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MLS Chicago Fire FC

Chicago Fire Rally Comes up Short in 2-1 Loss against San Jose

March 22, 2015 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Chicago Fire FC News Release


SAN JOSE, Calif. - The Chicago Fire rallied, but ultimately fell short in a 2-1 loss against the San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday in the inaugural MLS match at Avaya Stadium.

Having started the season shorthanded, Chicago got a glimpse of its squad with each of its three Designated Players on the field at the same time in the second half. Shaun Maloney started and played 90 minutes, David Accam came on at halftime and played the final 45 minutes and Kennedy Igboananike entered the match in the 67th minute.

Despite falling behind 2-0 early, the Fire rallied to pull one back before halftime. The squad nearly found an equalizer on several occasions, but San Jose ultimately took the result.

The home side found the net five minutes into the contest. Designated Player Matias Perez Garcia opened the sequence with a well-placed corner kick that found teammate JJ Koval's head for a centering pass. Clarence Goodson nodded that pass toward goal and rookie Fatai Alashe redirected the shot into the net from point-blank range to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

San Jose doubled its lead in the 21st minute after Ty Harden cleaned up a loose ball inside the 6-yard box. Perez Garcia found Goodson open in the box on a free kick and the former U.S. Men's National Team defender volleyed a shot on goal. Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson was able to make the initial save with his foot, but Harden was the first to find the next touch for a tap-in goal.

The Fire continued to battle and pulled one back just before the half-hour mark. Winger Joevin Jones slid a perfect pass between Earthquakes defenders, laying the ball in front of Harry Shipp. The 2014 MLS Rookie of the Year finalist took advantage of his chance, tucking it inside the far post for his first goal of 2015.

Two minutes later the Fire nearly equalized if not for a brilliant save by San Jose goalkeeper David Bingham. Eric Gehrig rose to win a corner kick by Fire Designated Player Shaun Maloney, but his snapped header was brushed away for another corner by Bingham.

Chicago had another golden chance to tie the game early in the second half. Quincy Amarikwa took the ball off the feet of Harden and charged toward the goal, but his attempted chip scooted just over the crossbar.

The Men in Red return to action on Sunday, March 29 against the Philadelphia Union at Toyota Park. Kickoff is 4 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

-- Frank Yallop, Chicago Fire Head Coach and Director of Soccer

On the match

"From our perspective, I thought we played well enough to get at least a point from the game. Two set piece goals is difficult to take when you've got a chance to clear it, and it's a dead ball situation, and we didn't deal with it well. Maybe it's a sign of new-ish team hasn't quite yet gelled. I thought our football was decent. We created enough chances to at least get a tie but when you go two-nil down away from home, it's always though. I was proud of my team the way they kept going and fighting and playing and doing the right things and a little unlucky not to get something out of the game."

On the play of Sean Johnson

"I'll have to look at the goals again but the first one he got blocked, I'll have to look at the replays. Other than that, he didn't have much to do but set plays are part of the game and we struggled as a team to deal with it, not just Sean."

On the stadium

"It was funny, I walked out yesterday and got goose bumps. This is a place where I spent a good part of my career. I really enjoyed it, it's a special place. They did a magnificent job on the stadium and it was a long time coming. It's fantastic for the area. It was nice to be the first team to be here, unfortunate we didn't win, but I'm pleased for everyone here in San Jose."

On David Accam's debut

"It was good to get David Accam on the field, that was important to us. We're still a team that's gelling but we're heading in the right direction. We're 0-3, which is not great but we can't just worry about three games. We have to build something and keep building and see what ends up in the end. We never played away from home like that last year, I'll tell you that. We played very well at home, I thought, against Vancouver. We've played well against the Galaxy, we played well in these games and that's what I look at. Our performance in the next phase is now can we get results. It's a long season, we have 31 games left so we have to make sure we pick the points up."

On having Jeff Larentowicz on the backline

"We're playing against a team that's at home and has good players in Wondolowski and Garcia up front. I thought we did a nice job, if not all the game, most the game, of stopping two really good players. In general play, I thought our guys did okay. To go two-nil down it's difficult to get something out of the game but we nearly did. I thought Jeff did really well. He missed a lot of the preseason being injured for one, and then with CBA stuff. It took him a while to get over that, LA was though, he played fine against Vancouver but he's a good player back there, he's cool, calm, good on the ball."

On having all three Designated Players on the field

"You can't click your fingers and it's going to happen. You're going to have some bad results, you're going to come up against some adversity. Hopefully this is our spell to get over them early and get our team going and get our team moving. I'm pleased with who we've added. Some guys work out, some don't. We'll figure that out in June. We're no different, I thought JJ, did well, Adailton did well, Shaun Maloney did well, David it was his first look. I thought he looked dangerous but I was pleased with everything other than the result."

Jeff Larentowicz, Chicago Fire captain and defender

On the match

"We beat ourselves early, unfortunately. Put ourselves into too big a hole to come back from. The good part is we played well, on the whole. Goals aside, we were the better team but unfortunately goals are what counts. Tough start but you have to continue to fight."

On if the new players need time to gel

"Possibly but we don't have time. You can see these guys have talent but it's just about making it work. Unfortunately six week preseason, three new guys, you have to make it work right away and you have to do it on the field. In games, you can see it building and building and hopefully we can make it work."

On building chemistry

"It's not easy but they're all good people which makes it easy. The language is soccer, we just come together, we all put on the same shirt every day and that draws us together. I think we're going to be alright."

On the backline as a while

"I think they got fortunate on the second goal, I'm chasing the man, one of they're guys falls down, and I can't avoid him, I fall down, they're first to the ball and they're first to the second ball. On the first one, its another bouncing ball, it's a fortunate play, its not like they played in a great ball and they scored a great goal, it's a ball that bounces around so it's extra frustrating, it's something we talked about and unfortunately we got beat."

On the stadium

"It's beautiful. It's very nice. It's a different style, the fans seem like they're right on top of you. Its hard in this setting to make a stadium that's not beautiful. It's a good place to come and play soccer."

David Accam, Chicago Fire midfielder

On making his Fire debut

"For me it felt great to be on the pitch again playing. I've been out for a long time and I just want to be out on the pitch. I'm really happy with the experience."

On how he felt after the match

"I felt a little tight at the end but it shows that I'm not really fit but hopefully by next week with a week of training I'll be good.

On the team's performance in the second half

"For us, we lost the game in the first 20 minutes of the game but we picked ourselves up and it showed in the second half that we can be a good team. The way we played in the second half was good. If we keep that tempo in the next game, we'll be good."

On having all three Designated Players on the field in the second half

"To be fair it wasn't just about the DPs, other players, Harry played well, most of the players played well in the second half. It wasn't just the DPs, it was also other players. You can see the experience from Shaun and Kennedy, it paid off. We need to get together as a team and gel so we can play well."

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Major League Soccer Stories from March 22, 2015


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