Rub Some Dirt On It: Chicago Fire 1, Montreal Impact 2, preseason game recap

Chicago Fire 1 McCarty 55’

Montreal Impact 2 Piatti 34’, Mancosu 42’

The Fire seem to have forgotten how to score.

This is a recurring problem in preseason, and it happens to a lot of teams. Preseason is, in part, about reminding yourself how to put the ball in the back of the neat. It’s also, in part, a time where you should be able to screw up and not have it held against you.

Which is good, because the Men In Red looked pretty dismal in their 2-1 loss to the Montreal Impact.

Dax McCarty bagged a goal early in the second half, and the team overall had long stretches of good movement and passing. But it couldn’t make up for the string of ill-disciplined defensive errors in the first half that led to Montreal’s two goals. It also couldn’t make up for the Fire being so decrepit in front of goal.

One can only hope that the Fire are indeed getting all their rust blasted now, before results start mattering. But there’s a growing sense among fans that this is the start of a pattern that could last long into the MLS campaign.

Don’t hit the panic button yet. But maybe look in your handbook and make sure you know where the button is. You know, for later reference.

Below are some quick-and-dirty notes taken during the game. We’ll post highlights (such as they are) as soon as they’re available.

• 4— Ok so I’m a little late to the party but it doesn’t look like I’ve missed much. Crowd looks sparse. Fire with a sequence of corners, all look threatening but nothing comes of it.
• 6— Anyway here’s the lineup: Sanchez; Ramos Kappelhof Lillard Vincent; McCarty Adams; Gatt Campos Bakero; Nikolic. Nice mix of noobs and vets.
• 15— Piatti gets a good look at goal but the shot goes wide.
• 18— I missed what happened but there was a foul and the referee had to talk to some players. No card, Dax gets a FK in the center circle.
• 20— Good movement from the Fire so far but our threat in the final third isn’t quite there yet.
• 25— Oh hey, Omar Castro is on the bench!
• 28— Fire are hitting a lot of long crosses from the flanks that end up flying out for goalkicks. Maybe they should, like, try another strategy. (Or not! This game doesn’t count anyway!)
• 29— lol Brandon Vincent nearly got himself a goal. Get paid, young man!
• 34— Aaaaaand Montreal’s up 1-0. Bad turnover by the Fire and L’Impact pounce on it.
• 42— That’s 2-0 to Montreal now. Mancosu off the rebound. Fire really floundering here.
• 44— Man, CF97 Twitter is grouchy right now. I mean, I get it, but let’s remember that this is preseason. Let’s wait until the games actually matter before we start staring into the Void.
• Halftime, Fire 0-2 Impact.
• HT Thoughts: I mean, whatever, this is just a workout. My main concern right now is that Grant Lillard is throwing himself into challenges and picking fights. I know he’s a Yout but my dude’s gotta get a little better about controlling his emotions. This isn’t college ball. MLS referees have long memories.
• Second half kickoff let’s gooooooooo
• 46— No changes at the half for the Fire. Montreal make many, many changes.
• 50— A little better from Chicago but there’s still room for improvement.
• 55— Oh hey, we scored! Dax with the header from a free kick! 2-1!
• 60— Line change for the Fire! Cleveland, Corrales, Campbell, Dean, Castro, Moreira, Ruiz, Collier.
• 71— Cleveland comes up big for the save. Donadel strikes from distance and through traffic, forcing Cleveland into a salmon leap to catch it.
• 75— Montreal focusing on possession now. I mean, I probably would too.
• 78— lol Cleveland out here doing his Simon Mignolet impersonation, keeping the ball at his feet in the six while a MTL attacker charges him. I really hope he doesn’t play that garbage once the results start to actually matter.
• Full-time! Fire 1-2 Impact.
• FT Thoughts: Honestly, the team looked fine. Those mistakes in the first half that led to Montreal’s pair of goals were unmistakably Bad, and in general the Fire need to be more precise on crosses and generally do more in the final third. But whatever, it’s preseason.