Game 16: Sun Burn and a Draw. Really my face hurts for that?

Sun burnt and annoyed with another draw.

Quick and Dirty Recap:

New York strikes first in the 40th minute with Joel Lindpere scoring after Yamith Cuesta hit his clearance into Lindpere allowing the Estonian to get the ball and put it past Johnson. From my viewpoint it looked like Cuesta's clearance hit Lindpere's hand which allowed the goal to be scored. The replay indicates that if it did happen Lindpere's hand was tucked against his body. A contributing factor to this goal was a lazy clearance from Husidic earlier in the sequence. He could have booted it long and relieved pressure but instead his pass went right to a Red Bull's player that allowed the possession to continue.

Chicago equalizes in the 58th minute off a Marco Pappa left footed blast that bounced over the outstretched hands of keeper Bouna Condoul. Pappa's 5th goal of the season. Pappa found himself in space clear of defenders and was able to hit this almost like a free kick. Not his most spectacular effort but it did what was needed.

The Fire continued to control the second half and had a few more chances on goal that Condoul made terrific saves on. Diego Chaves was again denied by the keeper in his search for his 5th goal of the season. Condoul was excellent down the stretch in this game. Even with that this game was there for the taking and the Fire flubbed a great opportunity.

Cards:
Yellow
Chicago
CHI -- Yamith Cuesta (caution; Reckless Tackle) 14th minute
CHI -- Daniel Paladini (caution; Persistent Infringement) 37 minute (Suspended: yellow card accumulation)
CHI -- Patrick Nyarko (caution; Simulation) 49 minute

New York
NY -- Teemu Tainio (caution; Tactical Foul) 91+

Referee: Kevin Stott. Stott is a below average MLS referee and he had another below average performance. His yellow on Nyarko for simulation was a bad call. He also allowed a lot of physical play through the midfield as Nyarko dealt with a lot of physicality in the second half.

The Good:

Sean Johnson: Another above average performance from Johnson. He made some key saves early in the first half and patrolled his box well. He is rapidly becoming an automatic selection for this spot.

Cory Gibbs: Another excellent performance from the veteran defender. He showed some speed today as he beat Dane Richards to a few balls. Was solid on tackles and was again the veteran general at the back that this team lacked last season. A very important player and I hope his run of health continues.

Patrick Nyarko: An excellent workman effort from Patrick today. He really worked hard up and down the left hand side of the field offensively and defensively. He created some excellent chances for the team to score. He also did attempt a shot from outside the box that, while not on frame, was struck well. One of Nyarko's big issues has been that he hasn't been a good striker of the ball while shooting. Since his return from his most recent bout with concussions his striking of the ball has drastically improved. This can only improve his game. If he can start putting a few of those shots on frame he will become a very dangerous player.

Marco Pappa: Scored the goal and looked feisty offensively. His defense continues to be an issue but New York was unable to exploit it today as the coaching staff smartly kept him on the right side of the field away from Dane Richards. Tired as the game went on but that is to be expected. It will be interesting to see how many minutes he plays in Rochester on Tuesday.

The Bad:

Baggio Husidic: Baggio's lack of pace continues to be a glaring weakness in central midfield. He is unable to track down balls you would expect all of the other defensive midfielders on the Fire to get to (yes even Mike Videira). While he did have a nice sequence in the offensive third in the first half he is not doing enough on that end to continue to warrant starting. Baggio has not improved at all in his time with the Fire. He continues to disappear for long stretches of the game and tires rather easily. I could live with the lack of pace if he improved in other areas most notably his work rate. Since he lacks the pace of an MLS midfielder one would think he would at least work tirelessly to get open and impact the game in the ways that he can. Instead he seems content with where he is at as a player. Unfortunately where he is at isn't good enough.

Orr Barouch: This may be a bit harsh on Orr but he is here simply for not burying the open header in the first half that would have completely changed the game. He didn't even put his shot on frame which is inexcusable from where he was and the type of service he received from Nyarko. Appeared to tire before being subbed off.

Yamith Cuesta: This is overly harsh to put him here but his poor clearance led directly to the goal for New York. I thought he played well otherwise.

Dominic Oduro: Dominic is not a striker. His best position is on the right wing terrorizing wingers with his pace. His lack of instincts at front was apparent today as he was pretty much a non factor as a striker. He did have a couple of shots that sailed over goal and he was at the back post off a corner that he almost tipped in but otherwise he did not impact the game much from the run of play. I understand the Fire have a game on Tuesday night and that a US Open Cup run is arguably more important than league results right now but I still would have rather seen Chaves, Ferrari or even Marco get the nod at striker to allow Oduro to continue to play on the wing.

The Coaching:

Was not overly pleased with this starting lineup. Marco playing on the right hand side was an issue throughout the afternoon as the midfield, in particular Paladini, was used to having either Nyarko or Oduro bombing forward from that spot and he kept launching long balls in that direction. This is not part of Pappa's game and was a bit of an issue throughout the afternoon. At this point Pappa might be more suited to a bench role until Oduro plays himself out of a starting role.
Frank continues to trot out Husidic over Bone and it is an issue. Corben has pace and is at the minimum a much better defensive player than Husidic. Husidic's contributions offensively are not great enough to keep Bone off the field and you could argue that Bone has had more of an offensive impact this season anyways. We will see if Klopas continues to start Husidic over Bone.
I had no issues with the subs. I would have liked to have seen Bone on at half for Husidic but that wasn't going to happen.

Overall:

This was an unacceptable result. The Fire have to start winning at home. If you don't defend your home turf in MLS you aren't good enough to make the play offs. It is as simple as that.

I should be back with one of these after the Rochester game as it there is supposed to be a video stream of the game.