Chicago Fire advances to Open Cup finals

The Chicago Fire has played plenty of attractive soccer and not gotten a good result this season.

Tuesday night in the U.S. Open Cup semifinals it struggled but won 2-1 over the third-division Richmond Kickers at Toyota Park. Nobody in red was going to give the victory back.

“We moved on to the next stage and we got it done,” rookie Jalil Anibaba said.

“Obviously, we looked a little bit mentally tired after the last game against Colorado (on Saturday night). It was a very difficult one,” Fire interim coach/technical director Frank Klopas said.

“I knew that we came out with the right attitude, and sometimes games like this if you underestimate your opponent sometimes you put yourself in a bad situation.”

The Fire has put itself in a bad situation often this season, and it almost did again, giving up a 68th-minute goal to Richmond to narrow the lead to 2-1. But the Fire regained its focus and held on for the win.

“We knew what was at stake,” Klopas said.

The Fire took the lead in the 32nd minute after forward Patrick Nyarko was fouled in the penalty area.

Sebastian Grazzini’s penalty kick made it 1-0.

The Fire made it 2-0 in the 61st minute when Dominic Oduro took a Nyarko pass and bent a shot into the far post from 18 yards out.

“Fantastic goal, no?” Klopas said.

The Fire puts a lot of emphasis on the Open Cup, more than many MLS clubs, and this season it’s especially important given the club’s 4-7-15 MLS record.

“It means a lot,” said Anibaba, who played another strong game at center back. “It’s been tough because the Open Cup has been one of our goals from the beginning of the season and we’re trying to win it and we’re one step closer.

“We’ll see what happens in the final.”

The Fire will play in the Open Cup final Oct. 4 at Seattle against the Sounders.

The news was not all good for the Fire.

Grazzini left at halftime after tweaking a hamstring. Midfielder Pavel Pardo did not play because of a calf injury suffered Saturday night. Both hope to be available when the team resumes MLS play Sept. 10 at San Jose.

oschwarz@dailyherald.com

Follow Orrin Schwarz on Twitter @orrinsoccer.