Bridgeview, Ill. (Aug. 1, 2024) – Chicago Fire FC fell 3-1 to Deportivo Toluca F.C. in Leagues Cup play on Thursday night at SeatGeek Stadium.
Forward Georgios Koutsias scored in the eighth minute, finishing an assist from Homegrown midfielder Brian Gutiérrez for a second consecutive match to give the Fire an early 1-0 lead. Toluca responded later in the half with goals in the 30th and and 45th minutes to take a 2-1 advantage going into halftime.
During the halftime break, the match was delayed for an hour due to weather. Despite several close attempts from the Fire in the second half, including a header from attacker Maren Haile-Selassie that struck the post, Toluca managed to add a third and final goal in the 66th minute to secure the win.
The result marks the conclusion of the Fire’s run in the 2024 edition of Leagues Cup, with Sporting Kansas City and Toluca securing a berth in the Round of 32.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago will resume MLS play when the team faces New York City FC at Citi Field on Saturday, Aug. 24. The match is scheduled to kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass, and transmitted locally in Spanish on WRTO 1200 AM and in English on www.wlsam.com.
Notes:
- Georgios Koutsias scored for a second straight match, tallying his second goal across all competitions in 2024. Koutsias has now scored five goals across all competitions for the Fire since the start of the 2023 season.
- With his goal, Koutsias recorded the fastest goal by a Fire player this season across all competitions. His goal in the eighth minute beat midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri’s second goal of the season in the 10’ of the 2-1 victory against the Houston Dynamo on April 6.
- With his assist on Koutsias’ goal, Brian Gutíerrez became the third Fire player to reach 10 or more goal contributions across all competitions in 2024.
- Homegrown Player Justin Reynolds recorded his first career start for the Chicago Fire across all competitions.
- Chicago Fire FC II midfielder Christian Koffi played in his second straight match for the Chicago Fire, having come in as a substitute against Sporting Kansas City on Sunday.
- Midfielder Federico Navarro came on as a second-half substitute, returning from injury to make his first appearance since May 29 against Orlando City SC.
- Defenders Jonathan Dean (leg), Chase Gasper (leg) and Carlos Terán (leg); midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri (not due to injury); and forward Hugo Cuypers (not due to injury) are unavailable for tonight’s match.
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Box Score:Deportivo Toluca F.C. 3:1 Chicago Fire FC
Goals:
CHI – Koutsias (Gutiérrez) (WATCH) 8’
TOL – Ángulo (Paulinho) (WATCH) 30’
TOL – Ruiz (Paulinho) (WATCH) 45’
TOL – Ruiz (Vega) (WATCH) 66’
Discipline:
TOL – Baeza (Yellow Card) 27’
CHI – Navarro (Yellow Card) 75’
CHI – Acosta (Yellow Card) 81’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Richey, D Souquet, D Salquist (Omsberg, 74’), D Reynolds, M Pineda, M Haile-Selassie, M Gutiérrez (Koffi, 74’), M Herbers (Gutman, 74’), M Acosta, M Giménez (capt.) (Navarro, 75’), F Koutisas (Barlow, 76’)
Subs not used: GK Brady, GK Gal, D Czichos, D Arigoni, M Mueller, M Casas Jr.
Deportivo Toluca F.C.: GK Volpi, D Pereira, D Luan Garcia, D Gallardo, M Orrantia (B. García, 60’), M Meneses (Araújo, 60’), M Baeza (capt.) (Arteaga, 76’), M/F Domínguez (Vega, 60’), M/F Angulo (López, 81’), M/F Ruiz, F Paulinho
Subs not used: GK Luis García, D Mendez, D Monroy, M Castillo, F Morales, F Violante
Stats Summary: TOL / CHI
Shots: 22 / 11
Shots on Goal: 11 / 5
Saves: 4 / 8
Passing Accuracy: 85.8% / 84.5%
Corners: 11 / 7
Fouls: 5 / 10
Offsides: 1 / 1
Possession: 56.1% / 43.9%
Attendance: 16,228
Referee: Josue Ugalde Aguilar
Assistant Referees: Viktor Fabian Ramírez Fonseca, William Chow Barrios
Fourth Official: Keylor Herrera Villalobos
VAR: Benjamin Pineda, Jose Rivera
