CHICAGO – The Chicago Fire defeated FC Dallas 2-1 in MLS Reserve League action Tuesday morning at the Toyota Park Practice Field. The Fire went ahead courtesy of two first half goals by Hunter Jumper and Dominic Oduro before Scott Sealy pulled one back for the visitors in the second half.
The Fire took early control of the ball and in the 5th minute when Homegrown midfielder Victor Pineda whipped a corner kick into the box, finding the head of Hunter Jumper. Jumper leaped and connected with the ball, sending a glancing header past Dallas ‘keeper David Gonzalez to give the Fire the 1-0 lead.
Making his first appearance for the Men in Red, new signing Guillermo Franco came close to scoring in the 40th minute. Corben Bone fed the former Mexican international to the top of the penalty area, turned a defender and hit a low drive that came back off the left post.
In the 42nd minute the Fire were able to capitalize on the speed of Ghanaian forward Dominic Oduro. Corben Bone played a long ball over the top for Oduro, who easily out-sprinted the Dallas defense into the box and ripped one past Gonzales for a 2-0 lead.
The Fire continued to press but Gonzalez withstood the heat and was able to make a flurry of saves on Oduro, Pineda and Michael Videira to finish out the first half.
FC Dallas came out strong in the second half and unleashed multiple shots on goal. Dallas midfielder Bryan Leyva played the ball across to Matias Jara, whose shot from inside the 18 rattled the crossbar in the 64th minute.
Dallas continued to press and their work paid off in the 78th minute when Bruno Guarda drew a foul in 35-yards from goal. Ricardo Villar quickly took the ensuing restart and sent the ball over the top of to Sealy, who pounced on the ball and slid it past Fire ‘keeper Jay Nolly into the net to cut the lead in half.
Dallas continued to look for the equalizer but the Fire were able to withstand the pressure to emerge victorious, 2-1.
The loss pushes FC Dallas Reserves’ record to 4-3-1 (13 points), while the Fire Reserves improve to 4-4-0 (12 points). FC Dallas Reserves are back in action versus Sporting Kansas City Reserves next Tuesday, Sept. 25 at FC Dallas Stadium. That match is set to kickoff at 7:30 p.m. CT.
Reserves: Chicago Fire 2, FC Dallas 1
Chicago Fire Reserves – Jay Nolly; Tony Walls, Francis Otira^, Grant Lillard, Hunter Jumper; Wells Thompson (Joel DeLass^ 71), Michael Videira; Dominic Oduro (Ricardo Aldape 67), Corben Bone, Victor Pineda; Guillermo Franco (Marcus Epps* 61)
Substitutes not used: Paolo Tornaghi, Cody Witkowski, Oscar Gonzales
FC Dallas Reserves – David Gonzales^; Victor Ulloa, Bobby Warshaw, James Marcelin, Christian de Luna; Bruno Guarda, Ricardo Villar, Bryan Leyva (Marco Ortiz 77), Marco Carrizales; Scott Sealy, Matias Jara
Substitutes not used: Alejandro Dominguez, Richard Sanchez
^ Guest trialist
* Academy player
Scoring Summary
CHI – Hunter Jumper (Victor Pineda) 5’
CHI – Dominic Oduro (Corben Bone) 42’
FCD – Scott Sealy (Ricardo Villar) 78’
Misconduct Summary:
CHI – Guillermo Franco (caution) 54’
CHI – Tony Walls (caution) 75’
Referee: Dimitar Chavdarov
Assistant Referees: George Ghawi, Cesar Ibarra
Fourth Official: Nikola Aleksic
