Chicago 1, Union 0: Player grades, analysis and reaction

The Union started this game looking like Arsenal, then finished like Aston Villa.

Jim Curtin's team hit two crossbars and a post before suffering a horrendous red card and then conceding the game's only goal. That three-minute momentum swing defined the match and cost the team a really good chance at bringing home some road points.

Truthfully, the Union were probably the better team before Warren Creavalle's sending-off.

It was a nasty day in Bridgeview, with the weather shifting from snow flurries, to high winds, to sunshine, then back to snow again. Curtin rolled out the same starting lineup that won 3-0 against New England two weeks ago, with the previously injured Tranquillo Barnetta and Vincent Nogueira returning to the bench.

When the stats don't really matter

Philly probably had the better opportunities and better passages of play, but just couldn't make it count on the score sheet.

At the half, the Union had out-shot Chicago by a 12 to three margin, but only one of those shots was on target. At full time, Philadelphia had 17 shots to Chicago's 10, but only managed three on target, with eight shots missing the mark and six others getting blocked by Fire defenders.

That's a 17.6 percent on-target shot ratio, which is pretty poor, especially considering the fact that they did so well to create scoring chances on the road. In fact, this was the most shots the Union have generated so far this season.

Here's how the Union did in this stat in their previous three games:

Even with the man advantage, Chicago only won the possession battle by a 54 percent to 46 percent margin.

The Union earned more corner kicks, won more duels, won more tackles, and finished the game with more touches in the attacking half and the final third.

They just couldn't make it count.

Ill-Skills

Ilsinho is definitely the most skilled player to ever play on this team. Watch this clip over and over and over:

Sometimes we look at flicks and tricks and wonder if they really make a difference. In this case, the midfielder set up a scoring opportunity with the nutmeg and drive to the endline. It's a level of skill that we really haven't seen before on this team.

Even after Creavalle's ejection, you felt like the team might be able to scrape a goal against the run of play, just because of the attacking talent that remained on the field. That wouldn't be the case in years past, when a Union team was pretty much toast after seeing a player sent off.

In this game, Ilsinho again lead the team with four key passes.

Reaction

Warren Creavalle

“I believe we were the best team today. In the end, we were unfortunate not to show it, in large part due to going down a man, on my part.”

Jim Curtin

“I thought in the last 15 minutes of the first half, we pushed the game a bit. We started the second half very well. Unfortunately it's the year of the red card across the league. It's not a good way for games to go, but it's the initiative that's come in, and you see in almost every game now there's a team playing short-handed. We have to be disciplined. We started the second half, hit the bar, had a little bit of momentum, then went into a silly tackle.”

Grades

Starting XI: Blake, Fabinho, Marquez, Tribbett, Rosenberry; Carroll, Creavalle; Ilsinho, Alberg, Pontius; Sapong

C.J. Sapong: B+

Didn't see much of the ball in the first 25 minutes, then clanked a header off the crossbar. About 15 minutes after that, he finished a beautiful combination play with shot that came off the left post and back into play. He later saw another effort go just wide.

Sapong put in another hard-working shift; he just couldn't get one in the back of the net.

Ilsinho: B

Ilsinho performed the first-ever elastico nutmeg in Union history, then ripped a shot off the crossbar to begin the second half.

The interchange with Keegan Rosenberry down the right flank didn't seem to develop until later in the first half, but Ilsinho did try to move inside a bit and link up with Sapong and Alberg a bit more.

Roland Alberg: B-

In his first start last week, Alberg played a conservative game. This week, he looked much more inclined to attack and create from his number 10 position. He finished the game with five shots, but couldn't get one on target. The best effort was a second half strike that hit a Chicago player from short-range inside the box.

Alberg showed his strength with a beastly run in the 38th minute that forced Matt Polster to take a yellow card. Rodrigo Ramos escaped a caution when he committed a tactical foul of his own at the end of the sequence.

