Chicago Fire vs. Toronto FC | MLS Match Preview

CHICAGO FIRE vs TORONTO FC
TOYOTA PARK, Bridgeview, Ill.
Sept. 13, 2014 (WEEK 27, MLS Game #259)
7:30 p.m. CT (My50 Chi; SNet One)

A pair of clubs looking to pull themselves back above the red line meet when the Chicago Fire play host to Toronto FC on Saturday evening at Toyota Park. The Fire return home off of a 2-1 loss at the New England Revolution that left them seven points out of fifth place and the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Toronto FC are three points behind that final placing after suffering their third consecutive loss and second in a row to Philadelphia Union, 2-0 at BMO Field last Saturday afternoon.

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REFEREE: David Gantar. AR1 (bench): Anthony Vasoli; AR2 (opposite): Jason White; 4th: Kevin Terry Jr.
MLS Career: 33 games; FC/gm: 25.7; Y/gm: 2.7; R: 11; pens: 5

SUSPENDED: TOR: Ashtone Morgan (through Sept. 13); Doneil Henry (caution accumulation; through Sept. 13)
WARNINGS:
SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: CHI: Lovel Palmer, Bakary Soumare, Gonzalo Segares … TOR: Michael Bradley
SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: CHI: Mike Magee, Chris Ritter, Patrick Ianni, Matt Watson … TOR: Steven Caldwell, Jackson, Justin Morrow, Dominic Oduro, Warren Creavalle, Collen Warner, Gilberto
DISABLED LIST: none
INTERNATIONAL ABSENCES: none

HEAD-TO-HEAD
ALL-TIME (18 meetings): Fire 8 wins, 30 goals … Toronto FC 3 wins, 24 goals … Ties 7
AT CHICAGO (8 meetings): Fire 4 wins, 11 goals … Toronto FC 0 wins, 6 goals … Ties 4

2014 (MLS):
7/2: CHI 1, TOR 1 (Shipp 57 – Jackson 42)
8/23: TOR 2, CHI 2 (own goal 3; Gilberto 79 – Earnshaw 70; Amarikwa 90)

• The teams are meeting for the third time this season. Quincy Amarikwa scored a late goal to haul the Fire back into a 2-2 draw Aug. 23 at BMO Field; TFC’s Jackson and the Fire’s Harry Shipp traded goals on either side of halftime to leave the teams in a 1-1 draw, July 2 at Toyota Park.
• TFC has not defeated Chicago since a 4-1 win May 8, 2010, a span of 10 games without a victory in the series. Toronto FC have never won at Toyota Park.
• The Fire have taken points from their last four trips to BMO Field, with two wins and three draws, dating back to the 2011 season.
• Coaches record: Greg Vanney vs. CHI: first game … Frank Yallop vs. TOR: P14 W5 L2 T7

LAST MEETING (MLS)

• Toronto FC were ahead after just three minutes of play. Fullback Justin Morrow burst down the left wing and put in a cross which bounced off Chicago center back Bakary Soumare and left goalkeeper Sean Johnson stranded as the ball settled in the back of the net.
• The Fire were level in the 69th minute as Robert Earnshaw netted the equalizer against his former club, heading home Grant Ward's cross past goalkeeper Joe Bendik.
• TFC again nosed in front with with 10 minutes to go when substitute Luke Moore sprung Gilberto clear on goal from midfield with a curling through ball. Gilberto rounded Johnson with a cheeky touch and slotted home coolly from the heart of the box.
• But there was one final answer for the Fire. Lovel Palmer worked free on the right flank and put in a cross which Quincy Amarikwa struck with a sweet volley to give his side another equalizer.
• TORONTO FC (4-4-2): Joseph Bendik - Mark Bloom, Nick Hagglund, Steven Caldwell (Doneil Henry 22), Justin Morrow (Jackson 58) - Dominic Oduro, Collen Warner, Michael Bradley, Jonathan Osorio - Gilberto, Jermain Defoe (Luke Moore 77).
• CHICAGO FIRE (4-4-1-1): Sean Johnson - Lovel Palmer, Bakary Soumare, Jeff Larentowicz, Gonzalo Segares - Sanna Nyassi (Robert Earnshaw 65), Razvan Cocis, Matt Watson, Alex - Harry Shipp (Grant Ward 58) - Quincy Amarikwa.

