On a clear and crisp night that saw fans return to Soldier Field -- Welcome Home! -- Chicago Fire FC (0-0-1, 1 point) tied the New England Revolution (0-0-1, 1 point) 2-2 in an exciting, back-and-forth season opener on the lakefront. The game saw all four goals scored in the first half. Chicago designated player Robert Berić opened the scoring in the fifth minute and Luka Stojanović, playing in his first match at Soldier Field after suffering an injury last season, scored his first goal as a member of the Fire in the 11th minute. New England received goals from forward Adam Buksa, a teammate of Fire midfielder Przemysław Frankowski with the Poland National Team, and designated player Gustavo Bou.
NEXT GAME: Chicago Fire FC go on the road to Mercedes-Benz Stadium for a match on Saturday, April 24 against Atlanta United FC. The match will begin at 7:00 p.m. CT and will be broadcast live on WGN-TV and CFFC Live/ChicagoFireFC.com. The match will also be transmitted locally in Spanish on Latino Mix 93.5FM.
Social: Twitter - @chicagofire, @vamosfire (Hashtags: #CFFC, #VamosFire) | Instagram - @chicagofire | Facebook
NOTES:
- The Fire provided 250 essential workers with complimentary tickets to tonight’s match to thank them for all of their sacrifices during the ongoing pandemic. Additionally, the Fire highlighted and honored Caryn Curry and Colleen Cicchetti from Lurie’s Children’s Hospital with a video followed by a live recognition.
- With tonight’s draw, the Fire now holds a 27-23-15 all-time regular season record against New England. Additionally, the draw places the Fire’s all-time home opener record to 11-7-6 since 1998.
- Tonight’s match marked the first time the Club has hosted a season-opening game at Soldier Field since beginning play in MLS in 1998.
- The return of fans tonight marked the first time the Fire has hosted fans for a regular season game at Soldier Field since Oct. 21, 2005. The Club’s final match at Soldier Field in 2005 was a 0-0 draw against D.C. United in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
- Forward Robert Berić, who earned Heineken Man of the Match honors, notched his first goal and first assist of the season. Berić led the team with 12 goals last season, six of which were scored at Soldier Field.
- Midfielder Luka Stojanović recorded his first MLS goal and first MLS assist in his Soldier Field debut. Stojanović played just 61 minutes in 2020 after suffering a season-ending injury in the MLS is Back Tournament in Orlando.
- Midfielder Przemysław Frankowski and defender Boris Sekulić recorded their first assists of the season.
- Forward Chinonso Offor made his MLS debut for the Fire, starting the match and playing 75 minutes.
- Chicago Public School teacher Cicely Perry sang the National Anthem ahead of tonight’s match. Perry has been a teacher for 10 years in the Chicagoland area.
- The Fire became the first MLS team to debut an on-field rail cam during tonight’s game. The rail cam, which captures game speed action along the sideline, will be featured at all of the Fire’s home games in 2021. Footage from the rail cam is highlighted on the in-stadium video boards and the Club’s broadcast.
- Allison Arwady, the Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, delivered the game ball prior to tonight’s match.
- Tonight’s match marked the debut of the Club’s Ring of Fire banners in Soldier Field. The Ring of Fire tribute began in 2003. The banners will be featured for all Fire home matches this season. For more information on the Ring of Fire, click here.
- Game highlights can be viewed here.
