The Chicago Fire’s flickering playoff hopes will be put on the line Saturday in a city where victories have been hard to come by when they visit the Columbus Crew.
Whether it be at Historic Crew Stadium or the Crew’s current home, Lower.com Field, the Fire (8-13-7, 31 points) have not won in Columbus since 2013, losing nine games and tying three.
Chicago, five points below the Eastern Conference playoff line with six matches left, faces a Crew (9-6-12, 39 points) team doing just enough to reside in sixth place. They hold a three-point margin over Inter Miami with a game in hand after defeating the Herons 1-0 Wednesday night.
“I really like the clean sheet and I like that we had a gutsy 1-0 win,” said Crew coach Caleb Porter, whose team hasn’t lost in five games (2-0-3). “Oftentimes, at the end of the year, and certainly playoffs, this game is decided by one goal. … It hasn’t been necessarily the prettiest, but we know we can get results that way and that’s what it’s about.”
The Crew were more defensive-minded than usual in the absence of Lucas Zelarayan, who was a pregame scratch because of a right thigh injury and is questionable Saturday. He leads the Crew with eight goals and 10 assists.
Chicago is coming off a 0-0 tie at New England on Wednesday, running its winless streak to three losses and a tie.
Some of that is due to ailments that limited regulars Xherdan Shaqiri and Mauricio Pineda to second-half action vs. the Revolution, while Rafael Czichos and Jairo Torres did not play and are listed as questionable against the Crew. Further, midfielder Gaston Gimenez underwent hamstring surgery last week and is done for the year.
“It is unfortunate. It’s a long season. Injuries happen,” Fire coach Ezra Hendrickson said. “Guys take knocks, especially guys who have been playing consistent minutes, and so that is why you have guys ready to step up.”
–Field Level Media
