With the MLS Golden Boot leader in Nemanja Nikolic, another electric attacker in David Accam and Luis Solignac delivering wondergoals like this, it’s easy to understand why much of the talk surrounding the streaking Chicago Fire has centered on the output up front.
But for the fifth time in their last six outings, the Fire on Wednesday kept their opponents -- this time Saint Louis FC -- off the scoresheet, taking pressure off their attack-minded teammates and once again sparking the offense with another assist courtesy of left back Brandon Vincent.
“I think the defense fought, it was very difficult playing with two strikers for our defense to handle [in] the attacks,” said Fire manager Veljko Paunovic after guiding his team to the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16. “Long balls behind the back, every time the ball bounces it doesn’t run, just stops, so it was another hard test for our defenders but they did well, they adjusted well and in the end we kept the clean sheet, which is something that counts a lot in these kinds of games.”
Watch: Match Highlights
The U.S. Open Cup road win, which saw Drew Conner slot next to Johan Kappelhof on the right side of defense and Jonathan Campbell step in for Joao Meira at centerback, may not go down as the “cleanest” of the unit’s recent clean sheets. A turnover in the early minutes nearly allowed the hosts to get on the front foot, and an opportunity late on saw Saint Louis FC striker Christian Volesky ring a close-range shot off the crossbar.
But chances conceded were generally few and far between, and Matt Lampson remained confident in controlling his box on six STLFC corner kicks while coming up with a critical save going to ground in the 79th minute. In the end, the clean sheet extended the Fire’s ledger to just one goal conceded in their last 601 minutes played across all competitions.
Also of note was the return of Dax McCarty to his post in front of the centerbacks, sliding back into the Fire lineup after missing the last two MLS matches while in World Cup qualifying camp with the U.S. Men’s National Team. McCarty started in midfield alongside Juninho and went 58 minutes on the night, setting himself up for a full 90-minute shift against a potent New England side Saturday night (6:30 p.m. CT, CSN Chicago).
Of course, the defensive unit can likely expect to stay out of the spotlight if Fire goal-scorers continue to turn in more finishes like the memorable one provided by Solignac in the 27th minute.
“When Brandon got the ball, I knew he was going to cross it, he’s in great shape right now with the crosses especially,” Solignac said of the play, “so I made the run and the ball came to my foot and I tried to do something and I scored. It was a beautiful goal. It’s instinct but it's watching a lot of football, a lot of finishing, when you get the chance to do it and hopefully get it in, it’s important.”
At full time, the showing was enough for the Fire to pick up their first road win in U.S. Open Cup play since 2014 and march on to the Round of 16, with opponent and location to be determined Thursday morning. With Wednesday’s tricky test behind them, Paunovic’s side can now begin navigating the challenges posed by a quick road trip to Foxborough.
“We have to be proud of our performance in the end,” Paunovic said. “I think the mentality we had in the second half especially helped the team to forge the character that we have this year. We just keep going and growing and working hard and look towards the next game.”
