Chicago Fire Fall 3-1 at FC Dallas
FRISCO, Texas (July 14, 2018) – The Chicago Fire (6-10-5, 23 points) fell 3-1 on the road against Western Conference leading FC Dallas (11-3-5, 38 points) at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas on Saturday evening.
The hosts opened the scoring in the 27th minute courtesy of Carlos Gruezo’s one-time finish that beat Fire goalkeeper Richard Sánchez.
Dallas nearly doubled their lead in the 57th minute but Jonathan Campbell cleared Michael Barrios’ shot off the line.
The Fire were reduced to 10 men when Drew Conner was shown his second yellow card of the match in the 70th minute for a late challenge.
Kellyn Acosta scored the second Dallas goal of the evening with a strike from distance in the 75th minute.
Dallas tallied their final goal of the night in the 81st minute when Maximiliano Urruti earned a penalty kick after being taken down in the box. Sánchez correctly dove to his left but Reto Ziegler’s shot was just out of his reach.
Brandt Bronico got one back for the Men in Red in the 86th minute after he pounced on a rebound just inside the penalty area and unleashed a quick, right-footed shot into the top corner for his first MLS goal.
Rookie Jon Bakero made his first MLS start in the match and featured for the first 45 minutes.
The Fire next host Louisville City FC in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal at Toyota Park on July 18 at 7:30 p.m. CT.
“A game to forget. We move forward. Our guys gave their best. That’s it. No further thoughts on the game. It’s always difficult when you lose and we always try to win the games no matter the squad rotations. Our guys always go out and try to win and today wasn’t the day. We have to recover and prepare for the next game on Wednesday.”
Brandt Bronico – Midfielder, Chicago Fire
On the game:
“I thought we fought hard, especially in the second half. Made some silly challenges at times and we got punished for it, but it’s important to bounce back for Wednesday’s Open Cup game and stay positive, stay as a group and just focus on winning.”
On scoring his first MLS goal:
“On the first chance, I thought it was in, but it went wide and I thought I blew my chance. On the second chance, the ball dropped at my feet, I turned, hit it and it went in. It all happened so fast. I was happy that I scored, but unfortunately we lost the game so that killed the vibe a little bit. I’m happy with the goal nonetheless.”
Chicago Fire 1:3 FC Dallas
July 14, 2018 – Toyota Stadium
Frisco, Texas
Attendance: 16,000
Scoring Summary:
DAL – Carlos Gruezo (Reggie Cannon) 27′
DAL – Kellyn Acosta (Victor Ulloa) 74′
DAL – Reto Ziegler (penalty kick) 81′
CHI – Brandt Bronico (unassisted) 86′
Misconduct Summary:
CHI – Drew Conner (caution) 39′
DAL – Reggie Cannon (caution) 63′
CHI – Drew Conner (caution, ejection) 70′
Chicago Fire: Richard Sánchez; Drew Conner, Johan Kappelhof, Jonathan Campbell, Brandon Vincent; Mo Adams, Tony Tchani; Elliot Collier, Jon Bakero (Brandt Bronico HT), Daniel Johnson (Aleksandar Katai 58′); Alan Gordon © (Diego Campos 76′)
Subs not used: Stefan Cleveland; Jorge Corrales, Christian Dean; Nemanja Nikoli��
Shots: 6; Shots On-Goal: 1 Fouls: 10; Saves: 3; Offsides: 1; Corners: 3
FC Dallas: Jesse Gonzalez, Matt Hedges ©, Reggie Cannon, Ryan Hollingshead, Reto Ziegler, Carlos Gruezo (Kellyn Acosta 69′), Santiago Mosquera, Michael Barrios (Jesus Ferreira 87′), Roland Lamah (Paxton Pomykal 82′), Victor Ulloa, Maximiliano Urruti
Subs not used: Jimmy Maurer, Tesho Akindele, Jacori Hayes, Maynor Figueroa
Shots: 22; Shots On-Goal: 6; Fouls: 3; Saves: 0; Offsides: 4; Corners: 6
