The Chicago Fire captured their second win of the season on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Houston Dynamo 1-0 at Toyota Park.
Arturo Alvarez netted his first goal since joining the Fire just three minutes into the match, which proved to be enough for the struggling side to get past their opponent.
The 30-year-old forward ran onto a perfectly played through ball from Gilberto before touching his first-time effort past goalkeeper Tyler Deric. While the Dynamo keeper finished the afternoon with six saves it wasn’t enough to at least earn a point.
Chances came at a premium for the away side, with the Dynamo failing to test Sean Johnson on a regular basis. Second-half substitute Mauro Manotas provided a bit of a spark for the Western Conference team after entering the match after the hour mark.
With the victory, the Fire still remain at the basement of the Eastern Conference with 10 points, while the Dynamo sit last in the West with one more point.
The Fire will host the Portland Timbers next Saturday as they go for two straight wins, while the Dynamo head to the Pacific Northwest to meet the Vancouver Whitecaps.
MAN OF THE MATCH
While Alvarez managed his first goal in a Fire uniform, Gilberto was the man that made things happen on Saturday. The attacker finished the afternoon with eight shots, while also providing the assist on Alvarez’s early goal.
MOMENT OF THE MATCH
It took just three minutes, but the Fire came out hungry early and found the back of the net through Arturo Alvarez. The veteran forward’s finish proved to be the difference for a Fire team desperate to get in the win column.
MATCH TO FORGET
Will Bruin went 55 minutes without tallying a shot for the Dynamo, and failed to get himself involved in many attacks in what proved to be a frustrating performance for the forward.
The coach needs to go, he is unable to make in game adjustments to change results, and has won like 2 road games and the last was like last August. We talked offseason about how we’d be a better road team and are 0-fer and can’t even get points from the Fire.
The GM also needs to go, the poor defense is his fault, and most of his acquisitions have not worked out.
Clean house, get in a decent coach with a competitive system, and a GM who’s won things before. Jordan has basically turned us into Montreal while he was there.
The Dynamo attack is poor for tactical reasons. You look at the first few games of the season and we can score goals if we throw some numbers forward. Right now it’s a guy on an island and a bunch of pointless perimeter passing.
The Dynamo defense is poor for talent reasons. Beasley has crested the hill, and the rest were never anything to begin with. The team’s general fate is linked to the shaky defense and will not alter until changes are made. That’s not churning the bench, it’s signing people worth a crap.