CHESTER — Two decisive moments in the six-yard box at the River End of Subaru Park Saturday night decided the direction of three points. One might decide much more in the coming weeks.
The Union lost Andre Blake to an injury in the first half, then benefitted from a goalkeeping error by his Chicago counterpart, Chris Brady, in the 90th minute, Joaquin Torres’ goal leading an indifferent Union to a 1-0 win.
The Union were up a man from the 50th minute on when Fabian Herbers picked up his second yellow card, and Chicago finished with nine men when Kei Kamara got his second yellow. That didn’t amount to anything from a misfiring Union team for most of the way, until Torres cut inside in the 90th and unleashed a curling shot that might have deflected through traffic. Either way, it put off Brady enough to short-hop his hands and bound into the net for the Kamara’s first goal with the Union.
The more important factor for the Union is if Blake misses any time. He appeared to land awkwardly in the 17th minute, uncharacteristically spilling a cross he attempted to collect. It spawned a momentary scramble, and the Fire had the ball in the net thanks to Kamara, but the offside flag waved it off.
Blake continued on, but after a free kick, he went grabbing for his groin. He still managed, with his last act, to slide to his left and fist away a Kacper Przybylko header in the 31st, but he hit the turf after that, undoing his gloves as the trainers approached. Manager Jim Curtin confirmed it is a groin injury requiring a MRI.
The first half, even before Blake’s injury, was uneventful, the goalie limping off seemed to accelerate the nastiness of a game that included 10 yellow cards.
The Union had moments of good buildup in the first 30 minutes, targeting the left side of Chicago’s defense. Julian Carranza had a shot saved off the line in the 13th by Gaston Gimenez off a corner.
Kamara had a chance in the 39th off a free kick, but he put it just wide.
Tempers flared as the teams approached nine minutes of added time, which turned into 11. Jakob Glesnes undercut his former teammate Przybylko, who took a heavy fall. Kamara took umbrage and was shown a yellow. Mbaizo was felled twice in the latter stages of the half. The first resulted in a yellow to Navarro. The second turned into matching yellows for Jose Martinez and Herbers, who ended up forehead to forehead.
That yellow would haunt Herbers four minutes after the break when the former Union draft pick slid into Kai Wagner, earning his second yellow and his marching orders.
Up a man, the Union had plenty of the ball – 54.4 percent overall, 14 shots, though only three on target. But it was mostly cross-and-hope, a lot of speculative balls from the right wing. They conspired to miss a 3-on-1 inside the six, Carranza cushioning a header across goal to Alejandro Bedoya, only for defender Carlos Teran to intercede. Torres fired a header wide in the 80th and ripped a shot into the drum stand in the 84th.
Source: Berkshire mont
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