Dockal does it all
Borek Dockal made his mark at Talen Energy Stadium on Wednesday evening. The Czech maestro carried his team on a difficult evening against an opponent that deployed unusual tactics to try and target Philly’s young defenders.
First, Dockal set up Ilsinho’s superb opener with a long pass to find the Brazilian in space. Next, he spun a perfect cross onto Cory Burke’s head to give the Union a two goal lead. And, after Chicago pulled one back through Alan Gordon, Dockal stepped to the spot to secure three points by lashing a penalty into Patrick McLain’s goal.
As Jim Curtin said after the match, “It should have been a comfortable game, but after getting the second goal, we made it interesting on ourselves. Got a little casual, tuned out a little bit.” But Dockal was determined to leave May with 10 points in the bag. Now he, and the team, will do just that.
Goals change games
Just before the halftime whistle, Ilsinho did the business on Chicago’s talented young left back and a legendary German midfielder… at the same time. After gathering the ball and turning to face Brandon Vincent and Bastian Schweinsteiger, Ilsinho did Ronaldinho proud by dragging the ball wide of his body with his right foot then pulling it inside to turn Schweinsteiger’s legs to jelly. Then he used his left foot to touch the ball past a stunned Vincent and proceed into the box to crack a fiery finish past McLain.
“It would take someone beating someone on a 1v1 to open up the space and get an opportunity on goal,” Curtin said after the match. “Ilsinho obviously makes a very special play, scores a goal, and goals change games, and Chicago had to change formations at halftime.”
Indeed, the Fire moved Schweinsteiger up front for the second half, but it was not enough to change the final outcome as the Union added two more to walk out 3-1 winners.
Pauno plays tactical games
“It frustrated us,” Curtin said when describing Chicago’s unexpected tactical approach to the match. The Fire took a page out of Chivas Guadalajara’s book by marking the Union front six man-to-man and tight, leaving Philly’s center backs to dribble forward unopposed until deep into the final third. Behind that man-to-man system, Schweinsteiger hung out in a sweeper role three yards behind Kevin Ellis. Once Chicago controlled the ball, the German would stride forward into midfield with Aleksander Katai pushing up into the front line. Meanwhile, the Fire would clear the center of the pitch to try and dominate the wide areas.
“In terms of the uniqueness of it, it was almost, well it was literally a sweeper formation with a pretty good player that can read the game behind it, and then literally man-to-man. If Ale and Borek went to the sidelines, they literally followed them to the sidelines,” Curtin told the media. “It’s unique. I think it used to happen maybe in the 70s.”
