Chicago Fire Frustrate Red Bulls at Home

Stoppage Time Fireworks

A Red Bull defender Andres Reyes was sent off for violent conduct. In the box for a corner kick, Fire defender Tobias Salquist went down injured. Head referee Sergii Boiko at first issued Reyes a yellow card. But while Salquist was assessed by trainers, the offense was reviewed by VAR. Boiko returned from the screen to issue the red. Manager, Sandro Schwarz, followed up with a tactical exchange, bringing in Sean Nealis to shore up the defense. This meant pulling Vanzeir much earlier than he would have wanted. At first, Dante left for the locker room as well, and him being upset at being subbed off was obvious. Following the match, Schwarz acknowledged the frustration: “Everyone knows it was a tactical situation… It’s normal emotion and everything is good.” While some might see conflict, Schwarz reiterated the depth of emotion that soccer brings.

Stifled and Stressed

The pace of the second half noticeably slowed. Captain Emil Forsberg made way for Brazilian striker Elias Manoel. Team lead scorer Lewis Morgan was kept on nearly the entire match, likely in hopes of more magic. Late in the match, defender Peter Stroud suffered an injury that forced him off the pitch. There is no official word yet from the club regarding his prognosis.  Schwarz praised the squad for being able to hold off the Fire, despite being one player short: “The second half was [a] great performance, tactically.” Coronel also cheered the clean sheet: “I think we won a point, it is important to add. We played fifty minutes with one less player. And how we played, how we behaved is an example of the strength we have, of the mentality we have.” Fans have expressed their renewed excitement about the Red Bulls, and this draw did little to dampen their spirits.

The Red Bulls travel to Los Angeles this week for a west coast matchup with LAFC. Kickoff will be at 10:30pm Eastern on MLS Season Pass from AppleTV.