Adam Buksa scored his first goal for his new club but Jonathan Bornstein headed home the leveler in the second half, forcing the New England Revolution and Chicago Fire FC to split the points in a 1-1 draw at Gillette Stadium.
Buksa scored the opener in the 28th minute, beating Francisco Calvo to a ball sent into the penalty box by Brandon Bye and slotting home the finish past Chicago goalkeeper Kenneth Kronholm to the far post to put the hosts on top.
Chicago nearly found the equalizer just three minutes after the restart off a rocket shot from Fabian Herbers that looked bound for goal, but New England goalkeeper Brad Knighton sprawled to make the save and the Revs would keep the 1-0 advantage into the halftime break.
The Revs were on the front foot hunting for a second for much of the second half, but Bornstein found Chicago's equalizer against the run of the play in the 70th minute, snapping home a headed finish past Knighton off a pinpoint cross from Djordje Mihailovic.
The match opened up after that, with both sides notching a flurry of chances, but both goalkeepers managed some stellar saves. Substitute Justin Rennicks had a golden look at the winner for the Revs at the death, but he watched his point-blank shot sail off target just before the final whistle.
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Three Things
- THE BIG PICTURE: It's a good road point for Chicago, who are starting off the season with a difficult stretch of three straight away games, and were coming off a deflating last-second loss in the first one to the Seattle Sounders. For the Revs, it's a bit of a letdown to drop a couple points at home, especially given the chances they had to put to the match away in the second half that they couldn't quite finish. However, Bruce Arena will certainly be happy to see Buksa find the scoresheet as the Polish striker continues to adapt to MLS.
- MOMENT OF THE MATCH: Chicago were absorbing tons of pressure in the second half up until Bornstein's goal, which seemed to give the Fire new life and wound up salvaging them a point.
- MAN OF THE MATCH: Both goalkeepers have a good case for their exploits in the second half, but since there can't be two, we'll go with Przemyslaw Frankowski, who put in an electric all-around performance for Chicago and gave New England's back line fits for much of the game.
Next Up
- NE: Sunday, March 15 vs. Portland Timbers (5:30 pm ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US, MLS LIVE on DAZN in Canada)
- CHI: Saturday, March 14 at Orlando City SC (7:30 pm ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US, MLS LIVE on DAZN in Canada)
