Chicago Fire 0 – 2 Houston Dynamo
Chicago Fire: Sean Johnson; Logan Pause, Jeff Larentowicz ©, Patrick Ianni, Gonzalo Segares (Grant Ward 80’); Razvan Cocis (Patrick Nyarko 28’), Matthew Watson, Harry Shipp; Florent Sinama-Pongolle (Alex 65’), Robert Earnshaw, Quincy Amarikwa
Substitutes not used: Kyle Reynish, Greg Cochrane, Chris Ritter, Matt Fondy
Houston Dynamo: Tyler Deric; DaMarcus Beasley, A.J. Cochran, Kofi Sarkodie, David Horst; Boniek Garcia, Luis Garrido, Brad Davis (Andrew Driver 84’), Ricardo Clark; Giles Barnes, Omar Cummings (Brian Ownby 79’)
Substitutes not used: Eric Brunner, Michael Lisch, Jermaine Taylor, Alexander Lopez, Servando Carrasco
Scoring Summary
HOU – Omar Cummings (Ricardo Clark) 15’
HOU – Boniek Garcia (Brad Davis) 67’
Misconduct Summary
HOU – Ricardo Clark (caution) 10’
HOU – David Horst (caution) 21’
CHI – Gonzalo Segares (caution) 47’
CHI – Jeff Larentowicz (caution) 65’
Referee: Jose Carlos Rivero
Assistants: Eric Boria, Gregory Barkey
Fourth Official: Alejandro Mariscal
Attendance: 20,262
Quotes:
Chicago Fire Head Coach and Director of Soccer Frank Yallop
Thoughts on the match
“Well, obviously result wise, very disappointing for us. I thought that we had a few half chances that we maybe could have done better with but Sean Johnson had a great game, so that says something about Houston’s play. I think the heat had a factor in the match. We played a little bit of a slow pace but for us it was a poor performance away from home where we needed to pick up points but we didn’t.”
On how the loss effects the playoff push
“It’s been tough all year; we’ve always been behind. We’ve tied 16 matches out of 29 now. You’ve got to try to turn those ties into wins and so we’re not good enough. I guess you have something to slightly build on. We don’t lose a ton of games but we lost tonight which is obviously very disappointing at this time of the season but we have to pick ourselves up, we play on Thursday so we’re going get ready for that one.”
What effect did the first goal have on the game?
“We’ve come back before, and I thought we did enough to maybe get back a little bit into the game with some half chances in the first half, but we’ve got to convert your chances. You have to be dangerous, you have to look like you’re going to score and make the goalkeeper make a save. I don’t think the goalkeeper, for them, made a save. We had some good situations where we didn’t have the final pass, it was over-hit, under-hit, cut out or whatever it was. They had two great plays where they found their people in the box and they scored, you know, that’s the difference.”
Chicago Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson
Thoughts on the match
“To be fair, Houston’s a team that I think when they pick up the ball in good situations and good places on the field, they’re able to take it at you quickly and very smart. They’re a team that if you turn the ball over in the middle of the field they’re very good, they put themselves in good positions, they put you on the back foot and that’s what they’re able to do and ultimately, they were just able to finish more chances in the game.”
How frustrating is it to pick up a loss with so few games left?
“It’s disappointing obviously but it’s a position we put ourselves in. There’s nobody to blame but ourselves. You just have to take a look at yourself in the mirror and really reflect. We’ve been saying for a long time now that’s it win or go home and we have to start picking up points. You know I said in the beginning on the season, it’s going to get to a point where it’s too late to say that and now, we’re at the point. Unfortunately, we’re on the other side of things, not fighting to keep a playoff spot but fighting to get in, with a glimmer of hope and we’re going to keep fighting until the end. We’ve got no other options, five games left if there’s still a chance and we have to go after it.”