CHICAGO FIRE
The Chicago Fire saw their brief two-game undefeated run come to an end, falling 2-1 to the New England Revolution on Saturday evening at Gillette Stadium. The Fire are in ninth place in the Eastern Conference with 29 points from 26 games.

LAST MATCH

• The Fire took the lead in the 28th minute. Quincy Amarikwa tracked down a through ball on the left, then sent a cross into the area where Sanna Nyassi headed home inside the far post.
• But just before halftime, the Revolution pulled level. Jose Goncalves saved a corner from going out of bounds, then fed Lee Nguyen in the right side of the area. Nguyen then turned provider, chipping a lofted ball to a wide open Diego Fagundez at the back post for a headed finish.
• The game-winner came on the hour. After collecting a pass in the Revs end, Jermaine Jones quickly turned and sprinted up field before splitting defenders with a through ball to Charlie Davies. The substitute broke the offside trap and sprinted into the box, slotting a low shot just under the dive of Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson.
• Fire head coach Frank Yallop made no changes to the team that got the game’s only goal for a victory against FC Dallas at Toyota Park.
• CHICAGO FIRE (4-4-2): Sean Johnson - Lovel Palmer, Bakary Soumare, Jeff Larentowicz, Gonzalo Segares - Grant Ward (Patrick Nyarko 75), Matt Watson, Razvan Cocis, Alex (Matthew Fondy 65) - Sanna Nyassi (Harry Shipp 75), Quincy Amarikwa.

TEAM NEWS

• The visit by Toronto FC starts a crucial two-game homestand for the Fire, who are undefeated in their last six home games and have won the last two. They are winless in their last four road matches.
• “The frustrating part of it now, we’re not complete, we don’t play the complete 90 minutes quite yet,” Fire head coach Frank Yallop said. “We did OK last week against Dallas, but this is another week and we’ve got to do it consistently well every time we play and we’re not quite there yet. It’s real frustrating, but I will say that the guys gave me everything they had, they try hard, just tactically we were a little naïve.”
• Sanna Nyassi scored his first goal for the Fire since his arrival via trade from the Montréal Impact. Nyassi was starting his third consecutive match, his second in the strike partnership with Quincy Amarikwa.
• “It feels good [to have scored], but we've still got to finish all our chances that we create,” Nyassi said. “It would have been 2-2 if I would have scored all the chances that hit the post, so we have to be clinical up front.”
• Amarikwa collected his fourth assist of the season, his first since June 7 when he had a pair in the loss to Seattle. Amarikwa has a goal and an assist in the last three games.
• For a third consecutive game, Jeff Larentowiczm slotted back into central defense alongside Bakary Soumare, with Matt Watson and Razvan Cocis forming the central midfield partnership. The Revolution loss came after a win and a draw.
• “It was the same system we played the last few games. I thought it worked well in Toronto and at home in Dallas,” Cocis said. “I think we have to take the positives from the first half and keep building on that. If we fix the problems that we saw in the second half and stick to our game plan, I think we can be really effective in this formation.”
• The Fire’s playoff ambitions were dealt a blow when it was announced Mike Magee, the MLS MVP in 2013, will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing hip surgery. Magee has seven goals this season.
• “It’s unfortunate that Mike will be out for an extended period, but he’s been struggling this season with the injuries,” said Yallop. “After consulting with our medical staff, we decided that this was the best time for Mike to have the procedure.”
• The Fire did sign French international striker Florent Sinama-Pongolle, last with Russian club FC Rostov.
• “Florent is a quality player with experience playing in some of the top leagues in Europe,” Yallop said. “Since he’s been training with us for the past few weeks, we’ve been able to see first-hand the attributes he has. I’m pleased that we were able to add him to the squad as we enter the final stretch of the regular season.”

