BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (AP) - Bastian Schweinsteiger scored in his MLS debut, Luis Solignac scored in second-half stoppage time, and the Chicago Fire tied the Montreal Impact 2-2 on Saturday.
Schweinsteiger, a World Cup winner with Germany, was acquired from Manchester United on March 21st after the 32-year-old struggled to replicate the highs of his Bayern Munich career.
“I was not nervous, but I was looking forward to play football,” he said after his Fire debut.
Schweinsteiger headed in David Accam’s cross in the 17th minute to give Chicago a 1-0 lead. The Fire played the short option on a corner kick and Schweinsteiger was unmarked in the box.
“Perfect cross from David and the header,” said Schweinsteiger, who played the full 90 minutes. “It was a good feeling at first, but I’m a little bit sad and not so happy that we couldn’t win the game.”
In the third minute of second-half stoppage time, Solignac chested a long pass from Dax McCarty and turned on a shot from just outside the 18-yard box.
Matteo Mancosu headed in Chris Duvall’s cross at the back post as Montreal tied it at 1-all in the 61st minute. Ballou Jean-Yves Tabla, making his first MLS start, sent a shot from distance in the 90th minute to give Montreal a 2-1 lead.
Chicago’s Juninho was shown his second yellow card in the 71st for breaking up a counter attack near midfield. Montreal’s Víctor Cabrera was given a red card in the 80th for bringing down Solignac on a breakaway.
“A debut with a goal is always something that we all dream of,” Fire coach Veljko Paunovic said about Schweinsteiger. “You know, starting and opening the game how we did with his goal, I think it was an important thing for our team.”
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