CHICAGO (June 19, 2022) – Chicago Fire FC II earned a road point against Philadelphia Union II after a 1-1 draw at Subaru Park in Chester, Pa. In his first start since returning from national team duty with Guyana, Omari Glasgow scored his third goal of the season for the Fire. Union II earned an additional point following a 3-0 shootout win over Chicago Fire FC II.
The Fire started on the front foot, with over 60 percent of possession in the first half. But Philadelphia took advantage of a lapse in possession through the feet of Francis Westfield, who found himself with plenty of space and time in the 29th minute. Westfield then served a pinpoint cross from the right wing to Nelson Pierre, who headed the opening goal well away from a diving Mihajlo Mišković. The Fire could not create further scoring opportunities and went into the break trailing the home side.
Upon the match resuming in the second half, the Fire came out of the locker room determined to equalize. Less than five minutes into the half, Victor Bezerra found Omari Glasgow in space, who outpaced the Philadelphia defense and slotted an equalizer home. Glasgow’s third goal of the season places him second on the team in goals scored, tied with Bezerra and just one goal behind Josh Penn. The assist represents Bezerra’s first of the season.
Following Glasgow’s goal, both teams settled into a back-and-forth affair. The sides offered plenty of chances in front of goal, as well as some hard-nosed play: all six yellow cards in the match were shown no earlier than the 57th minute. Despite many chances and forays into the opposing half, the Fire finished the match with a draw. In the shootout, the team had three consecutive shots saved by veteran goalkeeper Matt Freese, giving an additional point to Philadelphia.
NEXT GAME: Chicago Fire FC II return to Bridgeview next weekend and host New England Revolution II on Sunday, June 26 at SeatGeek Stadium. The game is slated to start at 4 p.m. CST. The match, as all MLS NEXT Pro regular season matches, will be streamed live on mlsnextpro.com.
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Box Score:
Chicago Fire FC II 1(0) - 1(3) Philadelphia Union II
Goals:
PHI - Pierre (Westfield) 29’
CHI - Glasgow (V. Bezerra) 49’
Discipline:
PHI - Darboe (Yellow Card) 57’
CHI - Oregel, Jr. (Yellow Card) 78’
PHI - Paternina (Yellow Card) 80’
CHI - Ritaccio (Yellow Card) 83’
PHI - Riasco (Yellow Card) 86’
PHI - Turner (Yellow Card) 90’
Chicago Fire FC II: GK Mišković; D Ostrem, D Quintos, D Ritaccio ©, D J. Reynolds (Baumgartner, 46’); M Oregel, Jr. (A. Rodriguez, 81’), M Alvarado, M Fleming III; F Glasgow, F Monis (Kocs-Washburn, 76’), F V. Bezerra
Subs not used: GK Katsimpalis; M Flores; F Hernandez, F L. Bezerra
Philadelphia Union II: GK Freese; D Sorenson, D Findlay, D Turner, D Westfield; M Bueno, M Real, M Darboe (Paternina, 62’), M Jasinski (Abbey, 87’); F Chris, F Pierre (Riasco, 73’)
Subs not used: GK Thompson; D Nkanji; M Ramirez, M Perdomo, M Villero
Stats Summary:
PHI / CHI
Shots: 10 / 7
Shots on Goal: 4 / 2
Passing Accuracy: 68.8% / 79.5%
Saves: 1 / 3
Corners: 4 / 2
Fouls: 14 / 15
Offsides: 6 / 4
Possession: 41.1% / 58.9%
Referee: Jeremy Scheer
Assistant Referee 1: Jeffrey Skinner
Assistant Referee 2: A. Max Smith
Fourth Official: Justin Saporito
Chicago Fire FC II Head Coach Ludovic Taillandier
On what he took away from the match…
“I would say the way we attacked. The way we were able to develop an ambitious way to play, with the idea to try to bring numbers, to send numbers to the front, to try to create chances; to have outside backs going up, going down to defend, it was a bit ambitious. Some players struggled a little bit physically after a while. But I would say as a takeaway from that, is that we can compete, we can compete with our style. We need to be a little better at defending and finishing our chances, but in general, take away, I love the ambitious ways the players try to play the game, controlling.”
On the team’s response following a home loss…
“The team responded well. We have also to see that, from one game to the other, there was a chance for change. We had a lot of players that played today, that started today, that weren’t on the field last week; they didn't experience this big loss. They were a little more fresh mentally, I would say. In general, each game has its story, it’s a new journey. We forget about it, we learned from it, we worked on the video. And I think we definitely did better today. For sure.”
On the adjustments to make for next week…
“Yeah, next week is a big game against a team that is close to the top of the table and that's an interesting one. Some adjustments, it’s just not always the same, try to control the game a little better, try to get counter attacked a little less in transition. That's where we suffer, when we lose the ball high up the field. We need to have a little more security and not lose the ball too easily. Sometimes we have some passes that are not complicated passes that create turnovers. When we lose the ball high up the field and we get counted attacked, then we need to do better on that; securing the position and maybe some security also with the numbers we keep at the back. Improving that, improving the desire and execution to finish our chances, and also to be able to manage to adapt in general at the back.”
Chicago Fire FC II Midfielder Omari Glasgow
On returning from national team duty and scoring in his return to the Club…
“It felt great and all, unfortunately we didn’t get the result that we were looking for, but it was good coming back, joining the team, getting a goal today, and getting a point so it was good.”
On his thoughts on today’s match…
“My thoughts on today’s match is that we put up a lot of fight but unfortunately we didn’t get a win. But the team is going to stick together and work as a team to get a draw and then we lost in penalties. We’re going to go back to the training pitch, and put in the work and get ready for the match next weekend.”
