A ten man Chicago Fire were able to keep a 1-0 lead over Toronto FC in the first match of the Carolina Challenge Cup. The match featured a goal from Marco Pappa and a rare red card for captain Logan Pause.
Chicago Fire player ratings after the break...
Sean Johnson – 5 - caught out at times, looked a little lost in the box, mistimed a couple punches on corner kicks, looked suspect in the air, alert enough for a single test on a shot from a long way out
Cory Gibbs – 6 - whiffed an early clearance that could have proved deadly, missed a clear chance on goal from a corner, otherwise strong on defense, took over as captain after Pause was sent off
Josip Mikulic – 7 - strong in the center, good in the air, kept the defense tight, big role in the shutout
Gonzalo Segares – 6 - average performance for Sega who came on as a substitute, mostly a quiet night
Jalil Anibaba – 6 - quiet tonight but stayed tight enough helping the shorthanded Fire to a shutout and keeping a struggling Sean Johnson from seeing too much of the ball
Logan Pause – 5 - straight red early in the match for a two-footed tackle from behind
Davis Paul – 7 - great assist, connected well with Pappa all night, good runs and passing
Marco Pappa – 7 - third preseason goal after a good feed from draft pick Paul, looked comfortable in the middle, drew a lot of fouls
Baggio Husidic – 6 - some forced passes from the midfield, no huge mistakes, no inspired creativity
Corben Bone – 5 - pass behind Ristic on a break, seemed to slow down the attack, poor passes in general
Bratislav Ristic – 7 - played well on the right getting box-to-box, great defensive effort, able to get around defenders at the other end
Marko Maric – N/A - hardly any time on the pitch, seemed to fill in nicely enough as DM for Pause but was brought off soon after due to a possible light injury
Patrick Nyarko – 6 - not enough time on the pitch but threatened with his speed, consistent with previous efforts
Gaston Puerari – 6 - played with a lot of energy, started the run-up to the team's only goal, nearly set up several other opportunities, had to come off the pitch early in favor of a defensive shift with only 10 men
Diego Chavez – 6 - missed chances, dangerous and threatening but failing to finish or test the keeper, looked the best attacking option, his size proved an issue to the Toronto defense
Gabriel Ferrari – 5 - tried to do too much in the right corner giving the ball away, otherwise couldn’t get much possession, late substitution for Diego Chavez
Man of the Match - Marco Pappa
Flop of the Match - Logan Pause