FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (June 12, 2023) – Chicago Fire FC II came from behind to tie New England Revolution II 2-2 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. Despite going down to 10 men in the 52nd minute, Chicago earned a point in the tie, but New England earned an additional point from the ensuing shootout.
After the match, head coach Ludovic Taillandier, midfielder Richard Fleming III and forward Noeh Hernandez shared their thoughts on the match.
Chicago Fire FC II Head Coach Ludovic Taillandier
On the team’s mentality, coming back to tie the game despite playing with 10 men…
“It’s part that we’re proud of, but at the same time we’d be even more proud to be able to start the game with 11 and to finish the same game with 11. Of course, that’s something we addressed, already, with the players. We can consider that the first yellow is probably, the referee rushed it a little bit, but the second yellow is definitely a huge lack of control. The player expressed remorse and he took responsibility for it. I think we have to be here with him, to make sure that he can find a way to control his emotions next time. Look, it’s a good reaction for sure from the 10 players left, able to dominate a big part of the second half with one man down, creating chances, coming back 2-2. We felt like we would have deserved a second point but unfortunately we lost the PKs. I’m proud of the reaction but definitely not happy with the fact that we lacked control of our emotions and we didn’t finish the game with 11 men.”
On the performance of Harold Osorio and Noeh Hernandez, who will be joining their respective national teams after the match…
“Very good, very happy for those two, that they get a chance to taste the international level with their national teams. I’m very happy for them, well deserved. They are both improving very fast. They are both young players, 19 years old, 20 years old for Harold. They are definitely showing improvement and their mentality is great. I’m very happy for Noeh that he scored today. He was very committed at pressing with the ball and he got the reward, to steal a ball up there that he was able to finish. He’s a great finisher. I’m very happy for him.”
On how the team shifts the focus from this match to Orlando City B on Thursday…
“It’s a difficult one to swallow because of the taste the pks give you in the end, but if we take the pks out, the second half is something we need to be proud of. Proud of, again, because we were able to come back in the game 2-2 while playing 40 minutes of the second half with one man down. Definitely the group is growing, that’s what we told them. We feel the mentality, the work, the fitness, is definitely high and we need to keep working because we will get the results that we expect with this mentality, for sure.”
Chicago Fire FC Midfielder Richard Fleming III
On scoring his second goal of the season…
“Yeah, it was great to get my second goal of the season. Credit to my teammates, they were able to put that ball in a good position. It kind of just came through the left-hand side. A ball opened up, there was space. I was playing that right wing-back that second half, space on the right-hand side to run into. I got open on that back post. The ball came to me, a great pass from Harold, led me into the goal. I took it one-time. I felt confident. Happy it went in. Credit to my teammates who put me in a great position there. It was good to get a goal back, it was great to be able to tie that game up, for sure.”
On the team’s mentality to tie the game despite being a man down…
“I think it was unbelievable mentality from the boys today. Going a man down was tough in the second half, but being able to go out there to really try to dominate that game in the second half, even with 10 men, being a man down, creating chances, going for it, being on the front foot, I think that’s the mentality that our team was able to show. I think we need to show that going forward as much as possible because that’s going to take us pretty far in this league and win us a lot of games. That’s for sure.”
On the quick turnaround to prepare for the game on Thursday against Orlando City B…
“I think that will be a really important game for us coming up Thursday back at home. We were hoping to get a little bit more than a point, but we have high hopes going into this week. Quick turnaround, see if we can get three hopes back at home. It’s going to be an important one to keep pushing forward. We’re on a good little stretch here so if we can keep it going, we need to do that.”
Chicago Fire FC II Forward Noeh Hernandez
On his first professional goal…
“I was pretty tired so I was kind of dizzy. I just saw a bad pass and I saw their teammate miss it so I just saw an opportunity. It was just me, the center back and their goalie so I didn’t think twice and just hit it with my right and then put it between the defender’s legs and put it bottom left.”
On scoring his first goal right before joining the Puerto Rico National Team for the first time…
“Pretty sad but pretty happy because I won’t be here for a bit so I won’t be able to score more goals here. But I’m very excited to go to the Puerto Rican National Team. It’s a great start for me, to get my first pro goal and then head out to the national team so I’m pretty excited.”
