SEATTLE – The Chicago Fire knew they had their work cut out for them going into Wednesday’s road match with the Seattle Sounders.
Chicago came into Wednesday residing in the Eastern Conference basement, owners of a 6-14-9 record that left them with an MLS-low 27 points and visiting a surging Sounders club fighting tooth-and-nail for its playoff life.
But Wednesday’s affair was far from the blowout some might have expected given those circumstances. Chicago conceded a tally to Seattle’s Chad Marshall in the 24th minute, but could never quite finish multiple second-half looks at an equalizer in what ultimately turned out to be a 1-0 defeat at CenturyLink Field.
“I’m really disappointed and sad for our guys because we did a huge job to play against one of the best teams the way we wanted to play,” Chicago coach Veljko Paunovic said after the game. “I think the game plan went well, but unfortunately we conceded that goal. It didn’t happen too many times this year on set pieces. Like I said, it’s especially disappointing because our guys played with pride today.”
The threat posed on set pieces by Marshall couldn’t have been a mystery for Chicago. The MLS veteran has long-been one of the league’s most aerially dominant defenders, making Wednesday’s game-deciding lapse an even tougher pill to swallow for Paunovic and his side.
“We play against many guys of their size in our league so it’s not an issue if we have the right defensive attitude,” Paunovic said. “We defend in zone so everyone has to be very alert, very prepared to react and cover his zone. And when the man comes into your zone, you have to defend one-on-one.
“I think [the goal] is the only play where we missed and that was enough for the winning goal.”
With any thought of a miraculous turnaround and subsequent playoff berth growing increasingly distant for Chicago, midfielder Arturo Alvarez said playing for pride should still give his team plenty of incentive to continue to try and work for positive results over their final four games.
“I think playing with pride is the most important thing of all,” Alvarez said. “We have to play for pride. Every game that we go in, we have to go in with the mentality to win the game, regardless if the playoffs are out of the picture already. It’s a game and we have to represent our club to the best of the ability that we can.”
Ari Liljenwall is a contributor to MLSsoccer.com.
