The Chicago Fire (0-2-0, 0 points) showcased another lackluster effort to begin the season as they were shutout in front of 13,242 at home by New England Revolution (1-0-0, 3 points) 1-0 on Saturday.
In the second consecutive match, the Fire were held scoreless and the club's offense remained stagnant as New England proved to be the better team. Similar to their season-opening 4-0 defeat last Sunday at the hands of the Los Angeles Galaxy, the Fire couldn't find any rhythm on offense.
"We got to put our chances away," said Fire Head Coach Frank Klopas after the game. "I thought in the first half we had some good looks. We have got to be better in the final third. It’s difficult when you create the opportunities but don’t put them away. The game sometimes is not fair because out of nothing, we gave up a goal. I think in the run of play we got in some good spots, we just couldn’t finish. We have to be better. When you put your chances away it takes a lot of pressure off."
The Fire used a variety of substitutions in the second half after a scoreless first half with the Revolution but to no avail. Midfielder Chris Rolfe left the match in the 65th minute with an undisclosed injury and the club inserted Alex to replace the veteran.
New England, however, got its only goal of the match in the 62nd minute when Jerry Bengston headed an easy pass from Kelyn Rowe past Fire goalkeeper Sean Johnson. Johnson and other Fire players thought to have cleared the ball cleanly to only be surprised by Bengston and what appeared to be an easy goal.
"The goal that they scored was kind of a fluke," Klopas said. "Normally that ball would have cleared, but again that’s just a lack of sharpness."
The Fire will have a week to prepare for their next opponent in Sporting Kansas City. The club will face their Eastern Conference rivals on March 16 in Kansas City. With a lack of scoring plaguing the club, a sudden change will be needed in order to prevent a terrible start to the regular season for this club.
"It’s disappointing that we haven’t scored in two games, said forward Patrick Nyarko. "But if we keep creating chances, we have good forwards that will convert them. At some point you’re going to go through a drought, it’s better to go through it early rather than later when you really need them. We need them now, but not as much as we will later on. We’ll work on that, keep creating changes and I think we’ll be fine."
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