Backs lead Fire to the front against Necaxa

Photo: Leslie Smith

Chicago Fire FC 2-0 Club Necaxs

BRIDGEVIEW, IL—Chicago Fire FC’s depth would be tested throughout this week with three matches in Phase One of the Leagues Cup. The first test was a successful one as they defeated Necaxa of Liga MX, 2-0, at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgevew.

Sam Rogers played with Jack Elliott in central defense as Joel Waterman was suspended and it was earlier announced that Mbekizeli Mbokazi would for all intents and purposes be out of the season due to a torn thigh.

Jonathan Dean started at right back and Andrew Gutman was at left back and both would play a key role in Thursday’s match. In the 31st minute, Gutman’s low cross into the box was kicked away by the Necaxa defense, but only as far as Dean who got the opening score.

Necaxa had their chances to score themselves and had several chances on the night, but Chris Brady would repeatedly deny them and the crossbar would deny Lorenzo Faravelli in the 55th minute.

In the 69th minute, Sergio Oregel Jr. made a run into the attack and laid the ball off to Anton Saletros who then sent a dime of a pass to Gutman making a run into the box and beat Luis Jimenez near post to double the Fire’s advantage. That’s how it would end as Chris Brady finished with six saves in the clean sheet.

Fire head coach Gregg Berhalter was pleased with how the team kept up the energy against Necaxa and ultimately wore them down.

I thought it was a good team performance, ” said Berhalter. “and when I say that, I mean not only the guys who started the game, but guys who came in. I thought the solutions made a big impact. Just thinking about if you have to play against us and you have those guys who come in the game, it’s pretty scary because the first line did a great job. And then you bring in [more]and quality doesn’t drop at all. So that was important, but we talked about what the game was going to look like. It was going to be a physical game. It was going to be high-intensity, and I liked how we dealt with their buildup. And then I liked what we brought to the game. I like the energy. I like the ball movement. So overall, it’s a good start. But now the key is, ‘how do we recover and get ready for Santos
[Laguna] on Sunday?’”

The Fire’s depth has also been noteworthy given the how the substitutes helped close the game by denying Necaxa a way back into the match.

“It just shows the quality that we have. I think top to bottom we have a really good squad,” said Fire defender Andrew Gutman. “Training every day is pretty competitive. And for guys that aren’t normal starters to come in and put on a performance like that, it just shows that any day someone can step up and help contribute.”

The Fire next play on Sunday at SeatGeek Stadium to take on Santos Laguna (7pm CT, Apple TV), while Necaxa will look to rebound against Philadelphia Union on Sunday at Subaru Park (6:30pm CT, Apple TV).

Photos by Leslie Smith

SCORING SUMMARY:
CHI-Jonathan Dean (unassisted) 31
CHI-Andrew Gutman (Saletros) 69

BOOKING SUMMARY:
NCX-Raul Martinez (caution, deliberate handball) 23
NCX-Danny Leyva (caution, reckless tackle) 61
NCX-Mauro Zaleta (caution, dissent) 61

CHICAGO FIRE (4-3-3): #1-Chris Brady; #15-Andrew Gutman, #3-Jack Elliott, #5-Sam Rogers, #24-Jonathan Dean; #35-Sergio Oregel Jr. (#29-David Poreba 90), #42-Dje D’Avilla, #6-Anton Saletros (#22-Mauricio Pineda 82); #11-Philip Zinckernagel (#19-Jonathan Bamba 64), #9-Robert Lewandowski (#17-Robin Lod 64), #12-Puso Dithejane (#7-Maren Haile-Selassie 82)

Subs not used: #44-Josh Cohen, #25-Jeff Gal, #29-David Poreba, #38-Christopher Cupps, #20-Jason Shokalook, #2-Leonardo Barroso, #37-Robert Turdean, #14-Viktor Radojevic

NECAXA (4-3-3): #12-Luis Jimenez; #3-Augustin Oliveros, #33-Raul Martinez, #5-Naves, #99-Miguel Rodriguez (#13-Owen Gonzalez 46); #6-Danny Leyva (#16-Pedro Reyna 88), #14-Mauro Zaleta, #8-Lorenzo Faravelli (#17-Rogerlio Cortez 68); #10-Javier Ruiz (#90-Juan Valencia 88), #9-Julian Carranza, #11-Juan Torres (#21-Matias Espindola 77)

Subs not used: #1-Christopher Andrade, #181-Javier Orantes, #2-Emilio Martinez, #4-Alexis Pena, #20-Francisco Mendez, #88-Carlos Vargas

EXPECTED GOALS: CHI 2.4-1.8 NCX
TOTAL SHOTS: CHI 20-15 NCX
SHOTS ON GOAL: CHI 8-6 NCX
FOULS: CHI 13-10 NCX
OFFSIDES: CHI 2-0 NCX
CORNER KICKS: CHI 6-3 NCX
SAVES: CHI 6-6 NEC

Referee: Rosendo Mendoza
Assistant Referees: Ryan Graves, Ibrahim Martinez Chavarria
Fourth Official: Carly Shaw-MacLaren
VAR: Michael Radchuk
AVAR: Jose Carlos Rivero
Weather: Mostly Sunny and 79º
Attendance: 9,005
Man of the Match: Andrew Gutman (CHI)