The Fire faithful were rewarded with a 3-0 win over Montreal at a very chilly Soldier Field. An expected result that took some time in coming to fruition…
Jonathan Bamba made his season debut and scored 27 minutes into the game after a shot by Leonardo Barroso. The Fire could not add to their total after that but were constantly knocking at the door. Montreal are a prime contender for the Wooden Spoon this year. They somehow looked worse after the Jonathan Dean red card. There were several times were Montreal players were openly yelling at each other on the field. It got worse as they chased an equalizer.
After going down a man, the Fire kept up the pressure and added 2 more in stoppage time to complete a comfortable win. It was a very “professional” win by the Fire, they kept their head in the game and their effort did not drop throughout the match. This is how a good team should see out a game against a weaker side, even when playing with 10 men. At no point did the game seem to hang in the balance.
Tactics
- Berhalter returned to his 433 to start the game. Jack Elliot and Bamba returned from injuries that saw them miss the Dynamo game. Mauricio Pineda got the start over Dje D’Avilla and put in a great shift. The homegrown stuffed the stat sheet: 7/9 on ground duels, 5 tackles, and went 30/36 passing. His positioning allowed others to push forward, while he protected the backline and acted as a release valve.
- Only 1 Chicago sub was made before the 89th minute, Joel Waterman for Bamba. This was done right after the Dean red card. I’m surprised another sub wasn’t made but the players on the field did not look gassed like some did last week in Houston.
Stats
- xG Battle: Chicago (3.05) v Montreal (.10)
- About 1.7 of the Fire xG was earned after they went down a man. While Montreal had TWO shots on target from the same point. Just dreadful from the Impact.
- SofaScore had Hugo Cuypers, Anton Saletros and Maren Haile-Selassie each with 3 key passes. It was a very balanced attack for Chicago.
- He might have lost 3-0 but Thomas Gillier was great in net for the visitors. He had 7 saves, including 5 from shots inside the box and prevented 2.08 expected goals. It could have gotten a lot uglier but Gillier kept the Impact in the game until stoppage time.
- It’s always a good thing when your DP #9 is active. Cuypers was popping up all over the field in addition to his pressing.
Highlights
- Barroso was really feeling himself against Montreal.