Don't have the opportunity to do these much anymore, but as it happens, today works out.
- [PREGAME] One of the biggest problems I had with the Fire last year was the lack of creativity in the center of the field. Alex shows signs, but not consistently. I am not a fan of Jeff Larentowicz, and would like to see Matt Watson displace him at some point, otherwise bringing him in was an odd decision.
- [5'] Palmer with a pretty opportunistic effort from distance. Not sure how I feel about him yet, overall.
- [8'] "Speaking of interesting, there's a player down." Best. Segue. Ever. #notreally
- [10'] Man, Harry Shipp really drifts inside, doesn't he? Good job springing Nyarko, but Magee didn't really have much space to turn on it.
- [13'] It's a small thing, but Lovel Palmer kept with the play after Sean Johnson made the save and gave up the rebound. Given the brain farts coming from the backline this season, that's progress, at least.
- [14'] See, here's what I don't like about Larentowicz. There was no reason for him to come all the way back for that ball from Johnson. If he leaves it for somebody else, then there's one more option for a pass to move up through the midfield. Instead, he struggles to find a connection.
- [21'] The best thing about the 2014 Chicago Fire so far this year is, without a doubt, Harry Shipp's corner kicks. Maybe because the Fire haven't been effective on corners in at least a decade, if at all.
- [29'] Yeah, Nyarko doesn't have the weight to put behind that header and put it on frame. He makes DaMarcus Beasley look heavy.
- [30'] On what planet was that a "quick restart," Dan?
- [35'] Was originally worried about Magee receiving the ball so far back, but Nyarko was pushed up, and Palmer made a great run. Then Larentowicz missed what should have been an easy tap-in. Would Watson have missed that?
- [37'] Speaking of missed chances, Patrick Nyarko still struggles to get power on a shot. How can he have been in Chicago this long and not gained 20 pounds just from the residual deep-dish pizza fumes in the air? It would help. Finally some momentum from Chicago, though. Wouldn't be surprised by a goal before halftime.
- [42'] GOAL MONTREAL. Okay, so I didn't say from which team. Tough to hang that all on Hurtado's header, given how far upfield it was. The rest of the backline definitely relaxed, though, thinking the Fire had control of the ball. Baky could have stepped up harder, Cochrane could have pinched in, but they need to be more alert for either of those things to happen.
- [45'+] Classic case of the ref not wanting to call the penalty, so he invents contact from the defender to call a corner kick, but the Fire lose possession, and Justin Mapp is upfield so fast, his hair is blown halfway back his head. No, wait, that's his natural hairline. I thought De Vaio was offside on the final pass, but that's mostly because he's usually offside.
- [HALFTIME] Not seeing much of a coherent attacking style through the midfield. Alex and Harry Shipp don't seem to be getting enough touches to establish any sort of creative presence, but Magee, Nyarko and Lovel Palmer are creating up the right side a bit. Amerikwa has shown a few flashes, but also hasn't seen too much of the ball.
- [HALFTIME] Ultimately, you have to finish your chances, otherwise you're susceptible to one mistake making a difference. The Fire had two or three, and one of them needs to find the back of the net.
- [HALFTIME] Looking at the replay of the goal, I'm wondering if the Fire's default tendency to play through Larentowicz did them in. That's who Hurtado was trying to get the ball to on the clearance, and maybe he could have tried a bit harder to win it. Lots of ways to dissect that play, and none of them change the scoreline, so on to the second half.
- [50'] Cochrane and Soumare need to get on the same page, and Baky has to track back to De Vaio instead of just sauntering into an empty space, defensively. Fortunately, he missed the shot, otherwise it could have been 2-0 right quick.
- [53'] Hurtado with a great effort to keep the ball in the Montreal box, but Magee hurries his shot and the Impact get a foot in. So he probably needed to hurry it a bit more.
- [54'] GOAL CHICAGO! This time it's Magee keeping the play alive after the first effort from the corner hits the post, and it's right into Quincy Amerikwa's path. Who, as the kids like to say, makes no mistake and buries it.
- [57'] Love the bulldog moves in the box from Quincy, but finishes by flopping way too easily on minimal contact at best.
- [62'] Greg Cochrane is pinching in towards the center a lot right now. That could come back to bite him.
- [65'] You can almost hear Kevin Egan turning on Baky Soumare since the lazy play on the Philly goal last week. This time he doesn't pick up the Felipe run, forcing Hurtado to come over and cover late, but the shot goes wide.
- [72'] I could see Watson for either Alex or Shipp around the 75th or 80th minute to shore up the central midfield. Joya could just be fresh legs on the wing.
- [76'] Somebody tell Dan Kelly that nobody plays for the draw at home unless you're up against a complete juggernaut. Period. He keeps repeating things he's heard people say about soccer at random points of the game where he thinks there's a resemblance and there's not. At least if you understand anything about soccer. Which he doesn't.
- [82'] Speaking of which, I know I say I'd do a much better job at the Fire play-by-play gig, but honestly, I'd be spending this entire game coming up with puns to use when mentioning Ouimette.
- [83'] Yes, Kevin Egan, throwing your head at a bicycle kick is what you want to see from a defender. No, it is not something you describe as "charisma."
- [85'] Wonderful header from Amerikwa to spring Magee, but wow, no magic on that final shot from the former MVP. And now to Kevin with some geometry.
- [87'] Wrote this off as probably a draw a while ago, so now I'm just making fun of the announcing. Pretty sure Dan Kelly just crossed up "cagey" and "pacey" and called Quincy Amerikwa "casey."
- [FULL TIME] Remember back in the 89th minute when Kevin Egan was so sure there was another goal in this game? Yeah, that was great. Let's see how much the team pushes the "unbeaten in five" message. Draws on the road are still generally fine, but that's predicated on taking care of business at home. Which the Fire haven't done yet.