Goals:
CHI - Berić (1) (Sekulić 1, Stojanović 1) (WATCH) 5’
CHI - Stojanović (1) (Berić 1, Frankowski 1) (WATCH) 11’
NE - Buksa (1) (Gil 1) (WATCH) 14’
NE - Bou (1) (Buchanan 1) (WATCH) 27’
Discipline:
CHI - Kappelhof (Yellow Card - Foul) 79’
NE - D. Jones (Red Card - Professional Foul Last Man) 90’ + 3’
Box Score:
Chicago Fire FC 2:2 New England Revolution
Chicago Fire FC: GK Shuttleworth, D Sekulić, D Kappelhof, D Calvo ©, D Bornstein, M Medrán, M Giménez, M Frankowski, M Stojanović (M Aliseda 66’), M Offor (D Navarro 75’), F Berić
Subs not used: GK G. Slonina, D Omsberg, D Espinoza, D Reynolds II, D/M Pineda, M Casas Jr., M Gutiérrez
New England Revolution: GK Turner, D Bye, D Farrell, D Kessler, D Jones, M Gil ©, M Polster, M McNamara (M Kaptoum 83’), F Buksa (Kizza 83’), F Bou, F Buchanan (F Bunbury 61’)
Subs not used: GK Knighton, D DeLaGarza, D Bell, M Boateng, M Caldwell
Stats Summary: CHI / NE
Shots: 20 / 13
Shots on Goal: 7 / 5
Passing Accuracy: 77.7% / 73.1%
Saves: 3 / 5
Corners: 7 / 10
Fouls: 15 / 9
Offsides: 0 / 0
Possession: 51.2% / 48.8%
Attendance: 8,102 (limited capacity)
Note: The Fire opened the 100 and 200 levels of Soldier Field, socially distanced. The 300 level, only on the east side of the stadium and also socially distanced, was also open.
Referee: Fotis Bazakos
Assistant Referees: Brian Poeschel, Peter Manikowski
Fourth Official: Lukasz Szapala
VAR: Malik Badawi, Michael Kampmeinert
Chicago Fire FC Head Coach Raphael Wicky
On playing in front of home fans…
"Yeah I mean, that was beautiful. I was waiting a long time for that, was very excited last year and then it didn't happen. Like I told you guys last year already, the stadium is amazing but now having fans in there, playing in front of our supporters was really, really, really nice. They did a great job and I can only imagine how it is when it is actually even more full, so hopefully in the future we can have that. I'm sure we will give our best always to make them happy, but I know that they will push us."
On the debut of Luka Stojanović…
"I know Luka as a player, I know the quality he brings, the technical quality, the quality in the final third. He can set up goals. He can score goals. So I'm happy with him. He hasn't played in a long time, he had a good preseason where he got his preseason games, and that's also the reason why he started today and he did well. Now for him, it's keep getting training, rhythm, keep getting the air for 90 minutes. He's a player that I believe will make goals and set up goals in the future."
On a back-and-forth first half…
"Yeah, look, it's repeating, it's repeating that we give out of hand a very good game. I think it was a very intense game overall, a very good game to watch, as well, from two good sides. But yeah, I am frustrated and we are all frustrated and not happy with the way we give the goals away. I know that mistakes happen, but as a team on the field in these moments, players need to step up, players need to do better, need to take the responsibility. This is too easy. Both goals come out of a throw-in. I think the set piece on the first one, the set piece actually also comes out of a throw-in. So those are moments where just, players have to be more awake, more switched on. That's frustrating that we give two goals like that away. Other than that, I think it was a really good game from both sides, very intense, that's what we felt. We played some really good football and we spoke about that a lot and we (spoke) about that with the team, we need to stop giving up these easy mistakes."
On the absence of Mauricio Pineda…
"Yeah, that was my decision, a technical decision. Mauricio wasn't with us for five weeks, he was away when we had five weeks (of) preseason, so we were working without him for five weeks. That's the reason why I chose to go with players who were here in preseason, who did all preseason with us. There is no other reason for it and that's the way it is. Mauricio is a good player, an important player, and I believe he will get his minutes this year again. But when players come back now as well, other players come back who were injured, then there is a lot of competition this year in this team, more than last year. So that is good, that is good for me and that is good for the team."
On the last set piece of the game…
"I hope we would have scored the penalty, but I haven't seen the sequence. I haven't seen the pictures, the images yet. Look, at the end of the day, we trust all the referees. They have VAR to go and check. He didn't give a penalty so I believe that it wasn't a penalty. So I'm not going to question his decision and on top of that, I haven't seen the stream."
