The Chicago Fire endured a tough match against the defending Eastern Conference champions in a hostile environment Friday night, falling to a Sebastian Giovinco-led Toronto FC side, 3-1, at BMO Field. Catch up on the notes to emerge from the fixture:
- Toronto FC secured its fifth consecutive win in the all-time series with the Chicago Fire and its eighth overall against the Men In Red. The Fire maintain a 9-8 lead in the series (eight draws).
- Veljko Paunovic fielded the same Starting XI as the Fire's previous outing (3-0 win vs. NE), marking the first time since last September (Sept. 3 and Sept. 10) that the Fire had the same starting lineup in consecutive matches.
- David Accam entered the match as a 61st-minute substitute and went on to score his second goal of the season in the 88th minute. The goal was Accam's 21st career MLS goal, moving him into a tie with Nate Jaqua for ninth on the club's all-time list, and his 26th in all competitions, good for joint-eighth with Marco Pappa.
- Prior to Friday, Accam had not recorded a goal or an assist in five previous MLS regular season appearances against Toronto FC.
- Luis Solignac provided the assist on Accam's late strike, giving him an assist in back-to-back games. It's the first time in his MLS career (52 appearances) that he's notched assists in two straight matches.
- With two goals on Friday, Sebastian Giovinco has now recorded five goals and four assists in five career games played against the Chicago Fire.
- Chicago enjoyed an overall possession advantage of 55.2% to Toronto's 44.8%, but was outshot 18-8 overall and 9-1 in shots on target.
- Dax McCarty, Joao Meira and Brandon Vincent remained the three Fire field players to play every minute this season.
- Rookie Daniel Johnson saw time off the bench for the fourth consecutive match since debuting on April 1, playing the final 20 minutes Friday at Toronto.
- The Fire will return to Chicago to prepare for the second game of their three-match stretch away from Toyota Park, traveling to face the New York Red Bulls next Saturday (April 29) at 6:30 p.m. CT.
