Cory Burke and Jakob Glesnes broke a scoreless deadlock with timely second-half goals, and the Philadelphia Union cruised to a 2-0 win — its first of the youngish season —over Chicago Fire FC at Soldier Field on Saturday afternoon.
In the first half, the Union looked the more threatening side, engineering multiple good chances, largely by loading up on the right flank and then working the ball in on goal. Burke, Alejandro Bedoya, and homegrown 17-year-old Jack McGlynn, making his first career MLS start, all had good looks in front of Fire goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth. He was able to keep the Union off the board, however, and the halftime scoreline remained goalless.
That changed in the 51st minute, as Burke got on the end of a high-degree-of-difficulty pass from Jamiro Monteiro and netted his fifth career goal against the Fire. The game nearly got level again two minutes later, when Robert Beric, quiet up to that point, found himself with an excellent opportunity at the goalmouth that he couldn't quite finish.
Then, in the 60th minute, the Union had a set-piece opportunity that led to the match's second goal. The Fire dealt with the initial wave on the corner kick, but Glesnes got his head on an inbound ball Kai Wagner sent from the edge of the box, and finished to double the lead.
The Fire tried to reset with some offensive subs, most notably Spanish midfielder Álvaro Medrán and Nigerian forward Nnamdi Chinonso Offor, but they couldn't produce the goal that would have brought them back into contention. Offor did, however, force an excellent save from Andre Blake deep into stoppage time to preserve the shutout.
Goals
Three Things
- THE BIG PICTURE: This was a good win for the Union, who played on short rest following their midweek CCL match and avoided the letdown that they and other CCL contestants have experienced following their duels early in the tournament. For the Fire, a bend-but-don’t-break first half gave way to a largely lackluster second half and a disappointing home loss. There’s work to do in Chicago.
- MOMENT OF THE MATCH: The second goal again exposed Chicago's poor marking in the area, and felt very much like a goal that settled the affair.
- MAN OF THE MATCH: Burke deserved a goal, and in finally coming through in the second half, shot himself into a Union milestone with his 15th goal for the club.
Next Up
- CHI: Thursday, May 13 at D.C. United | 8 pm ET | MLS Live on ESPN+ | 2021 regular season
- PHI: Wednesday, May 12 vs. New England Revolution | 7:30 pm ET | MLS Live on ESPN+ | 2021 regular season