TORONTO FC
Toronto FC had their winless streak stretched to five games with a second consecutive shutout loss to Philadelphia Union, this time a 2-0 scoreline on Saturday afternoon at BMO Field. TFC sit in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, with 33 points from 26 matches.

LAST MATCH

• Union had the lead after just eight minutes. After TFC failed to clear their lines on two separate occasions, the ball fell kindly to the foot of Philadelphia's Sheanon Williams out wide on the right. He swung the ball into the box where Conor Casey headed it past goalkeeper Joe Bendik for the opener.
• Just one minute before the halftime whistle, the visitors doubled the lead. The ball bounced off the head of three different Union forwards before finally being directed at goal by Andrew Wenger, who beat Bendik again with a free header in the box for the final margin of victory.
• Union goalkeeper Zac MacMath was credited with three saves for the clean sheet, his cause certainly helped by three shots that came back off the woodwork the second half.
• TFC head coach Greg Vanney made three changes to the team that suffered a 1-0 loss to Philadelphia Union at PPL Park. Bradley Orr came in for the suspended Ashtone Morgan, and Dwayne De Rosario and Gilberto started in place of Daniel Lovitz and Jonathan Osorio.
• TORONTO FC (4-4-2): Joseph Bendik - Nick Hagglund (Warren Creavalle 78), Doneil Henry, Bradley Orr, Mark Bloom - Dominic Oduro, Collen Warner (Kyle Bekker 44), Michael Bradley, Dwayne De Rosario (Jackson 70) - Gilberto, Luke Moore.

TEAM NEWS

• It was a second loss in as many matches under new head coach Greg Vanney, both by shutout. TFC saw their losing streak overall hit three games and their winless streak reach five games, the club’s longest this season.
• “We have more, and we have to be better,” Vanney said. “It wasn’t good enough. We have eight matches left and a full week of training and I think it’s important that we take a good, hard look and figure out what is the identity of this team."
• Toronto FC have not scored a goal in 281 minutes, following the three consecutive shutouts. They had three attacking shutouts total in their first 23 league games.
• “Any time we looked to get on the break, it was maybe one pass forward followed by a back pass and another back pass and we were unable to get out in the open,” Vanney said. “We played like we were a little bit underwater, maybe fatigued from the third game in seven days, but that’s no excuse. Then the ball needs to move faster. We don’t need to necessarily run more.”
• With Ashtone Morgan suspended after being sent off at midweek, Bradley Orr came into central defense and Nick Hagglund moved from the center to right back. Mark Bloom shifted to the left side of the back four.
• “For me, it’s anything that’s in and around the box we need to be more personal, locked in on guys,” Vanney said. “I know, in the past, these guys have worked on taking zones, but I’m not a fan of zones. I’m a fan of being up in the guy’s space and you fight for the ball. The worst case scenario, if you don’t fight, you’re knocking him off balance and [Casey] doesn’t get a clean header.”
• Dwayne De Rosario made his first league start since April 12, coming into a wide midfield role and playing 70 minutes. He had played 10 minutes in one substitute role over the previous seven matches.
• After playing just 45 minutes in Vanney’s first game in charge, Gilberto came back into the strike partnership and played the full 90 minutes alongside Luke Moore.
• “In this game, if you do all the little things well, you give yourself a chance to win,” Vanney said. “Right now, we’re not doing the little things well; sometimes we’re trying more complicated things but we don’t need to do that right now. We need to go back to basics and build some confidence and unity from that.”
• Said Michael Bradley: “We are all frustrated. We all tried to take a good hard look at ourselves in the mirror and now talk about things in a collective way but still challenge each guy to look at himself and find a way to take what he does and do a little bit more a little bit better. If every guy is able to do that it can start to add up in a really positive way.”