Chris Pontius: C

Pontius had another relatively quiet start to the game, then he carved out a scoring opportunity with a nice inside run and a right-footed shot that sailed high and wide.

He came off in the 66th minute with two attempted shots and a respectable two-way effort.

Warren Creavalle: F+

It was a shame to see Creavalle's sending-off, because he really played well against New England and Columbus.

The first tackle was unnecessary, and the second challenge may even have been red card worthy, considering how tight officials are calling games this season.

Aside from the ejection, he made a smart play when he got back to block a dangerous cross that came across the Union goalmouth.

Brian Carroll: B+

Quietly had himself another good game, especially after losing his defensive midfield partner. He worked his butt off to cover a lot of ground, and even with a couple of dicey early moments, he put in another smart and veteran performance.

Fabinho: B

Solid game overall from the left back, who had a tricky matchup against Arturo Alvarez and Rodrigo Ramos on his side of the field.

Fabinho was called on to make some early defensive clearances, then slowly started to get forward and find some space to attack. Still, the overlap and interchange with Pontius doesn't seem to be as dangerous as it was in the preseason.

Richie Marquez: B

Another good game for Marquez, highlighted by two late blocks against Gilberto in 1v1 situations. He lost a grand total of zero tackles but did hoof a couple of balls up the field.

Ken Tribbett: C+

Tribbett played the wrong side of Kennedy Igboananike on the Chicago goal, and his lone mistake probably cost the team at least a point.

It's disappointing, because up until that point he was having himself a really good game.

His first big contribution was a 30-yard sprint to close down Razvan Cocis on a breakout opportunity down the left channel. Then, he did very well to block a close-range effort when Andre Blake failed to claim a difficult cross inside the box.

You could say that Tribbett played a big role in keeping Chicago off the scoreboard early, before the second half mistake on the goal.

Keegan Rosenberry: B-

His day began with a nice recovery run after a Fabinho turnover gave Gilberto a look in the left channel.

Defensively, he did an adequate job against Igboananike and Michael Harrington. He didn't get forward much in the first half, then hit a great cross in the 74th minute that skittered across the face of goal.

There were a couple of instances where Rosenberry had short-range passing options available, but went for a more difficult pass instead. The rookie was excellent against New England, and I think he needs to just keep working the right channel with Ilsinho.

Andre Blake: B

Blake probably could have punched that first half cross that he ended up bobbling in the windy conditions. You saw on the next cross that he played it safe didn't try to make a difficult catch.

The goalkeeper only had to make one save in this game, and couldn't do much to stop the Chicago goal. He did have a brilliant reflex save on Gilberto from about three feet away, but the play was blown dead due to an offside call.

Substitutes

66' Sebastien Le Toux: C

Le Toux replaced in Pontius in a second-half double swap.

He wasn't as effective coming into a 10v11 situation with an altered shape and a one-goal deficit. There were a couple of times where the shuffled formation affected the team spacing and off-the-ball movement, which was highlighted by the instance where Le Toux and Sapong both hesitated on a loose ball, only to turn it over.

66' Tranquillo Barnetta: C+

This was Barnetta's first appearance of 2016.

Like Le Toux, he entered into a difficult, short-handed situation. He didn't do much to affect the game, and wasted a late-game set piece with a floated ball that should have been driven or curled into the box.

78' Fabian Herbers: C

He made a strong run in the 90th minute that resulted in a collision inside the box, but no penalty call.

Later, he had a golden opportunity to level the game, but inexplicably took a touch inside the box instead of firing a first-time shot.

Referee: Silviu Petrescu: B-

Roland Alberg's gut-busting run should have resulted in two yellow cards for two tactical fouls, but Petrescu only handed out one.

The calls against Creavalle were correct, and the second one may have earned a straight red card from other referees.

Later in the game, Matt Polster was lucky to avoid a second yellow after bundling into Ilsinho from behind.

Overall, Petrescu was alright on the day, just a bit inconsistent at times.

Weather: F-

Now you see why MLS will never go to a winter schedule.