Press Release

BOX SCORE: Chicago Fire Defeat Columbus Crew 4-2 In Fifth Round Of Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup

CHICAGO(Wednesday, June 25, 2014) – The Chicago Fire defeated the Columbus Crew 4-2 Wednesday evening at Toyota Park in the fifth round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Defender Patrick Ianni opened scoring in the 34th minute before the visitors took a 2-1 lead in the second half. With seven minutes remaining in regulation, Ecuadorian striker Juan Luis Anangono equalized for the Fire. Quincy Amarikwa found the game winner two minutes into overtime and Anangono completed his brace in the 108th minute as the Fire advance to the quarterfinal round. A full video archive of the match is available here: http://bit.ly/1ixdsYO


The Fire will hit the road for the quarterfinal round and take on the Atlanta Silverbacks (NASL) on Wednesday, July 9 at Atlanta Silverbacks Park in Atlanta, Ga.


The Men in Red return to MLS action after a three-week break for group play of the 2014 FIFA World Cup when they host Toronto FC at Toyota Park on Wednesday, July 2 at 7:30 p.m. CT (My50/La Ley 107.9 FM). As a nod to holiday, the Fire are offering tickets starting at a discounted rate of $17.76. Tickets for the match are available via Ticketmaster, by visiting www.Chicago-Fire.com or by calling 888-MLS-FIRE.


MATCH REPORT: http://bit.ly/1ixcL1B
MATCH STORY: http://bit.ly/1mgAuOv
Chicago Fire 4 – 2 Columbus Crew (aet)

Chicago Fire: Sean Johnson; Matt Watson, Patrick Ianni, Bakary Soumare (Jhon Kennedy Hurtado 59’), Greg Cochrane; Grant Ward, Jeff Larentowicz ©, Logan Pause (Alex 72’), Harry Shipp; Mike Magee (Juan Luis Anangono 77’), Quincy Amarikwa


Substitutes not used: Kyle Reynish; Marco Franco, Steven Kinney; Chris Ritter


Columbus Crew: Steve Clark ©; Chad Barson, Eric Gehrig, Tyson Wahl, Ben Sweat; Tony Tchani (Wil Trapp 71’), Kevan George, Ben Speas, Bernardo Anor; Hector Jimenez (Michael Parkhurst 72’), Justin Meram (Jairo Arrieta 46’)


Substitutes not used: Dan Withrow


Scoring Summary
CHI – Patrick Ianni (Harry Shipp) 34’
CLB – Jairo Arrieta (Ben Sweat) 55’
CLB – Bernardo Anor (unassisted) 70’
CHI – Juan Luis Anangono (Matt Watson) 83’
CHI – Quincy Amarikwa (Harry Shipp) 92’
CHI – Juan Luis Anangono (Alex) 108’


Misconduct Summary
CHI – Logan Pause (caution) 54’
CLB – Kevan George (caution) 77’
CLB – Michael Parkhurst (ejection) 97’
CHI – Grant Ward (caution) 116’


Statistics

<strong>Statistics</strong>
<strong>Chicago</strong>
<strong>Columbus</strong>
Shots
23
14
SOG
12
8
Saves
6
8
Fouls
17
16
Corners
12
8
Offside
3
5

Referee: Robert Sibiga, Assistants:  Matthew Nelson, Khalaf Al-Latayfeh, Fourth Official: Alejandro Mariscal
Attendance: 5,124


Quotes:
Chicago Fire Head Coach and Director of Soccer Frank Yallop
Thoughts on the match

“It’s always good to win any match, and I think that on the basis of the play we had, especially the first half, I thought we deserved to win the game. So, obviously, the red card for Parkhurst makes a difference in the match, but I still felt from that, we went on and had a good performance. To score four goals in any game – although we got an extra 30 minutes to do that – is good. Pleased for the guys. You know, the Crew made it difficult. We went up and then we go down. But we came back into it, good substitutions by the staff, if I do say so myself, to bring Juan on.  But Juan’s been waiting for a chance, and I was very happy for him to get two goals tonight.”


