleming, M Hlyut, F Cassano (Hyte, 87’), F Boltz (Tchétchao, 71’), F Borso (Montiel, 58’)
Substitutes not used: GK Peterson, M Calle, M Berg, M Herrera
Philadelphia Union II: GK Holbrook, D Sequera, D LeFlore, D Uzcategui, D Griffin, M Pariano (capt.), M Anderson (F Soria, 74’), M Ferreira (Leblanc, 62’), M Probst, F Korzeniowski (Jakupovic, 69’), F Olivas (F Davis, 69’)
Substitutes not used: GK Sheridan, M Benitez
Stats Summary: CHI / PHI
Shots: 10 / 21
Shots on Goal: 6 / 7
Passing Accuracy: 84.5% / 76.2%
Saves: 7 / 4
Corners: 0 / 11
Fouls: 14 / 15
Offsides: 1 / 4
Referee: Amin Hadzic
Assistant Referee 1: Jacob Little
Assistant Referee 2: Jared Kuehl
4th Official: Eric Burton