Lewandowski bags brace in Fire home debut, win

Chicago Fire 2-1 Charlotte FC

CHICAGO, IL—It had been 69 days since the Fire last played at Soldier Field. Since then, the person who wears #9 for the Fire has changed, it was going to take some time to get acclimated to the new #9—Robert Lewandowski. If Saturday night is any indication, the process might not take so long as Lewandowski scored twice in the Fire’s 2-1 victory over Charlotte FC before a crowd of 32,183.

Charlotte actually struck first in the 18th minute off a give-and-go between Idan Toklomati and Pep Biel with the latter scoring from an acute angle to give the Crown a 1-0 lead. That lead lasted just two minutes as the Lewandowski finished off a brilliant setup from Philip Zinckernagel and Jonathan Bamba to level the score. It was the first goal the Fire have scored this season from outside the box. 

The Fire had struggled the last two matches as they got used to Lewandowski and how best to play with him. With a full week of training this week, we saw an improved attack and improved defending, particularly from Joel Waterman at center back. 

It would be another defender, Andrew Gutman, who would set things up for the second goal. His cross went to Robin Lod who then fed Lewandowski for his second of the night and become the fourth Fire player in history to score twice on his home debut and the first since another Pole Tomasz Frankowski did so in 2008. 

Charlotte had a couple chances late to snatch a point, but the defending was there for the Fire as they are getting used to playing without Mbekezeli Mbokazi who is out injured. 

The win keeps the Fire in fourth place in the East ahead of a chasing pack of NYCFC, FC Cincinnati, and Charlotte who drop to seventh with the loss. 

Fire head coach Gregg Berhalter praised the team’s mentality and resilience after the match, but says the Fire still have another gear to reach with Lewandowski. 

“You can tell we’re a team that’s still trying to figure everything out,” said Berhalter.” That’s what I saw on the field. But what we have figured out was the mentality and the effort. And that’s really important. There’s still some positioning stuff we need to work on. 

Really happy with the effort of the team.It’s fantastic to have Robert make a big mark on the game. I mentioned it inside the locker room. I thought it

was very important to get the goal right after we conceded, and he set the tone with that. We talked to him about shooting and getting in good positions, and he did exactly that. So happy for the team and it’s a good three points.”

Lewandowski played all ninety minutes and spoke about how he is adapting to Chicago. 

“I’m very happy to play with Chicago and I’m really enjoying it,” said Lewandowski. “I’m enjoying each day with my teammates, with my new team and at my age especially, of course, MLS is something new,

as well as the team. I needed some time to adapt, but I think that each week, which is still like preseason for me, things have been going well for me so far. Now I’ve had three weeks of training with the team, and I think with one more week I’d be even better than I am now but I think that in today’s game I felt very good, physically. And yeah, I knew I needed a little more time to prepare physically too, and after the match I’m very happy.

“You know, of course for me it’s another world, not only because we play in the United States, but I’m also outside of Europe. But I have to say, I’m very happy not only for the team, but also my teammates who are very open with me and we can play well together. I’m enjoying every day here in Chicago.”

The Fire now enter Leagues Cup play starting on Thursday at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview against Liga MX side Necaxa. Kickoff is at 7:30pm CT on Apple TV. 

SCORING SUMMARY:
CLT-Pep Biel (Toklomati) 18
CHI-Robert Lewandowski (Zinckernagel, Bamba) 20
CHI-Robert Lewandowski (Lod, Gutman) 68

BOOKING SUMMARY:
CHI-Robin Lod (caution, free kick encroachment) 10
CHI-Joel Waterman (caution, tactical foul) 59
CHI-Robert Lewandowski (caution, dissent) 90+5

CHICAGO FIRE (4-3-3):  #1-Chris Brady; #15-Andrew Gutman, #3-Jack Elliott, #16-Joel Waterman, #2-Leonardo Barroso; #6-Anton Saletros, #42-Dje D’Avilla (#22-Mauricio Pineda 88, #17-Robin Lod (#7-Maren Haile-Selassie 88); #19-Jonathan Bamba (#12-Puso Dithejane 74), #9-Robert Lewandowski, #11-Philip Zinckernagel

Subs not used:  #44-Josh Cohen, #24-Jonathan Dean, #14-Viktor Radojevic, #5-Sam Rogers, #35-Sergio Oregel Jr., #20-Jason Shokalook

CHARLOTTE FC (4-3-3):  #1-Kristijan Kahlina; #15-Harry Toffolo (#23-David Schnegg 69), #22-Henry Kessler, #44-Morrison, #14-Nathan Byrne; #17-Luca de la Torre (#13-Brandt Bronico 86, #8-Ashley Westwood, #28-Djibril Diani; #11-Liel Abada (#37-Rodolfo Aloko 77), #16-Pep Biel, #9-Idan Toklomati (#7-Archie Goodwin 86)

Subs not used:  #21-Tyler Miller, #4-Andrew Privett, #7-Archie Goodwin, #13-Brandt Bronico, #20-Baye Coulibaly, #25-Tyger Smalls, #35-Will Cleary

EXPECTED GOALS:  CHI 1.4-1.1 CLT
TOTAL SHOTS:  CHI 14-14 CLT
SHOTS ON GOAL:  CHI 5-1 CLT
FOULS:  CHI 8-7 CLT
OFFSIDES:  CHI 3-3 CLT
CORNER KICKS:  CHI 8-6 CLT
SAVES:  CHI 0-3 CLT

Referee:  Jon Freemon
Referee’s Assistants:  Andrew Bigelow, Nick Balder
Fourth Official:  Calin Radosav
VAR:  Edvin Jurosevic
AVAR:  Joshua Patlak
Weather:  Rain and 71º
Attendance:  32,183
Man of the Match:  Robert Lewandowski (CHI)

Photos by Leslie Smith

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