News and Notes from Chicago's 3-1 Loss at Toronto FC
April 22, 2017 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Chicago Fire FC News Release
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, Michael Harrington 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.
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