Chicago Dominate Apathetic Red Bulls

Tuesday’s Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Quarterfinal match between the Chicago Fire and New York Red Bulls proved to be an exercise in paradox. In the wake of a brutal storm that swept through Chicagoland just a day prior, Tuesday found one team scrambling to accommodate and cater to their fanbase, while the other team barely showed up to Chicago in time for the match. Indeed, the match itself nearly became an afterthought in light of events leading in, especially given Chicago’s 4-0 routing of New York on a perfect summer evening.

Storms Monday morning left residents and businesses in Bridgeview and the surrounding communities without power for most Monday, and well into Tuesday. Power issues at the Fire’s home pitch of Toyota Park plagued the team, as the front offices dealt with power issues at the stadium, while also holding talks with the city of Bridgeview (who owns Toyota Park) as well as the city’s utility companies, in an attempt to find a viable solution to holding Tuesday’s match.

Those answers would come early afternoon on Tuesday, as the Fire organization announced that the match, previously scheduled for a 7:30 start, would be moved up to a 5pmstart, due to the lack of stadium lighting. As a noteworthy gesture on the part of the organization, the Fire also announced that parking and admission for all attendees would be free of charge, and that any tickets purchased for the match would be refunded. It’s not often that one can attend a MLS game (even if in Open Cup play) for free, and the Fire proved the classy organization they are by extending such a gesture to their fans. The game, which already came at great cost for the Fire to hold the match at Toyota Park, only proved all the more that while the team may not sit where the fans would like in the standings, they are a club that cares about their supporters.

In contrast, as has already been disseminated across the internet in the last few days, New York showed that they cared very little for the match, or for the US Open Cup tournament. Hans Backe, who had already illustrated his lack of concern or focus for the USOC, decided to not make the trip to Chicago, nor to even send a full 18-man roster to the match. New York did not even send out a first assistant to manage the squad, instead sending Indivdual Development Coach Mike Petke to oversee things. New York, who’s 14-man roster only included one player with any significant amount of appearances (Mehdi Ballouchy), barely made it in time to shake off travel, as they arrived to Chicago Tuesday afternoon, just hours before the match was set to begin.

It should be noted, for those who would blame Chicago moving the time of the match up rather than the Red Bulls’ lackadaisical attitude, that teams customarily come into the town they are playing the day before the match to allow for proper rest. New York, in another attempt to apparently show how little they cared, decided to travel day-of instead, for no apparently good reason.

All of which brings us to the match itself. This Red Bulls side, who in reserve league play are 0-3, with a goal differential in those 3 matches of -8, were never in the game. From the opening whistle the game was solely in Chicago’s favor against essentially a Red Bulls reserve squad. Scoring opened within minutes, as a build up by Marco Pappa found Cristian Nazarit collecting the ball at the top of the box. After a quick touch, Dominic Oduro took over, sending a low drive past GK Bouna Condoul, giving Chicago the early 1-0 lead.

Chances and possession would continue to fall Chicago’s way throughout the half, with seemingly little effort, as New York struggled to maintain possession for any amount of time. While only scoring the one goal in the 1^st half, Chicago controlled the shot distribution by a total of 13-1. It almost seemed at times as if the New York defense was non-existent, as Chicago made runs to the box at will.

The second half opened much like the first, with Chicago looking to add to their goal tally. In the 48^th minute, a short corner taken by Marco Pappa was directed towards Daniel Paladini. Paladini, with as much time as he needed over the ball, sent a perfect cross to the back post, finding the head of defender Yamith Cuesta, who headed the ball home to give Chicago the 2-0 lead. Cuesta’s goal was his second across all matches this year, both now coming in Open Cup play.

The scoring would continue, as Orr Barouch, who came on for Cristian Nazarit at the half, would find his brace, scoring at will in the 51^st and 69^th minutes. Further chances were created by subs Diego Chaves and Baggio Husidic, both of whom came on in the 66^th minute for Patrick Nyarko and Marco Pappa. As a strategic sidenote, and horrible New York side notwithstanding, it was nice to see Baggio playing on the wing, as he had some great runs up the sideline, as well as a perfect pass to Dominic Oduro, whose easy goal was waved off due to a weak foul call behind the play.

Chicago will now go on to host the Richmond Kickers, who shocked Sporting KC in a weather-delayed match Tuesday night. The game, to be played at Toyota Park, will take place on August 30^th. In the meantime, Chicago prepares itself to host expansion team Portland Timbers this Saturday at Toyota Park.

Player Signing

In other news Tuesday night, Technical Director and interim coach Frank Klopas stated that, “We’ll be making an announcement pretty soon on the player.” While it’s unlikely that Pavel Pardo or Freddie Ljungberg are coming to the club, the chances are high that the new Fire acquisition will be Argentine midfielder Sebastian Grazzini. An announcement can be expected in the next few days. 

Image courtesy of Chicago Fire