Montreal Impact 0, Chicago Fire 1: First Thoughts

Pregame Thought: Very exciting to see that Polster is back in the starting eleven— the Fire missed him dearly the last few weeks. Also happy to see that Sanchez has made the bench! Lampson still starts in goal, though.

1- Kickoff! Chicago sporting their grey away kits tonight.

4- We’re four minutes deep and both teams seem to still be in the locker room. Yawn!

7- Am I hearing chants for the Fire coming from the stands? Hats off to any traveling Fire fans in Montreal!

7- Game update: Yawn!

9- Doody plays a beautiful pass down the wing to Solignac. The Argentine cuts inside for the shot but it’s blocked.

10- Polster whips a ball into the box, it takes a deflection off a Montreal player and Bush is forced into a tough save. Corner coming for the Fire.

11- Juninho’s ball finds the head of Schweinsteiger, but the German heads the ball well over the goal.

14- Nikolic hasn’t scored in two months... just let that sink in. The Hungarian is still stuck on 16 goals for the season.

18- Mancosu flashes a strike towards goal. It takes a deflection off of Kappelhof and Montreal have their first corner of the game.

19- The corner is well worked, and results in Romero getting a free shot away. Lampson makes an easy save, catching the ball.

21- A neat bit of passing from the Impact leads to another chance for Mancosu! The striker made a great run to the near post but can only put it over the bar.

22- Mihailovic loses the ball and commits a rough foul 30 yards from goal. Let’s see what Piatti does with this one!

24- Montreal looking dangerous again! Doody does well to come across and clear the ball out for a corner.

26- Polster makes a beautiful run into the box, but Nikolic is unable to pick him out. The struggles for the Hungarian continue on all fronts.

27- Nikolic whips a teasing ball into the box, but no one was home at the back post to tuck it away.

28- Mihailovic is brought down around midfield. The young American is testing out his right ankle now.

30- Camara goes down in a heap after taking a bump from Schweinsteiger. Definitely some exaggeration from the big man there.

32- Basti is brought down by Bernier. Good use of the body by the World Cup winner there.

33- Basti is brought down again! This time to the left of Montreal’s technical area. Let’s see what the Fire can make of this set piece.

34- The turf monsters got the better of Donadel there. The Impact midfielder just face planted after losing his footing.

35- This is the Fire that I’m used to seeing. Holding onto the ball and teasing defenses. Chicago looks much better now.

38- Caution - Yellow Card - Juninho is the first person to go into the book tonight.

41- Doody heaves a throw into the box, and Nikolic nearly nods it passed Bush.

45- Halftime!

Halftime Thought: Mihailovic is lacking confidence tonight. He needs to just play. The youngster is taking an extra touch too often so far— that’s not going to pick apart this Montreal defense. Overall, though, I’m happy with what I’ve seen.

46- And we’re off! Hopefully the Fire can find a much needed goal here.

49- Basti is clipped and the German midfielder has stayed down. VAR is in use here to see if this is a red cardable offense!

52- Red Card! - Boldor’s night ends early after catching Schweinsteiger with his studs. VAR has been used for something useful in a Fire game at last!

54- This changes everything now! The Fire really need to grab a goal in the next few minutes here.

55- Montreal Substitution - Fisher replaces Beland-Goyette.

56- De Leeuw is brought down roughly near the Fire’s bench. The Dutchman is up quickly, though, and gets the play restarted.

58- Mihailovic lets one fly from around 25 yards out! But the youngster sends the shot into the stands.

59- Goal! - Chicago Fire - Schweinsteiger slots home a beautiful pass from Matt Polster to put the Fire up 1-0! They’ve come alive now! That’s the German’s third goal for the club, and second against Montreal.

60- Chance! Nikolic nearly doubles the lead off of a cross from De Leeuw! Just inches away from a second goal for Chicago.

63- Man, it’s nice to have Matt Polster back. He’s a stud, cc: Bruce Arena.

64- Montreal Substitution- Ballou replaces Romero.

68- Things are starting to slow down a little right now. The Fire seem content to just keep the ball.

69- Boos from the Montreal fans for Schweinsteiger can be heard from all over the stadium now. Not sure what they’re upset about... that challenge was studs up.

70- Caution! - Yellow Card - Donadel picks up a yellow for a rough tackle on Polster. This gives the Fire a dangerous free kick on the top of the box.

71- The free kick amounts to nothing. Not quite sure what the call was, but the play was blown dead as soon as the service came in.

76- The Fire seem to be doing that thing where they forget they have an extra man on the field again...

77- Oh no... Schweinsteiger just signaled for a sub. He’s rubbing his thigh, this isn’t good.

77- Montreal Substitution - Bernadello replaces Donadel.

78- Piatti seems to have caught Polster in the face there. The Argentine could be in trouble here.

79- Chicago Substitution - Drew Conner replaces Bastian Schweinsteiger.

80- Piatti hits the post! The Argentine made something out of nothing there... Chicago is lucky things aren’t level.

85- Campbell with a careless giveaway there. If the Fire want three points tonight, they can’t do that.

86- Doody is down on the ground now. The left back seems to be cramping.

89- Kappelhof and Campbell do well to clear the ball one play after the other. Piatti then goes down in the box but the referee is having none of it.

89- Chicago Substitution - Brandon Vincent replaces Patrick Doody.

90- Good to see Vincent getting a cameo tonight!

90- Chicago Substitution - Arturo Alvarez replaces Djordje Mihailovic.

90+1- The fourth official has signaled that there will be five additional minutes of time in this game.

90+1- Bush and Fisher combine to keep Alvarez’s strike out of the back of the net. Bush got a finger to it and Fisher cleared it off the line! Corner from the Fire coming here.

90+2- Caution! - Yellow Card - De Leeuw picks up a fishy yellow card late on.

90+3- Piatti goes down in the box again! The Argentine is really working the referee here.

90+5- Piatti gets a strike away and Lampson makes a great save! That should do it for the Fire!

90+5- There’s the whistle!

Final Whistle Thought: Wow. This feels good. The relief of getting these three points is huge. Let’s hope the Fire have a strong September!