BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – DaMarcus Beasley’s return to Chicago for the first time since 2004 didn’t quite go to plan as the former Fire defender accepted full responsibility for the Houston Dynamo’s 1-0 defeat at Toyota Park on Saturday night.
The former US national team player looked out of sorts in the opening exchanges before exiting the game through injury in the 13th minute in what was his first game in Chicago since leaving the Men in Red for PSV Eindhoven in 2004.
But before coming out, Beasley was caught out on a third-minute strike by Arturo Alvarez, and that was all the Fire needed as the Dynamo came up against goalkeeper Sean Johnson, who was in impenetrable form on the day. The Dynamo remain without a road win since July 10, 2015.
Beasley, 33, had been taking pain medication for an on-going injury issue and suggested that he may not have been fully fit before kickoff. He took to Twitter after the game to voice his thoughts.
“He’s been carrying an injury for a couple of weeks and he had taken some pain medication to cope with that,” head coach Owen Coyle told reporters at his post-game press conference. “He felt poorly before the game and whether that was a consequence of picking the injury up, then I don’t know. We’ll assess him with the medical team and we’ll see what happened.”
Beasley was replaced by another former Fire defender in Jalil Anibaba, as the Dynamo went on to enjoy 63 percent possession, forcing Johnson into three saves, the best of which was a finger-tip save to deny Mauro Manotas from distance.
However, Coyle lamented the lack of pace and fluidity in his team and their inability to replicate their recent good form at home, where they have won two of their last three games.
“It’s the same as any defeat,” Coyle insisted. “Nobody likes losing games and I think today was an opportunity to come and look to get nine points out of 12 and we’ve let that slip us by. I think every one of us, and I’ve said that to the group, you can’t perform to such a high standard at home as we’ve done and then come and [play like that].
“I’m not talking about the result," he continued. "I felt as much for all the possession we had, we never passed it as quickly and as fluently or looked as dynamic as we do when we go and attack it quickly. On the road, it’s got to be the same to replicate those home performances, and when we’re doing that we’re showing we can stand toe-to-toe with the very best.”
Coyle also bemoaned the loss of such an influential performer as Beasley so early, as it denied them of a significant attacking threat down the left flank.
“He’s one of the top players and he always has been and it’s always difficult when you lose a player of that caliber,” he added. “It certainly didn’t help us because he gives us an attacking threat, but that’s the nature of the game. Every player that picks up an injury you’ve got to adjust to it and unfortunately it happened very early in the game for ourselves.”
