Chicago House Athletic Club’s inconsistent form continued on Wednesday night as they were beaten 2-0 by Chattanooga FC at Finley Stadium.

The first goal of the game came after just 11 minutes when Markus Naglestad poked home following some woeful defending. Chattanooga then put the contest to bed in the final few moments through Brett Jones, who rifled a shot into the back of the net after being given too much space out wide.

Story of the match

The home side took an early lead through Markus Naglestad, with the goal being set up by Damian Rodriguez. The latter broke free down the right wing before hitting a low pass across the area, which eventually fell to the former for an easy finish from a few yards out.

Far from the most exciting first half, not much really happened apart from the aforementioned goal.

The second half started in similar fashion, with neither outfit managing to create many chances for themselves.

Chicago came close following a corner kick, as the cross picked out Rodolfo Sulia in the area. However, his close range header went just wide of goal.

Another opportunity fell their way with about 15 minutes to go. A clever pass in a packed area by Musa Morris found Derek Huffman, but his instinctive strike barely missed the frame, and it may have even skimmed the post.

They were made to pay for their misses late on as Chattanooga grabbed a second to put the contest to bed. Brett Jones received the ball out wide in plenty of space and made the most of it, getting closer and closer to goal before rifling a shot into the roof of the net from a tight angle.

That proved to be the final highlight of a contest that lacked many.

Takeaways

Fair play to whoever waved a flag for the entirety of the contest, especially considering the size of that thing.

I know that it’s obviously harder to play on the road, but it’s weird that the House are a lot more boring away from home. They fail to create nearly as many chances, and they just pass the ball around the midfield with varying levels of success. It’s not ideal, but fortunately this is their last game of the campaign on the road.

Ian Cerro looked like the best of an average bunch for Chicago. He tried to make things happen, getting onto the ball and driving forward with it on several occasions. Another player who deserves credit is Musa Morris, who had a similar impact off the bench.

There’s a lot of parity in NISA. Other than Detroit City FC at the top and 1904 FC at the bottom, everyone’s quite even. Anyone can beat anyone, which makes watching games a bit more exciting.

Man of the match - Damian Rodriguez

No one really stood out, but Damian Rodriguez created the crucial opening goal, so he deserves the honors here.

Getting the ball out wide, he just kept going and going before he played a smart low pass into the area. It ended up falling to teammate Markus Naglestad, who finished off the move from close range. He’ll get credit for the goal, but the hard work was done by Rodriguez.

That’s what mattered at the end of the night. It was a quality moment from the 18-year-old, which goes to show just how bright his future might be.