Chicago Fire FC Defender Francisco Calvo
On returning to Soldier Field and the boost the fans provided…
“It was amazing. It was amazing to come to Soldier Field and have our fans, holding and cheering our backs. They're going to be so important. The whole season, the entire season for us, having the full capacity like today, it's going to be amazing playing in front of them and trying to give them a lot of points.”
On the goals conceded tonight against the Revolution…
“I think all goals came from nothing. First half, they didn’t have too much. We were controlling the game, we were managing the game well. (On) set pieces, we need to be more focused. We need to be more focused. This can't happen again. We just need to work on those situations, and we will and we're going to fix that. We have 33 more games ahead of us, so we can be down but we can (also) be happy with the result today.”
On playing with Johan Kappelhof again and the familiarity of playing with him…
“Yeah, I haven't played with Johan in a while. He’s a great player. He's an amazing player and he's an amazing center back, so he's gonna help the team a lot. I think (playing) the games, and game-by-game he's going to get his shape like me and my team and we're going to be good. We're going to try to not concede too many goals. We (conceded) two today but we're gonna work on that. I can tell you that.”
On the play of Luka Stojanovic and having him back…
“Yeah Luka is a really, really smart player, you know. He knows how to be in the spaces. He's always in the greatest spots. He has a lot of qualities so he's going to be so important for us this year. Hopefully he can stay healthy and we're going to need him the whole year.”
On his opinion on tonight’s game…
“It was a very good game, it was a good game on behalf of the team. Unfortunately we let in two goals on set plays and that's something that can't happen. We can't let that happen but it's something that we're going to fix. We're a good team, a team with a lot of hierarchy, a lot of experience and it's really funny (that) nobody really gives us a chance. But we're a team that has a lot of life in us. We have good players, we have players that know what they're doing, and we know what we're doing in our tactics and we are really going to give a lot this season. We're going to work hard and do a good job and play good football this season.”
On what he thinks about the return to Soldier Field as a leader of the club…
“It's been said before but this is a magnificent stadium. It's a stadium that really motivates people. We have a great team with great fans, and we're going to work hard towards our goal which is always to get to (the) playoffs. We're going to work to get to the playoffs and then we're going to fight through. We have clear goals set for the season and we're going to work hard to get to accomplish them.”
Chicago Fire FC Midfielder Luka Stojanović
On his first game in over nine months…
“Today I played my first game after almost a year without a game. It was almost nine months for me without any official games and I feel so happy, especially because I came out with a goal, and that's so important for myself because playing as a number 10 in this league, you need to also improve the statistics. And I think this is the best way for me to help the team.”
On how it felt to score a goal in tonight’s game…
“Yes, I grew up in a place where we have a lot of fans. And to be honest, this make me have another feeling on the game today. I was so happy to see people in the stadium. I know it was not full, but I can not imagine how it’s going to be, how I'm going to react after the goal. But yes, I was so excited. And so I think I have shown that this is too important for me as I said I wanted to improve on this stuff as another midfielder who can score the goals for Chicago Fire.”
On how the game progressed after an early 2-0 lead and a strong first 10 minutes…
“I think in the first 10, 20 minutes of the game there was a lot of space for us. And we took those opportunities to score two goals, but this is how you know the game is not just 10, 20, or 30 minutes. The game is sometimes 100 minutes with extra time with first and second half. So, this is also a part for me where we should improve. Because the referee doesn't finish the game after 20 minutes at 2-0. I think we were good during that time, but I hope for the next game, we can change this. First of all, they also made a great move. I think it was beautiful attack for us. We played simple, played fast with the ball. The ball is much faster than any player. And when we movel on the field good, Robert scored. A simple goal. Everybody worked for this to him to score that goal, and I think it was a great action from everybody.”