Chicago Fire FC Battle New York Red Bulls to 3-3 Draw at Red Bull Arena

HARRISON, N.J. (May 18, 2022) – Chicago Fire FC (2-5-5, 11 points) battled New York Red Bulls (5-2-5, 20 points) to a 3-3 draw at Red Bull Arena on Wednesday night. Three players scored for the Fire as the team matched its season-high for goals scored in a game, with Chris Mueller and Wyatt Omsberg notching their first goals for the Club, while midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri tallied his third of the campaign.

After an evenly contested start to the first half, the Red Bulls took the lead off a penalty kick from midfielder Lewis Morgan in the 20th minute to take an early 1-0 lead.

The Fire would even the score in the 38th minute from a goal in open play. The play started when Shaqiri lofted a ball over the top to an onrushing Mueller. The Schaumburg native combined with Homegrown midfielder Brian Gutiérrez, who immediately played it back to Mueller for a point-blank shot in the roof of the net.

Chicago would get off to a racing start to start the second half, as Omsberg scored his first-ever MLS goal in the 49th minute. Omsberg was able to find the scoresheet after forward Jhon Durán flicked Shaqiri’s corner kick to the far post, where Omsberg headed the ball into the back of the net from close range.

With an assist on Wyatt Omsberg's goal tonight, Durán (18 years, 156 days) became the youngest player in Club history to record goal contributions in consecutive matches.

In the final 32 minutes, the two teams would combine for three additional goals. In the 58th minute, the Red Bulls managed to level the score when Cameron Harper’s powerful shot went through the hands of goalkeeper Gaga Slonina.

Responding to NYRB’s equalizer, the Fire appeared to win the contest in the 89th minute when Shaqiri reacted to a loose ball in the box and carefully slotted his shot into the bottom corner.

However, as the end-to-end action ensued, the Red Bulls would add a third in the first minute of second half stoppage time when Omir Fernandez found Patryk Klimala for a late equalizer. 

NEXT MATCH: Chicago continues their three-game road trip across the Hudson River on Sunday, May 22 when they face off against New York City FC at Citi Field. Beginning at 4:00 p.m. CT, the match will be broadcast live on WGN-TV and CF97 Live and will be transmitted locally in Spanish on Univision Radio.

Notes:

• Mueller tallied his first goal for the Club and his 22nd in MLS. The Schaumburg native was acquired by the Fire on May 5 on a free transfer from Scottish Premier League side Hibernian FC.
• Defender Wyatt Omsberg scored his first professional goal when he scored off a corner kick in the 49th minute.
• Forward Jhon Durán notched his first Fire assist of his career off of Omsberg’s goal. The 18-year-old Colombian earned his first career goal for the Fire in the Club’s last match on May 14 at Soldier Field.
• With a secondary assist on Omsberg’s goal, Shaqiri tallied an assist for a second consecutive game after previously setting up Durán’s headed finish in the team’s match on May 14.

Box Score:
New York Red Bulls 3:3 Chicago Fire FC

Goals:
NYR - Morgan (5) (penalty) 20’
CHI - Mueller (1) (Gutiérrez 2) 38’
CHI - Omsberg (1) (Durán 1, Shaqiri 4) 49’
NYR - Harper (1) 58’
CHI - Shaqiri (3) 89’
NYR - Klimala (4) (Fernandez 5) 90+1’

Discipline:
CHI - Terán (Yellow Card) 1’
CHI - Espinoza (Yellow Card) 19’
NYR - Harper (Yellow Card) 26’
NYR - Edwards (Yellow Card) 63’
NYR - Nealis (Yellow Card) 66’
CHI - Navarro (Yellow Card) 70’
CHI - Omsberg (Yellow Card) 85’

Chicago Fire FC: GK Slonina, D Espinoza (Sekulić, 46’), D Terán (Giménez, 46’), D Omsberg, D M. Navarro, M F. Navarro, M Pineda, M Mueller (Herbers, 80’), M Shaqiri ©, M Gutiérrez (Torres, 65’), F Durán (Przybyłko, 71’)

Subs not used: GK Brady, D Bornstein, F Ivanov, F Offor

New York Red Bulls: GK Coronel, D Edwards, D Nealis, D Long ©, M Amaya, M Morgan (Ryan, 76’), M Yearwood (Luquinhas, 54’), M Harper (Pendant, 66’), M Fernandez, M Casseres Jr., F Barlow (Klimala, 54’)

Subs not used: GK Meara, M Castellano, M Clark, M Edelman

Stats Summary: NYR / CHI
Shots: 12 / 11
Shots on Goal: 4 / 6
Passing Accuracy: 72.4% / 77.3%
Saves: 3 / 1
Corners: 1 / 4
Fouls: 17 / 16
Offsides: 1 / 2
Possession: 43.1% / 56.9%

Attendance: 13,257

Referee: Ted Unkel
Assistant Referees: Adam Wienckowski, Art Arustamyan
Fourth Official: Luis Arroyo
VAR: Guido Gonzales Jr., Jonathan Joh