Fire Overpowers Union

  Chicago was just too much for the Philadelphia Union on Saturday night. In the fog and mist Toyota Park was buzzing with excitement for the home opener of 2012. And the Fire didn't fail.
  From the first whistle Chicago dictated play on the field. The team seemed to have complete control of the game with very good ball movement. They only seemed to falter when in the final third. Just having a little trouble breaking through Union's young back line. When able to get through, Union goalie Zach Macmath,displayed some brilliancy. Chicago got their first effort in the fourteenth minute. On the offensive break, Sebastian Grazzini sent a laserbeam only to be stopped by Macmath.
In the 28' Chicago was able to finally able to find a chink in the armor of the Union keeper. Marco Pappa displayed brilliant dribbling skills up the side only to make a brilliant cross. It was met by a snapping header by Dominic Oduro and  found a resting spot in the sidenetting of the goal. With many more brilliant efforts by Chicago this would be the only time that the Fire would find the back of the net, although Pappa did stop hearts with a post in the second half.
  The second half Philadelphia came out hell bent on bringing a point home. With constant pressure on their side of the pitch the Fire defense was able to thwart the efforts. Then in the 70' Chicago made a tactical decision to sub Paladini in for Pardo. This almost proved to be a disastrous choice for the Fire. Union efforts were seemingly able to walk right through the middle and if it weren't without the brilliancy of Cory Gibbs and Paolo Tornaghi this night would have surely not been a win.
  Overall the atmosphere was unbelievable. I was so happy to be down in the stands and not upstairs for this match. The electricity had returned to the crowd after a two year hiatus. Section 8 was in rare form, and other sections of the crowd were actually starting their own chants as well. Very good to see all of the excitement for the team and sport. With all of the new fans it seemed as if the organization might not have been entirely prepared though. Security was entirely focused upon Section 8 and nonexistent throughout the rest of the stadium. I only noticed one fight luckily, but this is something that should be seen to in order to avoid future problems.

Defense: B
Midfield: B+
Offense: B
Goalkeeping: A
overall: B+

Fans and Supporters: A+

Stadium and Organization: C

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