Recap: New York Suffers 2-1 Defeat to Fire FC

photo by Matt Kremkau

Luka Stojanovic scores two early goals, done six minutes apart to give the visiting New York Red Bulls their sixth straight defeat away from Red Bull Arena, losing to the Chicago Fire, 2-1. 

The Fire who were looking to end their winless streak in five matches did so emphatically in the second minute with Chinoso Offor received a pass on the top of the eighteen yard box and laid the ball off for Lucas Stojanovic, who then blasted a bullet past the hapless and apparently shocked New York Bulls defenders to take a 1-0 lead.

The Red Bulls were recovering from that goal when just two minutes later, Stonjanovic struck again, this time off from set-piece as Carlos Teran delivered a long throw-in into the center of the box, Kyle Duncan headed the ball away, but it went right over to Stonjanovic who volleyed it in to double the lead for the home side, 2-0.

Earlier in the week, coach Struber talked about his team "getting close" despite the results not being where some will say where it's supposed to be. And with the struggles being clearly apparent and his side getting burned twice very early in the match, he was forced to make a tactical change where he substituted Cristian Casseres for Andrew Gutman in the 18th minute.

Chicago nearly put the match away in the 59th minute as Fabian Herbers chip shot just missed the net by inches, as his shot kissed the crossbar, much to New York goalkeeper Carlos Coronel's relief. 

With Chicago firmly in control as the match moved briskly along, and New York left searching for answers, the team struggling to string passes together to mount any attack until late in the second half to make the match more respectful to get back into the match, but that didn't happen until deep into stoppage time when Tom Barlow sized upon a chance from a rebound off goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth after not securing Tom Edwards' shot previously and scored his first goal of the season, where his family was in the stands to offer his support.

As frustrating losses go, this was one that the team will need to move on from as they head off to the north of the border to face off against Foot de Montreal on Saturday. 

Starting XI:

Chicago Fire FC: Bobby Shuttleworth, Boris Sekulic, Jonathan Bornstein, Francisco Calvo, Mauricio Pineda, Carlos Teran (Wyatt Omsberg 67’), Luka Stojanovic, Fabian Herbers, Elliot Collier (Robert Beric 57’), Gaston Gimenez, Chinonso Offor

New York Red Bulls: Carlos Coronel, John Tolkin, Amro Tarek, Tom Edwards, Kyle Duncan, Sean Davis, Cristian Cásseres, Jr. (Andrew Gutman 19’), Caden Clark (Tom Barlow 74’), Wiki Carmona (Omir Fernandez 55’), Fábio, Patryk Klimala

Scoring Summary:

2' (Chicago Fire FC) Luka Stojanovic, assisted by Chinonso Offor

8' (Chicago Fire FC) Luka Stojanovic, unassisted

90+7' (New York Red Bulls) Tom Barlow, assisted

Disciplinary Summary:

21' – (New York Red Bulls) Tom Edwards - Yellow card

39' – (New York Red Bulls) Sean Davis - Yellow card

69' – (New York Red Bulls) Amro Tarek - Yellow card

77' – (New York Red Bulls) Andrew Gutman - Yellow card

90+5' – (Chicago Fire FC) Chinonso Offor - Yellow card