Chicago’s Strategy
Frank Klopas’ side has been significantly upgraded in midfield upon signing the defensive minded Pavel Pardo and the attacking playmaker Sebastian Grazzini. These two players are very comfortable on the ball, possess a wide passing range and have the technical ability to play with a man on their back.
Moreover, the dynamic partnership of Patrick Nyarko and Dominic Oduro up top troubled DC’s defense all night. In possession, the two strikers looked to find space in the channels which stretched DC’s center backs out wide. More dangerously, Chicago’s counter attack started with Nyarko as the outlet man who would find Oduro in behind United’s back four.
One problem with the Fire’s formation was the narrow attack. Logan Pause and Marco Pappa played out wide, but too often cut inside when Chicago had the ball. Additionally, Chicago’s fullbacks did not get forward leaving the Fire attack with no options out wide to try and spread the field or get in a cross. As a result, Chicago had plenty of possession in the final third but struggled to fashion chances since their narrow attack was easy for DC to deal with.
DC’s Strategy
Ben Olsen has slightly adjusted his tactics since DeRosario has arrived at the club. After first, DC set up in a 4-4-2 diamond with DeRo playing behind Wolff and Davies. On Thursday night, Olsen played DeRo at striker to pair with Charlie Davies. Stephen King was brought in to play midfield. King did not play as a playmaker but more of a box to box player slightly in front of the holding midfielder Clyde Simms. Andy Najar and Chris Pontius played on the flanks of midfield.
Fire Dominate First Hour, Pays off with lead
From the opening whistle, Chicago dominated the run of play. However, the home side, especially Dominic Oduro, did not take advantage of their chances. Oduro had his first chance nine minutes in when he was one v one with McDonald after a quick Chicago counter. He cut inside of the DC defender but his shot was straight at Hamid. Five minutes later off a DC giveaway, Grazzini played Oduro through on goal from the left side. His shot beat Hamid but clattered off the far post.
At the half hour mark, Bill Hamid was forced into a terrific save after a superb free kick from Marco Pappa. Except for his powerful shots, the Guatemalan was quiet on the night and failed to find space out wide to swing in crosses. Pappa is a free kick specialist, but Chicago has struggled when it comes to set pieces. The Fire have yet to score from a corner kick, which is unlike most MLS teams who rely on set pieces for goal scoring opportunities.
DC was lucky to be even at the intermission. They registered zero first half shots and their best chance came in the 42nd minute. However, DeRo’s shot was expertly saved by Sean Johnson and he was already ruled offside. Kitchen and Davies did well on that particular buildup for United’s lone first half chance. Other than that, DC looked shocking going forward. The away side lacked movement and seemed to be playing as individuals rather than as a unit. Each player was looking for his own opportunity to take someone on one v one. The lack of movement resulted in an inability for DC to string a pass together in Chicago’s final third.
Also, King was not the answer as a creative midfielder. He only had a handful of successful passes that were going forward; instead he often played the ball back to a defender. This particularly frustrated Charlie Davies, who at several times could be seen throwing his arms up in the air at the lack of service he received. Further complicating the match for DC, Bill Hamid pulled his right hamstring taking a free kick at the end of the first half resulting in Cronin playing the second half in goal.
The Fire finally broke through in the 59th minute. Nyarko beat Jakovic down the left side and sent in a cross. The effort was poorly headed away by Woolard and dropped perfectly to Grazzini who smashed the volley off of Cronin and into the net.
Davies was replaced by Wolff at the hour mark and was frustrated all night due to the lack of service he received.
DC Equalize
Chicago has been known for surrendering leads and the home side did just that in the 73rd minute. DC swung a ball in that was deflected to Wolff inside the box. He played the ball to Quaranta whose first touch since coming on for King was sent straight back to Wolff. The veteran striker and former Fire player had space to shoot and he smacked the ball off the underside of the crossbar and into the back of the net. It is worth noting that Wolff appeared to be offside, but regardless, Cuesta temporarily switched off and was caught out of position instead of marking Wolff.
The final fifteen minutes played out with each team searching for the winner. However, neither side was able to create a good scoring chance or even test the keeper. Thus, the match finished at a goal apiece.
Conclusions
Chicago has now set an MLS record with their 15th draw of the season. Worse than that, the Fire has only collected 11 out of a possible 33 points at home carrying a 1-2-8 record. Chicago now sits at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and look like a long shot for the playoffs. However, with the additions of Pardo and Grazzini, the Fire could become an attacking force if Oduro can improve his finishing. Nyarko and Oduro have formed a cohesive partnership but creating chances must soon turn into scoring goals.
For DC’s attack to be successful, they must adjust their starting XI. One option would be shifting DeRo back into midfield, but his scoring ability would be lost. Another option would be to start Quaranta instead of King and play with one of Najar, Pontius or Quaranta in the central midfield role. A third option would be to push Kitchen up into midfield (where he played a lot for Akron) to pair with Simms in midfield to try and distribute the ball from deep. One of these solutions needs to at least be tested because the status quo (last night’s starting XI) will not bring MLS Cup back to the nation’s capital.
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