MONTREAL (Saturday, Aug. 16, 2014) – The Chicago Fire (4-6-13, 25 points) fell 1-0 to the Montreal Impact (4-14-5, 17 points) Saturday evening at Stade Saputo in Montreal, Quebec. Impact forward Marco Di Vaio scored the lone goal of the match in the 84th minute as the Men in Red fell in their third match of the week.
The Fire return to Canada for the second consecutive week when they take on Toronto FC at BMO Field in Toronto, Ontario on Saturday, Aug. 23 at 6 p.m. CT (My50/TWCSC Wisconsin/La Ley 107.9 FM).
MATCH REPORT: http://bit.ly/1rGSw0W
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS: http://bit.ly/YiJsXE
Quotes:
Chicago Fire Head Coach and Director of Soccer Frank Yallop
Thoughts on the game
“We weren’t very dangerous to be honest going to goal and basically when it comes to the crunch, we didn’t get the job done. It’s disappointing, but it’s kind of where we are right now. It’s hard because we lost 6-0 on Wednesday and now we had a chance to prove ourselves again and we lose.”
What can be changed to get that winning goal?
“We have to be more positive going forward. We have to dig deep and get that extra run for that extra minute and make sure we get beyond people and not play in front of the players. So I think that’s the difference we need to make. I think that after Wednesday’s loss it was hard on the team to be motivated, but our spirits seemed to be up at the beginning of the game and then we couldn’t get it done in both boxes, we couldn’t defend and couldn’t score.”
On how tight the table is
“Of course, you never give up until it’s over. It’s been a tough season; we have 13 ties, which 6 we should have won. I think that we would have been in a better spot with those extra two points per game. We’re not good enough to be higher up at this point and that’s on us.”
Chicago Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson
On the team's performance
"It's a tough result for us. We’ve got to be better. It's disappointing. We were in a position where we can put ourselves in a good spot in the playoff race. We played decent in the first half and just didn't do enough to get the result."
On what needs to be done to get three points
"It just a matter of believing and going out there and doing it. We just got to get it done. It's up to us, we're the players on the pitch and we have to solve some problems ourselves out there sometimes. We got to find it in us to get those results."
Chicago Fire midfielder Matt Watson
On how the team can improve offensively
"We weren't clinical enough in the final third. We need to find a way to get goals, maybe support the strikers more. We let the field get spread. We were hitting long balls to the strikers and then they were kind of wrestling for it by themselves with no support coming. We need to do better moving forward as a team."
On his team's defensive play
"At times I think we were chasing, myself included. I think sometimes we run just for the sake of it, where we could kind of be a more of a compact unit. We need to stay in a tighter defensive block."
Notes:
-With the result, the Fire move to 2-2-3 all-time in matches played against the Impact.
-This was the second of three matches between the two sides this season. The Fire will host the final leg at Toyota Park on Oct. 5.
-Midfielder Sanna Nyassi made his debut appearance in a Fire shirt when he entered the match in the 68th minute.
-This was the third match in seven days for the Men in Red, including matches on opposite coasts as Wednesday’s Lamar Hunt Open Cup semifinal was played in Seattle.
Chicago Fire 0 – 1 Montreal Impact
Chicago Fire: Sean Johnson; Lovel Palmer, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Patrick Ianni, Greg Cochrane; Alex (Quincy Amarikwa 60’), Jeff Larentowicz ©, Matt Watson, Harry Shipp (Sanna Nyassi 68’); Razvan Cocis, Mike Magee (Grant Ward 86’)
Substitutes not used: Kyle Reynish, Bakary Soumare, Benji Joya, Logan Pause
Montreal Impact: Evan Bush; Hassoun Camara, Wandrille Lefevre, Matteo Ferrari, Eric Miller; Justin Mapp (Maxim Tissot 74’), Patrice Bernier © (Felipe Martins 46’), Ignacio Piatti (Andres Romero 54’), Gorka Larrea, Dilly Duka; Marco Di Vaio
Substitutes not used: Troy Perkins, Karl Ouimette, Anthony Jackson-Hamel, Jack McInerney
Scoring Summary
MTL – Marco Di Vaio (unassisted) 84’
Misconduct Summary
CHI – Patrick Ianni (caution) 24’
MTL – Gorka Larrea (caution) 70’
Referee: Kevin Stott
Assistants: Brian Dunn, Richard Gamache
Fourth Official: Jose Carlos Rivero
Attendance: 17,132
