Late goal gets Fire off to a winning start in tournament
The last time the Chicago Fire played the Seattle Sounders, the defending Major League Soccer champions scored a late goal to grab all three points.
The Fire got their revenge Tuesday morning in their first match of the MLS Is Back Tournament, scoring late to beat the Sounders 2-1 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., and temporarily move into first place in Group B.
Rookie Mauricio Pineda’s first career goal in the 84th minute secured three points for the Fire, who played their first competitive match since a 1-1 draw with the New England Revolution on March 7.
“We were really anxious to start playing games again, and everyone worked really hard,” Pineda said during a postmatch conference call. “We really wanted a good result to start the tournament off … and we are happy to do that. (I’m) just happy for all the guys who worked so hard, and you could see that on the field. It paid off and we came away with three points.”
Gaston Gimenez’s corner kick found its way through a pack of players to Pineda at the back post before the homegrown player finished past Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei.
Pineda’s goal capped an entertaining second half in which the Fire took the lead in the 52nd minute through designated player Robert Beric, who muscled his way onto a lofted ball from Pineda before taking a behind-the-legs touch around Yeimar Gomez Andrade and finishing for his second goal of the season.
But much like the March 1 season opener in which the Fire let a 1-0 lead slip, the Sounders got the equalizer not long after Beric’s goal. Handwalla Bwana scored from close range in the 77th minute to finish a play started by Jordan Morris.
“Of course I’m happy that I scored, but I’m more happy that we won this game,” Beric said. “We got our revenge back. We lost last time in the last minutes, so we were quite sad after the game, but today we got our revenge.”
The Fire utilized a 5-3-2 formation after starting the season in a 4-3-3. C.J. Sapong partnered Beric up top while Przemyslaw Frankowski was deployed as a wingback.
Fire coach Raphael Wicky, who earned his first victory since taking over from Veljko Paunovic in the offseason, praised his side’s tactical flexibility.
“The plan was to be well-organized defensively, which for a long time we were,” he said “We wanted to pressure a little bit higher in the beginning, but it was tough to put them really under pressure.
“But we were very well-organized in our own half (and) made it hard to play against. We wanted to be good with the ball because we know in these conditions, if you have the ball a lot and you move the opponent, at one point you will find gaps.”
The win puts the Fire in first place in Group B with three points. The Sounders have just one point after two matches. Additionally, the victory helps the Fire in the regular season with group-stage matches in the tournament counting toward the standings.
“Those are three big points against a champion, and it counts for the league, which is very, very important for us,” Wicky said. “After two good games against Seattle and New England where the results didn’t really go to our favor, I’m very happy with the three points.”
The Fire next play Sunday night against the San Jose Earthquakes before concluding group play July 23 against the Vancouver Whitecaps.
“It’s always important or good to have a positive start, but it’s just a first step,” Wicky said. “We still have two more games. It’s going to be hard games against two good opponents, and we will have to keep working hard to make more points. … If we now start relaxing, then we risk not continuing like we started.”