On Juan Luis Anangono’s performance

“If you look at Juan’s production, especially maybe earlier when he’s played a little more minutes…I forget the game we had at home, he got brought down for the penalty kick. He scored a goal in one of the games. He missed the PK. He could’ve scored that one. So, what I will say about Juan is he’s a terrific professional. He’s been right with the team all along, with not getting many minutes because of Quincy’s play I feel like. But what I like about him is the way he goes about it. He tries very hard for the team. And I’m very, very happy for him to get the two goals tonight.”


On Mike Magee’s status

“He got clocked in the ankle when I think it was Kevan George caught him with the challenge. So we’ll see how he is, but I’m not sure right now.”


On what changed in the second half

“I said to our guys at halftime ‘they’re going to make changes’ because I thought we outplayed them completely the first half. So I said, ‘Expect to see changes.’ And I think that the goal from Anor, he made a difference. They were more forceful. They tried to quickly counter attack on us. And to be honest, they did a good job. And I think that until we kind of figured it out towards the end of the game, we were in a bit of trouble. So again, we’ve got to be better at doing a 90-minute game and making sure that we see it through and do our thing. But what I will say is that the fighting spirit in the guys to come back again and to go on and win the game is great. It’d just be nice to put a good performance of 2 or 3 to nil at some point. It’d be nice, but we’re not there yet. We’re trying hard. And I can’t fault the guys for effort at all. They’ve been great.”


On making adjustments throughout the game

“We were down in the game, so we have to push it. Bringing on Alex is a bit more attacking minded than putting Logan in his role. Juan’s a forward, he wants to score goals. Bringing him on obviously is key. I just wanted to bring on a fresh defender with Jhon. I felt that Columbus was getting into the game with the quick breaks. I wanted to make sure that we shored that up a little bit. You know, I was pleased with the subs that came on. They did a nice job. And I think the whole team responded when we did that.”


Chicago Fire forward Juan Luis Anangono
On the opportunity to come into the game and be a hero

“The team worked hard to get all the goals and I’m personally happy to have scored the two goals. I think the whole team are heroes. The whole team worked hard. This is a team, we’re 11 players and seven subs and other players that are all helping the team. This is a team, there isn’t one hero. If there’s a hero, it’s the team. We all have the characteristics and we’re all ready to play. Who plays and who doesn’t is the decision of the coach. I think the coach does what is best for the team, thinking of who will help the team. I believe we’re all good players and we all need to be ready to help at whatever moment.”


Chicago Fire midfielder Jeff Larentowicz
On using the Open Cup games to help turn things around over the break

“It’s just about the will to win, and taking care of the things we should. I think that having two home games in the Open Cup is a good opportunity for us to get into a rhythm. We’ve had some injuries and we’ve gotten some guys back. Right now we’re just finding a way to win and build on that heading back into the regular season.”


On how this will help going back to MLS play next week

“The guys that are playing in these games are probably the guys that will be playing once the regular season starts up again, so I think it’s about everyone developing a rhythm and understanding each other.  If we can create goals we can start to see patterns of play we like to do and hopefully we can carry those in the regular season again.”


On training during the break

“I think over the past couple of weeks it’s just been about getting bodies back.  For a while there we were pretty thin, and now it’s about getting everyone back, veteran guys, healthy and training hard again because we have trained well the last couple of weeks and I think it’s showing in games. 


Chicago Fire forward Quincy Amarikwa
On coming back in the second half to get the result

“We just battled. Unfortunately, we let them score two unanswered [goals].  After we came in at halftime, we said we wanted to come out on front foot, but we dug in. Juan [Luis Anangono] came off the bench and really made an impact on the game, he helped us tie it up and the rest is history.”


On Columbus’ play in the second half:

“When you’re the team on the road and down a goal at halftime, you don’t have anything to lose.  So, you kind of throw everything but the kitchen sink at the home team, and that second goal kind of just fell their way.  I don’t think there’s any kind of defensive error from thinking about it.  I’d have to go back and look at the tape, he just happened to be at the right place at the right time and took advantage of it and they capitalized.”


Notes:

-       The Fire are now 35-11-4 all-time in Open Cup play and 23-1-1 in matches played in Illinois.


-       The Fire are undefeated in five Open Cup matches against the Crew.


-       Patrick Ianni’s strike in the 34th minute was his first competitive goal in a Fire shirt.


-       The Fire now face the Atlanta Silverbacks in the quarterfinal round. The Silverbacks advanced with a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Rapids on June 24.