3 Thoughts: Chicago Fire Play to 0-0 Draw with New York Red Bulls

The Chicago Fire wasted a golden opportunity to take home three points against the New York Red Bulls after the hosts went down a man before halftime but were unable to score, leaving New Jersey with a point after a 0-0 draw on Saturday evening.

It’s rare to leave a road match with a point and still feel unsatisfied but that’s what should be happening to the Fire. RBNY had the better chances throughout the match and many came after they’d gone down a man. In short, the Fire were lucky to get a point against the side that entered the day top of the Eastern Conference table.

Here are my three thoughts on a disappointing result:

Who Had More Shots???

Shots (On Goal) CHI: 9 (3); RBNY 19 (5)

Chicago wasn't the stronger side despite being up a man for more than half of the match. RBNY had more shots and on-target efforts than the Fire did after going down a man while having two shots ring off the goalpost in second-half stoppage time.

Hugo Cuypers was a non-factor in Harrison and Tom Barlow didn’t do much after replacing the Belgian striker in the 75th minute. Maren Haile-Selassie’s service from the right wing left much to be desired while Chris Mueller had a decent performance in his 60-minute run.

Chicago completed more than twice as many passes as RBNY (562-250) yet didn’t create chances from the abundance of possession in the second half.

At a certain point, the Fire needed to be playing cross into the penalty area to create chaos. They didn’t and RBNY cruised to a scoreless draw.

What was the plan?

The Fire’s offense hasn’t been fluid in 2024 and most of their goals have come from individual greatness rather than good team soccer. That couldn’t have been more apparent against RBNY.

As the hosts took advantage of any counterattacking chance, the Fire took their time and largely played methodical soccer that rarely resulted in a shot. The midfield wasn’t productive and didn’t attempt many passes over the top for Hugo Cuypers to chase down.

Andrew Gutman is going to be a focal point of this offense when he returns from injury (TBD on that) but Chicago needs a solution for when he’s not on the pitch.

Clean Sheet

The lone positive outcome from the match is that Chris Brady collected his first MLS clean sheet of 2024.

The Fire’s 20-year-old goalkeeper was called into action within 120 seconds of kickoff at Red Bull Arena and did well to make five crucial saves while dealing with an abundance of pressure throughout. He also had some help from the posts.

The best save of the evening was his second, which came in the sixth minute. John Tolkin played a cross from the left side that Lewis Morgan met at the far post but Brady got big and tapped the ball off the post and away. A goal at that moment would’ve changed the complexion of the game and Brady did well to make the big save early.

The posts made the other two biggest saves of the match for the Fire as efforts from Elias Manoel and Frankie Amaya rang off the metal in second-half stoppage time.