Bob Bradley preached patience as the Los Angeles Football Club sought to stay perfect at home.

On Saturday night it was a message that the best team in Major League Soccer had to hear.

Facing a Chicago Fire squad that gave up a goal apiece in its last two matches and lost both of them, LAFC pushed to find a magic strike that would have given it six wins in six tries in front of its supporters in 2019.

The moment never materialized and a club record winning streak at Banc of California Stadium dwindled away as LAFC (7-1-3, 24 points) played to its second scoreless draw in team history after the Portland Timbers locked them down last July.

LAFC dominated possession, yet failed to open up space in the final third that would have exposed Chicago.

“With a lot of numbers back finding the right pass, the quality of the pass, definitely hurt us,” Bradley said.

Right back Steven Beitashour returned to the LAFC lineup after missing the club’s last match due to knee soreness, and the top-scoring team in MLS appeared to be at full strength at kickoff.

Unlike the teams’ first meeting in 2018, when a down Chicago side dismantled a flat-footed LAFC 3-1 in a pivotal match with a month remaining in the regular season, the Black & Gold pushed from the opening whistle as it hoped to turn the page from a frustrating 1-1 result in Seattle when Bradley’s team walked off of CenturyLink Field in Seattle with a draw despite playing with a two-man advantage.

Thirty minutes into the match against Chicago it was clear that for LAFC to find a positive result it had to dissect a compact group guarding goalkeeper David Ousted with two lines of four.

LAFC out-shot Chicago 21 to 9, putting five on target compared to the visitor’s one.

Several chances in front of the Fire goal prompted an announced crowd of 22,154 to groan its displeasure as near misses, stifled chances and frustration mounted.

A corner kick near the half hour mark gave LAFC defender Jordan Harvey a chance to take two whacks at the ball directly in front of Ousted before striker Christian Ramirez had his chance.

“It’s one of those nights when the ball just didn’t want to go in,” said Ramirez, who last week missed a wide open opportunity that would have given LAFC the lead against the Sounders.

The Fire (2-4-4, 10 points) took chances when they could, and did as good a job as any LAFC opponent this year in limiting the effectiveness of Carlos Vela, who had one shot on goal.

Yet again LAFC had to contend with being jostled around the field, suffering 15 fouls to increase the club’s league-high tally to 172.

Chicago star Bastian Schweinsteiger received a yellow card for accosting Vela in the 41st minute.

The 30-year-old Mexican star continued to push for a breakthrough, though, nearly connecting with fellow winger Diego Rossi, who missed putting a right-footed hit on frame.

The Eastern Conference visitors almost snuck one past LAFC goalkeeper Miller late in the first half when he stepped outside the box into no man’s land and was fortunate to knock away the ball in a one-on-one situation.

Chicago came closest to scoring after halftime when Aleksander Katai hit a low cross that was a step behind an open Namanja Nikolic inside the six-yard box.

Aided by the availability of striker Adama Diomande for the first time since week six, when LAFC marauded over D.C. United, and designated player Andre Horta, who had not played since week four, Bradley threw whatever he could at the stout Chicago defense to find a game-winner.

Midfielder Lee Nguyen was substituted on for Ramirez with just under a half hour to play, and Diomande entered in the final quarter hour for Beitashour, but neither attacker helped engineer a breakdown of the Fire.

“It’s a long season,” Bradley said. “We still have to continue to get better and answer the challenge of playing games at home when teams take a more defensive structure. That’s ways we have to improve.”

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