It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t enough, either.
Though they showed some flashes of good play against one of the better teams in Major League Soccer, the Fire’s 3-3 draw Saturday against the Union did little to help their season.
In front of a crowd of 7,308 on a waterlogged pitch at Soldier Field, the Fire (1-7-2, five points) stayed at the bottom of the 27-team league and saw their winless streak reach four games.
Perhaps the most frustrating part for the Fire is that they showed some positive traits they haven’t in a while but still couldn’t win. Their three goals represented a season high, and after falling behind 2-1 at halftime, they got second-half goals from defenders Boris Sekulic and Mauricio Pineda to take a 3-2 lead.
Sekulic, however, was tagged with an own-goal in the 79th minute when a save by goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth ricocheted off him and into the net.
Yes, the Fire were markedly better than they were during their 1-0 loss Wednesday to lowly FC Cincinnati, but a victory would have given them something more tangible.
Still, coach Raphael Wicky was looking at the positives.
‘‘Against Philly, it’s a good point,’’ Wicky said. ‘‘Coming back, fighting back. Yeah, we’re disappointed about the last goal. But at the end of the day, I think it’s a good point against them.’’
A point was OK, but three would have been better. Through 10 games, the Fire are the worst team in the league and needing something highly improbable to happen to get into the playoffs for the first time since 2017.
‘‘We had 1-0 and 3-2 [leads], so I think we were all angry,’’ Sekulic said. ‘‘In the end, it’s good that at least we get one point. But considering that we were leading 3-2 15 minutes before the end, I think we were all angry about the result.’’
That the Fire were angry about a draw could be taken as some sort of progress. What happened Saturday shows the Fire are capable of respectable performances but still need to find a way to deliver them consistently.
Pineda, whose goal was his first of the season, acknowledged the Fire’s lack of consistency has been an issue so far. The Fire have shown they can be good at times, both tactically and mentally, but not frequently enough.
‘‘That’s something that we’ve been dealing with throughout the entire season, not just within the last few games,’’ Pineda said. ‘‘We have to show that we can be more consistent.’’
Now the Fire have to build off a decent performance, something they haven’t done much this season. One thing Wicky wants is for them to take some positives from this effort.
That’s a nice sentiment, but the Fire probably needed more.
NOTE: Back with the Fire after Poland was eliminated in the group stage of the European Championship, midfielder Przemyslaw Frankowski made his first appearance with the team since May 22, when he came on as a substitute in the 63rd minute to replace Luka Stojanovic.
The Link LonkJune 27, 2021 at 09:54AM
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/6/26/22552337/draw-with-philadelphia-union-does-little-to-help-chicago-fire
Draw with Philadelphia Union does little to help Fire - Chicago Sun-Times
https://news.google.com/search?q=little&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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