babbelfootball.blogspot.com: Preview: Chicago Fire FC vs. San Jose Earthquakes

domingo, 19 de julho de 2020

Preview: Chicago Fire FC vs. San Jose Earthquakes | MLS is Back Tournament, Group B

2020 MLS is Back Tournament – Group B, Matchday 12
Chicago Fire FC vs. San Jose Earthquakes
ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex
Sun., July 19 – 8:00 PM ET

TV: FS1, TUDN; TSN, TVA Sports in Canada

STREAMING: FOX Sports App, TUDN App; TSN App in Canada

Chicago Fire FC and the San Jose Earthquakes meet in a critical Group B match Sunday night.

The Quakes can clinch the group's top spot with a win, while the Fire will feel confident about their advancement to the Round of 16 with their second consecutive victory.

San Jose are coming off a dramatic come-from-behind win over the Vancouver Whitecaps in the tournament's wildest game to date. Thanks to a calamity of errors defensively, the Quakes trailed 2-0 after 22 minutes and again had a two-goal deficit following Cristian Dajome's gift of a goal in the 59th minute. MLS' all-time scorer Chris Wondolowski came off the bench to pull the Quakes within a goal in the 72nd minute, Oswaldo Alanis leveled in the 81st minute and Shea Salinas scored the dramatic winner in the eighth minute of stoppage time.

The Fire's delayed opening match of the tournament was well worth the wait as Raphael Wicky picked up his first win as MLS manager with a 2-1 victory over the Seattle Sounders. Robert Beric opened the scoring in the 52nd minute. He took full advantage of a bouncing ball at midfield, shouldering off Xavier Arreaga and flashing some pace, a sweet touch with his backheel to evade Yeimar Gomez Andrade before calmly finishing past Stefan Frei.

Seven minutes after Handwalla Bwalla's equalizer, Mauricio Pineda scored the 84th-minute winner, finishing a bouncing ball at the back post off a corner kick.