Fire going to U.S. Open Cup semifinals
The Chicago Fire booked a spot in the 2016 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinals with a 3-0 victory over NASL side Fort Lauderdale Strikers on Wednesday night at Toyota Park.
The Fire opened scoring early after David Accam was brought down on a dribble inside the 18-yard box by Fort Lauderdale goalkeeper Diego Restrepo. The Ghanaian forward converted his attempt from the penalty spot, scoring his fourth goal in this year's Open Cup tournament and putting the Fire up 1-0 in the fifth minute.
Accam made his presence felt again in the 35th minute. After winning a ball at midfield, the forward dribbled through the Striker's central channel and around Restrepo in the penalty area. His low attempt was pushed across the goal mouth for a charging Michael de Leeuw to finish and increase the Fire lead to 2-0. It was de Leeuw's first goal in the U.S. Open Cup competition and his second in his four matches wearing a Fire shirt.
The Fire would net their third and final goal just minutes into the second half. After Accam played a short corner to Brandon Vincent, the recently announced 2016 MLS All-Star's cross found the head of midfielder Nick LaBrocca, who was subbed on for Razvan Cocis just before halftime. LaBrocca's headed attempt was parried by Restrepo, but the rebound fell to the feet of Khaly Thiam who was able to mop it up and make the lead 3-0 in the 51st.
With the win, the Fire move to 41-13-5 all-time in Open Cup play, including a 28-1-2 record in matches played in the state of Illinois. The Fire extend their current home unbeaten streak to eight games (5-0-3) across all competitions and advance to the tournament's semifinals for a U.S. Open Cup record 12th time, where they'll face the New England Revolution on Tuesday, Aug. 9. New England advanced to the semifinals on the strength of a penalty kick shootout victory over the Philadelphia Union on Wednesday night. The last time the Fire faced the Revolution in U.S. Open Cup play was a 2006 quarterfinal match, a 2-1 victory for Chicago.
A draw to determine the host location for both the semifinal round as well as potential championship match locations will be conducted by the United States Soccer Federation and take place at 10 a.m. Thursday.