CHICAGO – For the second straight year, the Chicago Fire are coming away from their home match against Inter Miami with a tie, but feeling like they should have won.
The game was played in front of an official number of 63,094 fans – a record for the Fire in MLS.
As expected, both headliners were in their respective starting lineups. Lionel Messi was the main focus in a star-studded lineup that also included the likes of Luis Suárez, Casemiro, and Rodrigo De Paul, while Robert Lewandowski led the Fire’s line.
After two early chances came close, Lewandowski got the Fire off to a dream start. 10 minutes in, an excellent Andrew Gutman cross found the boot of the legendary Polish forward, who executed a world-class finish to open the scoring. The goal was a deserved reward for the Fire’s fine start.
However, after taking the lead, the Fire’s approach out of possession immediately became less aggressive, and Miami became the half’s protagonists. With Messi getting far too much time on the ball, the visitors were allowed to advance repeatedly into the Fire’s half.
Chris Brady was called into action more times than Gregg Berhalter would have hoped. Messi recorded five shots in the first half, with Brady forced to make multiple exceptional stops to preserve the Fire’s lead into halftime.
However, even if the Fire could hold off Miami’s multi-faceted attack for the first half of the game, it wouldn’t last much longer than that. Messi won a corner in the 47th minute, and supplied the ball himself for Casemiro to head things level. It was Messi’s first goal involvement against the Fire, and came in his third attempt against Berhalter’s team.
Much like the Fire’s goal brought Miami into the game, Miami’s second half goal brought the Fire back into things. The introduction of Puso Dithejane gave an extra boost, entering on the left wing in the 56th minute.
Djé D'Avilla and Noah Allen in particular shone; Allen was making his Soldier Field debut and first Fire start, playing against the only other club he has called home in Miami.
Dithejane nearly produced a moment of magic for the Fire in the 77th minute, weaving inside from the left and bursting into Miami’s penalty box. However, Dayne St. Clair made a great save, denying the South African another marquee moment on the big stage.
In the end, although they only came away with a point, the Fire showed something in this game that is more important than the two dropped points; they demonstrated that they are toe-to-toe with the Eastern Conference's other top teams, and that their 3rd-place positioning is no fluke.
They'll get to double down on that argument when they face the New England Revolution on Sunday.
Starting XI (4-3-3) — Brady (9); Gutman (8), Allen (8.5), Elliott (7), Dean (6); Lod (6), D'Avilla (8.5), Salétros (6.5); Haile-Selassie (7), Lewandowski (8), Zinckernagel (7)
Substitutes – Dithejane (7), Oregel Jr. (7.5), Barroso (6.5), Pineda (NR)
