It was literally the tale of two halves for the Fire. They started off well in the first 45 by dominating possession, capitalizing on a mistake to take the lead and not letting the Dynamo get their footing in the game. I expected more of the same after the break. Unfortunately for Chicago, the Dynamo had other plans. The second half was a completely different story..
The Dynamo were able to score 2 goals in 11 minutes to flip the game on its head. Chicago ran out of steam in the second half and just could not generate any offense. Even as they were pushing numbers forward, the Dynamo were compact and frustrated the Fire. I understand it was a rotated squad but it did not seem like the players were interested in taking risks, instead keeping possession. Am I alarmed? No, it was game 1 of over 40 this season and the team was missing several starters. But it highlighted a weakness that might be hard to overcome until after the World Cup: a lack of attacking creativity in the middle. D’Avila and Saletros are good midfielders but they cannot fill the role of Brian Gutierrez/Andre Franco going forward. Maybe Philip Zinckernagel will play more centrally as the team is at full strength. Maybe a healthy Jonathan Bamba will alleviate this but it is something to keep an eye on.
Tactics
- Berhalter was definitely short handed against Houston and had to make it work with the available players. I will question waiting until the 76th minute to make substitutions, especially when Rogers appeared to be nursing a knock since the first Houston goal.
Stats
- xG Battle: Houston (1.18) v Chicago (.84)
- Important to note that only .04 of the xG was earned in the 2nd half for the Fire on the 1 shot they could muster up as they chased for an equalizer.
- SofaScore had Anton Saletros losing possession 30 times. The next nearest player was Zinckernagel with 18.
- Out of the 13 highest rated players for the match, both Fotmob and SofaScore only had 2 Fire players.
Highlights
- Not even mad at this goal. Such a great pass from McGlynn to spring Guilherme.
- It might not have counted due to offside being called after the play, but this was a great sequence for Mbekezeli Mbokazi. He has a high ceiling.