In case anybody forgot what the Fire are, they reminded people during Saturday’s 2-0 loss to CF Montreal.
After losing 4-1 to East-leading Philadelphia and 2-0 to reigning MLS champion New York City FC, the Fire laid another egg against the second-place team in the conference, even though Montreal played a man down for the entire second half. Over 270 minutes against the East’s best, the Fire were outscored 8-1 and showed they’re nowhere near the league’s upper echelon.
Actually, they’re drifting further and further away from a playoff spot after Saturday’s loss in front of an announced crowd of 13,907.
With seven games left in the season, the Fire are six points from a playoff spot and have to go on the road twice in the next week. Whether they’ll have Xherdan Shaqiri and captain Rafael Czichos for those games at New England and Columbus is unclear. Shaqiri left in the 30th minute with a quad issue, while Czichos landed awkwardly in the 88th and immediately grabbed his left knee.
More time without Shaqiri and Czichos is the last thing the already-thin Fire need.
Due to the season-ending hamstring injury suffered by Gaston Gimenez and Mauricio Pineda missing the match with a left foot problem, the Fire (8-13-6, 30 points) moved Jairo Torres into a deeper role in the central midfield. A young designated player, Torres had made little impact as a winger since joining in May from Mexican club Atlas.
With Torres filling in for Gimenez, the Fire restored winger Brian Gutierrez to the starting lineup. Jhon Duran also replaced Kacper Przybylko at striker.
Those changes – not to mention a recently re-sodded playing surface – did little to help the Fire against Montreal, which extended its unbeaten streak to eight.
After controlling play early, CF Montreal took a 1-0 lead in the 19th minute when Isma?l Kon? was given time outside the 18-yard-box and sent a right-footed shot past Fire goalie Gabriel Slonina. Montreal cashed in again five minutes later when Romell Quioto’s free kick beat Slonina after a handball was called on the Fire’s Carlos Teran.
An already-difficult night got worse when Shaqiri was replaced by Fabian Herbers. The Fire did get a lifeline three minutes into first-half stoppage time when Kon? was sent off after picking up his second yellow card, but were unable to avoid their second straight shutout.
NOTES: In what is likely his last game in Chicago, Montreal’s Djordje Mihailovic was subbed off in the 67th minute. A former Fire homegrown player who was traded to Montreal before the 2021 season, Mihailovic has blossomed since leaving Chicago and will be heading to Dutch club AZ Alkmaar in January.
* Defender Miguel Navarro was suspended for an accumulation of yellow cards and was replaced in the starting lineup by Jonathan Bornstein.
* First-round pick Kendall Burks replaced Czichos and made his MLS debut.