BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – The Chicago Fire missed a big opportunity to get three points on Saturday night, giving up a late goal to tie the Houston Dynamo 1-1 at Toyota Park.
On Fire takes a closer look at Chicago’s disappointing draw,
focusing on three things Chicago must improve in order to snap their four-game
winless streak.
1. Finishing problems
The Fire have had issues in front of net all season, and Saturday
was no exception. Chicago failed to take
advantage of several second-half opportunities that would’ve doubled the advantage
and – more than likely – put Houston
away.
The Fire’s biggest miss came in the 66th
minute. Former Dynamo forward Dominic
Oduro collected a through ball behind the Houston back four and raced into the
box for a one-on-one chance with Houston ‘keeper Tally Hall. The speedy striker couldn’t finish, hitting
his 12-yard shot off the crossbar and out of play.
Oduro’s near miss was the third time the Fire missed a
breakaway in their last two games.
“We could [have] won this match if we had efficiency in the
last part of the field,” Fire head coach Carlos de los Cobos said. “We had our clear chances. ... We need to keep working.”
[inline_node:332503]2. Anibaba far from a finished product
Rookie right back Jalil Anibaba started this season strongly,
defending well and supporting the attack in the Fire’s first few matches.
But the team’s first-round pick from this year’s SuperDraft
hasn’t built on his strong early play. In fact, he’s seemed to regress, making
a few crucial defensive mistakes and struggling with his distribution in the
Fire’s most recent matches.
He wasn’t at his best again on Saturday, spraying passes all
over the field and nearly getting burned on several occasions before being
subbed off in the 76th minute.
“He has good qualities, but he needs to learn,” de los Cobos
said. “He needs to get more
experience. Sometimes he makes mistakes
because he is young.”
3. Center mids struggling with distribution
Chicago’s center midfielders have struggled with
distribution all season, failing to provide a solid link between the back line
and the forwards throughout the team’s first six matches.
De los Cobos made an effort to change that on Saturday,
bringing in attack-minded midfielder Baggio Husidic for the more defensive Mike
Videira. The move didn’t pay off, with the
rusty Husidic – who was making his first start of the season – playing sloppily
before being taken out in the 64th minute.
“My intention was to put a player beside [center mid Logan
Pause] to try to keep the ball, to move the ball and to make the other guys
play,” de los Cobos said. “Baggio tried,
but in some moments of the game he disappeared, and for that reason I took him
off.”
Sam
Stejskal covers the Chicago Fire for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at sam.h.stejskal@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @samstejskal.
