Chicago stun 1st place Philadelphia Union
The Philadelphia Union, fresh off a win last week against the Houston Dynamo, visited the Chicago Fire at SeatGeek Stadium. The match was a total contrast from their encounter last month in Philadelphia, where the Union was able to cruise by comfortably with a 2-0 win at home.
The action picked up at the 38th minute when the Fire opened up the score with a goal from Nemenja Nikolic. The goal came after a Chicago attack from the right side of the Union’s half. Przemyslaw Frankowski was able to put a low cross near the first post, and Nikolic was able to get in front of the Union backline and poke it in. The goal was Nikolic’s 4th in four matches and his 10th of the season.
It wouldn’t take long for the Fire to double their lead when in the 44th minute CJ Sapong drew a foul inside the box and drew a penalty for Chicago. The Union’s Aurelien Collin received a yellow card for the infraction. It was Nikolic who made it 2-0 from the penalty spot for 11th in the season.
Before the half ended Nicolás Gaitán from the Chicago Fire was shown the red card after a VAR review. Gaitan slid with his studs up from behind Jamiro Monteiro which prompted an easy red card decision from the referee.
Even with the numerical advantage, the Union was unable to capitalize in the second half. Philadelphia controlled the pace and possession in the second half and had a couple of unbelievable misses from up close. A pretty surprising display from the Eastern Conference frontrunner as they had 70 percent of the possession and kept the pressure on the Chicago defense but were unable to capitalize.
The loss prevents the Union from further pulling away from the second-place Atlanta United who plays on Sunday. The Union will now face D.C. United, who on August 4th was able to trounce 5-1. The Chicago Fire have now won three of the last four games and seem to be building momentum as the MLS playoffs approach. The Fire will soon visit the New England Revolution for a chance to build off today’s win.
