The Chicago Fire finally got their first three points of the season after a 1-0 win over the Columbus Crew on Saturday night.
On a cold night at Toyota Park, coach Paunovic saw some improvement from his team as this time the team did not concede an opening goal.
To try to change things up, Paunovic decided to start Diego Campos instead of Katai who was on the bench. Veteran Alan Gordon was also given a start to help out Nemanja Nikolic in the attack.
For the second straight game, Bastian Schweinsteiger was played as a sweeper as part of the back three that Paunovic deployed to, once again, try to bring order to a much maligned defensive unit.
The only goal of the game was scored in the 27th minute by the Fire’s Nemanja Nikolic. Nikolic took advantage of a mistake from the Columbus goalkeeper as he tried to play out from his goal, but his errant pass found an unmarked Nikolic who dashed inside the box and slotted the ball home.
It was Nikolic’s fourth game in as many games as last season’s Golden Boot winner continues where he left off.
Aside from the goal, it was not a pretty game for the men in red. Columbus dominated possession and hit the posts a few times in the second-half. Columbus had 65 percent possession to the Fire’s 35.
Columbus also outshot the Fire as they had twenty shots while the Fire only had six.
Columbus played well and, arguably, deserved more.
In his postgame press conference, Columbus’s Gregg Berhalter said, “This is one of those games, right? Where you didn’t do much wrong in the game. You present yourself in a good way. I think we created a number of chances and unfortunate we don’t get a point or three points out of the game. I told the guys after the game we’re proud of the effort, disappointed in the result.
For the Fire, they got their first win of the season, but there is still a lot of work left to do. They were outplayed throughout the game, but managed to hold on to their 1-0 win. It’s something not lost on coach Paunovic.
During his presser, he said, “I think we had to grind out the whole game. Definitely not the game that we want to remember except for the win and three points.”
As mentioned, it was the second straight game where Schweinsteiger was played further back on the pitch. While the defense has looked a bit better with him there, the question is whether the Fire lose too much in midfield and in their attack without him.
There were several promising counterattacks when Columbus were pushing to get an equalizer where they sputtered in the final third because whoever had the ball could not find that final pass or held on too long allowing Columbus to get back on defense.
It’s something the manager was asked, but said it came back down to trying to help his defense regain some confidence and consistency.
He was filled with nothing, but praise for Bastian and his ability to play anywhere on the pitch and putting in good performances.
This Fire team still has a long way to go to match the success of last season. As we saw in the second half against Columbus, they’re struggling to control the game and if it wasn’t for Columbus’s shots hitting the post, the Fire would still be looking for their first win of the season.
Coach Paunovic said the team was able to grind out the victory and it looks like it’s something they’re going to have to do until the transfer window opens up again and they can find reinforcements.
The win brings the Fire’s points total to four and move up to eighth place in the eastern conference.
Their next game is next Saturday against the Los Angeles Galaxy at 2:30. With Zlatan Ibrahimovic now a member of the Galaxy, expect Toyota Park to be a sellout.
Ernesto Hernandez
Sports Editor