After playing a largely uninspiring half of soccer, the New England Revolution and the Chicago Fire retired to the locker rooms to prepare for the second half with the score tied at nil-nil. Both teams had chances, but for the most part the half was jammed up in the midfield.
New England did appear to be the dominant side, and they also created the earliest chances. Benny Feilhaber went close in the third minute after a good sequence between him, Saer Sene, and Jose Moreno granted him the opportunity. Moreno himself got a header on target in the eleventh minute but it was right at Johnson and saved.
Chicago nearly exploited the Revolution's difficulty with set-pieces when Pavel Pardo lined up a free kick in the 17th minute, but a free header from Gonzalo Segares was denied by the far post in the end. Neither team had too many chances, though, with only five shots for the Revs and three for the Fire. The teams also recorded a shot on goal each.
Encouragingly, the Revs did win the possession battle, controlling the ball for around 57.3% of the time, and their passing accuracy was better than usual at a respectable 72.5%. Chicago, meanwhile, had a passing accuracy of 67.8%. New England also topped the Fire in Duels Won % (66.7%), Open Play Crosses (11 to 5), and Corners (2 to 0).
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