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Red Bulls-Chicago Fire battle to insane 3-3 draw

Red Bulls Luquinhas dribbling vs Chicago Fire

A six-goal thriller took place in Harrison between the New York Red Bulls and Chicago Fire. Lewis Morgan opened proceedings with a penalty, before Chris Mueller got his first of the season minutes before halftime. Wyatt Omsberg gave the Fire the lead off a set-piece, only for Cameron Harper to score in his first league start via a Gabriel Slonina howler. Xherdan Shaqiri thought he scored the winner when he put Chicago up 3-2 in the 89th minute. But it wasn’t to be as Patryk Klimala tucked home a cut-back cross to make it 3-3 in the 91st minute. An incredible game that keeps New York without a win at home, and Chicago still last in the Eastern Conference.

Red Bulls-Chicago Fire battle to insane 3-3 draw

Team News

Gerhard Struber makes a few changes to the team drew against Philadelphia last weekend. Carlos Coronel remains in goal, but they will look differently in defense. Dylan Nealis is out due to his red card in Philly, while John Tolkin is out as he is in health and safety protocols. So it’s a three-man back line of Tom Edwards, Sean Nealis and captain Aaron Long. Cameron Harper gets his first start of the season, and is joined by Omir Fernandez on the flanks. Lewis Morgan is back and joins Tom Barlow in attack. Patryk Klimala, Luquinhas and Caden Clark are all on the bench.

Ezra Hendrickson makes six changes to the side that lost to FC Cincinnati. Gabriel Slonina is in goal, Wyatt Omsberg and young Carlos Teran are the center backs. New signing Chris Mueller starts, as is joined by teenager Brian Gutierrez, Xherdan Shaqiri and Jhon Duran in attack. Gaston Gimenez, Stanislav Ivanov and Kacper Przybylko are on the bench.

Red Bulls lineup: Carlos Coronel; Tom Edwards, Sean Nealis, Aaron Long; Cameron Harper (66′), Dru Yearwood (54′), Frankie Amaya, Omir Fernandez; Cristian Casseres Jr, Tom Barlow (54′), Lewis Morgan

New York subs: Ryan Meara, Jason Pendant (66′), Daniel Edelman, Caden Clark, Luquinhas (54′), Jesus Castellano, Zach Ryan (76′), Patryk Klimala (54′)

Chicago lineup: Gabriel Slonina; Miguel Navarro, Wyatt Omsberg, Carlos Teran (46′), Jhon Espinoza (46′); Mauricio Pineda, Federico Navarro; Brian Gutierrez (65′), (C) Xherdan Shaqiri, Chris Mueller (80′); Jhon Duran (71′)

Fire subs: Chris Brady, Jonathan Bornstein, Boris Sekulic (46′), Jairo Torres (65′), Gaston Gimenez (46′), Fabian Herbers (80′), Nnamdi Offor, Stanislav Ivanov, Zacper Przybylko (71′)

A tight first half with goals by both teams

The action started out hot as there was a yellow card inside the opening 30 seconds of the match to Chicago’s Carlos Teran for a bad sliding tackle. Seconds later, New York thought they were in front, only to see multiple attempts by Barlow and Nealis blocked on the line. Minutes later after some jostling for momentum, the Red Bulls would be awarded a penalty in the 19-minute. Omir Fernandez was hacked down in the box by Jhon Espinoza, Lewis Morgan stepped up and slotted the opener into the bottom right corner. The Polish goalkeeper guessed correctly to his left, but couldn’t get a hand to it. Five goals in the league so far for Morgan.

It was looking rather difficult for Chicago to find an equalizer, until a new signing did the job. Chris Mueller got his first goal for Chicago beating Coronel from an acute angle with a blast into the roof of the net, off a nice assist by Gutierrez. Despite the first half being tight with New York holding a slight edge in shots at four-to-three, the home side will feel they should be cruising. The opening 45 minutes saw the Red Bulls hold a dominant 1.92-0.20 expected goals tally.

“We expected a very clear victory” said coach Gerhard Struber. Looking at the standings and form table, it would be safe to assume why he felt that way, but it wasn’t to be.

Just pure insanity in the second half, ends in a Red Bulls 3-3 Chicago Fire draw

Chicago nearly took an unexpected lead minutes into the restart. Duran had a decent attempt but was parried by a fingertip save by Coronel. A corner for Chicago soon followed and Duran flicked a header onto the back post for Omsberg to head for the Fire’s second goal to take the lead. However, the Red Bulls would come back with a leveler of their own. Harper, in his first MLS start, shot at goal and scored via a horrible howler by Slonina. The ball was at his hands and it just passed his body into the back of the net.

The action simply never stopped and it ended in a 3-3 draw. The two sides combined for 31 shots, 10 of those on target. Shaqiri hit the post with a low drive on a free kick. Multiple penalty shouts for New York throughout, but referee Ted Unkel was having none of it.

Three Takeaways from New York Red Bulls vs Chicago Fire

More home woes for the Red Bulls. Here we are again, another home game without a win. The jokes write themselves at this point, but it’s not for a lack of trying. Whether it’s playing down to the level of their competition or failing to execute the basics, New York simply needs to correct this.

Chicago nearly pull it out, then throw away precious victory. It was so nearly there for Shaqiri and company. A win would’ve lifted them off last place in the East, but alas. They fell for the old cliche of conceding, being most vulnerable after scoring. Now they need to regroup for their next game against NYCFC.

A not-so-good, history-making night for Gerhard Struber’s team. Just look at the stat below and you’ll know why. At least there next game is on the road.

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