It’s extremely unlikely they’ll get there. They’re 6 points back of the Crew, who have the final playoff spot. The ball ended up on the foot of Jhon Duran who beat all the defenders and the goalkeeper from midfield to put the Fire up 3-1 and basically end the game. An aggressive step by Miguel Navarro had the Fire off on a counter-attack. Gonzalo Higuain sent Gaga Slonina the wrong way and all of a sudden, Inter were back in the game.īut the Fire would put it to bed in the 86th. Fede Navarro ran into the back of Alejandro Pozuelo who went down and the referee pointed to the spot. The ball found its way to Xherdan Shaqiri who put in a finish worthy of a designated player on the half volley.
He nutmegged his defender with a pass to Mauricio Pineda, who put in a cross at the endline. Brian Gutierrez found himself on the right side one on one. They were rewarded with a second goal in the 63rd. The Fire would continue with business as usual in the second half- continuing to dominate Inter all over the park, despite a small bit of possession for The Herons. Boris would send a cross in that was deflected slightly, but all the deflection did was give the ball more hangtime so Jhon Duran could get his head to it and bury it into the top corner to send the Fire down the tunnel with the halftime lead. Guti would feed an overlapping Boris Sekulic. While Chris Mueller and Xherdan Shaquri occupied the same space in the center circle, they did not get in each other’s way as Shaq took a slightly errant touch off of Mueller’s foot and found Brian Gutierrez in space. The Breakthrough came in the 40th minute. Boris Sekulic had a shot from a tight angle deflect off the crossbar and back out, and there were a few good chances from outside the box as well. That advantage alongside some strong movement would lead to a bunch of chances in the first half.
The Fire started strong, having the ball for 60 percent of the time in the first half. Surely if they came out with this energy and verve, they could have taken more than two points on the road against New England and Columbus. It’s also a reminder of the missed opportunities from the last week. It was a reminder that this team is capable of playing some truly wonderful football. Their 3-1 win over Inter Miami at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview kept the lights on for the moment on their playoff hopes. A gentleman brings out an old man over his shoulder and throws him on the pile of bodies, except for one problem. There’s a scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail where a man from the church drags a cart through a seemingly plague-ridden village asking for townsfolk to bring out their dead, presumably to be burned to prevent spread.