BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (April 1, 2017) – Bastian Schweinsteiger didn’t wait long to leave his mark in MLS, scoring in the 17th minute as the Chicago Fire drew with the Montreal Impact 2-2 on Saturday at Toyota Park.
Schweinsteiger became the ninth Fire player to score on his debut. Montreal tallied twice after that initial strike from Schweinsteiger, but Luis Solignac equalized in stoppage-time to rally the home side to a point.
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Schweinsteiger’s breakthrough came from some improvisation on a short corner. Juninho initially looked to find Arturo Alvarez on a horizontal run after the corner kick, but Montreal closed the passing lane. Juninho instead slid a pass to David Accam on the sideline, and the Ghanaian whipped a dipping cross in front of the goal. Schweinsteiger timed his run perfectly and sent a powerful header off the hands of Impact keeper Evan Bush and into the net for his first career MLS goal.
Matteo Mancosu pulled one back just past the hour mark with a back-post finish thanks to a cross from Chris Duvall. The visitors then took the lead in the first minute of stoppage-time after a blast from Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla.
Luis Solignac responded with a game-tying goal two minutes later. Dax McCarty lofted a pass that Solignac took down with his chest. The Argentine striker let the ball bounce and then ripped a half-volley low and inside the far post for his third career goal with the Fire.
Postmatch Reactions: Paunovic | Schweinsteiger
In addition to Schweinsteiger, Fire rookie Daniel Johnson made his club debut with a second-half substitution for injured Michael de Leeuw in the 79th minute.
The Men in Red return to action against Columbus Crew SC on Saturday, April 8 at Toyota Park. Kickoff is 1 p.m. CT on CSN Chicago Plus.
MLS Regular Season
Chicago Fire (1-1-2, 5 pts.) 2:2 Montreal Impact (0-1-3, 3 pts.)
April 1, 2017 – Toyota Park
Attendance: 15,103
Scoring Summary:
CHI – Bastian Schweinsteiger (David Accam, Juninho) 17
MTL – Matteo Mancosu (Chris Duvall) 61
MTL – Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla (Patrice Bernier) 90'
CHI – Luis Solignac (Dax McCarty) 90+3'
Misconduct Summary:
CHI – Juninho (caution) 41
MTl – Chris Duvall (caution) 57
MTL – Adrian Arregui (caution) 60
CHI – Juninho (caution) 71
MTL – Victor Cabrera (caution) 76
MTL – Daniel Lovitz (caution) 78
MTL – Victor Cabera (ejection) 81
Chicago Fire: Jorge Bava, Michael Harrington, Jonathan Campbell, Joao Meira, Brandon Vincent, Juninho ©, Dax McCarty, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Arturo Alvarez (Michael de Leeuw 65, Daniel Johnson 79), Nemanja Nikolic (Luis Solignac 75), David Accam.
Shots: 13; Shots On-Goal: 5; Saves: 2; Fouls: 14; Corners: 8; Offsides: 3
Montreal Impact: Evan Bush, Chris Duvall, Victor Cabrera, Hassoun Camara ©, Daniel Lovitz, Adrian Arregui (Patrice Bernier 62), Marco Donadel (Michael Salazar 74), Hernan Bernadello, Dominic Oduro (Wandrille Lefevre 83), Matteo Mancosu, Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla.
Shots: 10; Shots On-Goal: 4; Saves: 3; Fouls: 20; Corners: 1; Offsides: 5
