Chicago Fire vs. Atlanta United FC Toyota Park — Bridgeview May 5 8:30 pm ET Fox SportSouth MLSsoccer.com preview here. AJC's "3 questions" for the match here. Atlanta visits the enigmatic Fire tonight in Chicago, where the chance of rain and a cooler evening might make for interesting conditions for the lads. Chicago still has Nemanja Nikolic to lead their attack and he's done well so far this season, but the Fire as a whole have struggled. They're 2-2-2 in their last 6 and just below the playoff line in the east. Atlanta should have their full compliment of players today pending the full fitness rating of Franco Escobar. Tito Villalba may also be held in reserve while returning to health and so long as Barco has been meshing with the team. However Atlanta has their first midweek fixture next week (a big one at home to SKC) so there may be the call for subs earlier than usual depending on how well the team is playing. Today might be good for playing a long-ball, counter attacking strategy. Chicago doesn't play too aggressively but they've been pushing for goals of late and aren't made to sit deep defensively, so Atlanta's speedy front four could exploit them often. 2-1 to the good, and the streak continues.
Villalba not in the starting lineup. I figured tonight was the night we'd see all of our "DPs" play together from the start. I still want to see how Tata is going to make that work for 90 minutes.
Escobar back in to start, as well. McCann gets the rest today. Time to start using team depth to rotate some players.
Hey, I called the scoreline! Good effort defensively for such a scattered affair. Only a few good opportunities surrendered and no obvious failings in that area. (Guzan's usual give aways not withstanding.) Escobar taking a hard knock at the end as he continues to find the physicality of Guzan a pain in his side. (sic) Hopefully he recovers and the game doesn't cost us any players. I would've taken Jeff out earlier and dropped Nagbe deep just like last week, but keeping Darlington up front contributed to the 2nd goal so I won't complain. However Atlanta's transition game and high press was lacking tonight. Not sure how much of that was Chicago or a side affect of the strategy, or jet lag... Bottom line they struggled with Plan A but again still held on. Nagbe given MOTM, though I also thought Garza and Almiron (duh!) were worthy options for the award. 3 pts on the road and Atlanta in early driver's seat for President's Trophy.
I'll never expect home form on the road in MLS, so the lack of a press or the transitional attack which we've come to expect as the norm doesn't bother me. I'm happy Barco got a goal; maybe that will spark him to be more effective over the full 90. Good to see a full roster out there, as well. I'm happy our bench is so deep, though. Road points in MLS. Always a good day.