The short-handed Chicago Fire will look to build momentum following their first win in the Gregg Berhalter era when they visit a Toronto FC side in search of its first victory under Robin Fraser on Saturday.
Hugo Cuypers scored his third goal of the season on a late spot kick last weekend at FC Dallas. And he also set up Andrew Gutman’s equalizer during a 10-minute outburst in which Chicago (1-1-1, 4 points) flipped a one-goal deficit into a 3-1 win.
But the Fire lost Kellyn Acosta to injury before halftime, adding to Berhalter’s lengthy list of midfield absences. The former U.S. men’s national team manager also suggested maybe some of his club’s availability struggles are due to adjusting to his more demanding style of play.
“We want to play with this intensity, we want to play with this certain workload on and off the ball. And it costs energy,” Berhalter said. “You see some of the guys that are handling it well, some of the guys that are having difficulty with it, but we hope over time everyone can be handling it well, and then the team’s going to be much better off.”
The Fire visit a Toronto side playing at home for the first time this season and coming off back-to-back defeats. The Reds (0-2-1, 1 point) already have conceded eight times through three matches, but Fraser said he believed the most recent match — a 2-0 loss at FC Cincinnati — represented an improvement in that respect.
Kevin Denkey gave the hosts the lead with a 73rd-minute penalty, and Yuya Kubo added insurance 14 minutes later.
“We survived a few scares but I thought we were pretty cohesive defensively. Where I thought we fell down early in the game is just our decisions with the ball, which led to a lot of defending,” Fraser said. “Certainly disappointing to give up the goal on a penalty kick. And then I think a little feeling of desperation left us a little bit open toward the end.”
Italian star Lorenzo Insigne remains on Toronto’s roster despite the wishes of the club, but hasn’t dressed this season. Countryman Federico Bernardeschi has a goal and an assist while playing every minute for the Reds thus far.
–Field Level Media
