Chicago notches 3-0 win at Toronto

 

TORONTO (July 29) – The Chicago Fire snapped a five-game road losing streak with a 3-0 win over Toronto FC before a sellout crowd of 20,322 at BMO Field.  The victory was the first for head coach Juan Carlos Osorio, making his second appearance on the bench for a Major League Soccer game.

 

Forward Calen Carr figured in two of the Fire's tallies, registering a second-half goal and later assisting Floyd Franks' first career goal.  Franks tapped in a cross from Carr in the 75th minute to ensure Chicago of its largest margin of victory this season.

 

"The hard work we have put forth in practice paid off," said Osorio afterwards.  "We executed our game plan well today.  We were efficient on offense, converting our chances and defensively we were spot on."

 

Ivan Guerrero provided the game-winning goal in the 37th minute, accepting a flick pass from Cuauhtémoc Blanco in the box and placing a left-footed shot over the shoulder of David Monsalve, an 18-year-old goalkeeper making his MLS debut.

 

Carr gave the Fire a 2-0 lead in the 58th minute, tucking a shot from six yards out under the cross bar for his second marker of the season.

 

Goalkeeper Matt Pickens made three saves for his fifth shutout of the season, the sixth of his career.  Chicago finished with a 14-5 advantage in total shots, including a 10-3 edge in shots on goal.

 

The Fire (5-8-4) plays host to Columbus this Saturday (Aug. 4) at TOYOTA PARK (7:30 p.m. CT/HDNet).

 

Notes:

·          Chicago and Toronto split their season series, 1-1-1

·          The road victory was Chicago's first dating to a 1-0 win at Houston on April 29.

·          Coming off a six-game road trip, Toronto (5-9-4) was playing its first home game since June 17.

·          Blanco has points in both games he played for the Fire, which includes a goal in last week's exhibition against

      Celtic FC.

 

Contact:  Daniel Jankowski / 708.921.6504 / djankowski@chicago-fire.com

 

Scoring Summary:

CHI: Ivan Guerrero (Cuauhtémoc Blanco) 37

TOR: Calen Carr (u/a) 58

CHI: Floyd Franks (Calen Carr) 75

 

Chicago Lineup (3-4-3): GK-Matt Pickens, D-Gonzalo Segares, D-C.J. Brown, D-Dasan Robinson, MF-Ivan Guerrero, MF-Diego Gutierrez (Brian Plotkin 87), MF-Chris Armas, MF-Logan Pause, F-Chad Barrett (Floyd Franks, 66), F-Cuauhtemoc Blanco (Thiago 82), F-Calen Carr.

Toronto Lineup (3-5-2): GK-David Monsalve, D-Andrew Boyens (Andrea Lombardo 46), D-Tyrone Marshall, D-Todd Dunivant, MF-Chris Pozniak, MF-Jim Brennan, MF-Maurice Edu, MF-Carl Robinson, MF-Andy Welsh, F-Danny Dichio (Joey Melo 67), F-Collin Samuel

Discipline Summary

TOR – Andy Welsh (caution) 10

CHI – Calen Carr (caution) 13

TOR – Collin Samuel (caution) 42

CHI – Chad Barrett (caution) 44

 

Referee: Jair Marrufo  Referee Assistants: Rob Fereday, George Vergara