CHICAGO (July 3, 2021) - On a night that included a postgame fireworks show to celebrate the upcoming Fourth of July, Chicago Fire FC (2-7-2, 8 points) had a number of reasons to celebrate. The Club defeated Atlanta United FC (2-3-6, 12 points) 3-0 in a dominating performance on the lakefront, earning its largest margin of victory this season.
The Fire took the lead in the 34th minute when midfielder Álvaro Medrán made a remarkable run down the middle of the field and found forward Ignacio Aliseda at the top of the box. The Young Designated Player secured his first goal of the season when he blasted a shot that deflected off Atlanta midfielder Mo Adams and hit the crossbar before finding the net. Aliseda, in a breakout performance, netted his second goal of the game in first half stoppage time as defender Miguel Navarro intercepted a pass and found the young Argentine, who confidently curled the ball into the corner of the net. Aliseda, not surprisingly, was named the Heineken Man of the Match.
Chicago added a third in the 58th minute when four consecutive one-touch passes created an opening for Przemysław Frankowski to notch his first goal of the season. Goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth earned his 47th career shutout with two saves on the night.
NEXT GAME: Chicago Fire FC will play their final game of a four-game homestand at Soldier Field, facing Orlando City SC on Wednesday, July 7. The match will begin at 7:00 p.m. CT and will be broadcast nationally on UniMás, TUDN, Twitter (English audio) and TUDN 1200AM.
Tickets for the Fire’s Wednesday match against Orlando City SC are on sale here.
NOTES:
- With tonight’s result, the Fire have won its last three games at home against Atlanta United. Additionally, the Fire are now 4-1-0 all-time at home against Atlanta in MLS regular season play, outscoring the Georgia-based club 13-3 in Chicago since 2017.
- The 3-0 win marked the Club’s second clean sheet of the season. The result also matched Atlanta’s biggest defeat of the season, with the Five Stripes previously falling 3-0 to the Philadelphia Union on April 27.
- The Fire are unbeaten in its last two matches (1-0-1), scoring six goals across both games.
- Forward Ignacio Aliseda scored his first and second goals of the season in tonight’s match, notching his first professional brace. The Young Designated Player now has three goals in his MLS career. Aliseda also tallied his first assist of the season.
- Additionally, Aliseda’s two-goal performance marks the first brace for the Fire since Przemysław Frankowski scored twice in the final game of the 2020 season against New York City FC on Nov. 8, 2020.
- Midfielder Przemysław Frankowski earned his first goal of the season and ninth of his MLS career. Frankowski returned to the starting lineup after coming on as a substitute in the Fire’s last match versus Philadelphia. Frankowski had missed the previous three matches due to international duty with Poland at UEFA Euro 2020.
- Midfielder Álvaro Medrán earned his team leading third assist of the season. His three assists have all come within the Fire’s last two matches. Overall, Medrán has nine career assists across the last two seasons for the Fire.
- Midfielder Fabian Herbers recorded his first assist of the season. He now has three career assists for the Fire.
- Defender Miguel Navarro earned his first assist of the season and the second of his MLS career.
- Goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth has made 17 saves in the Fire’s last three matches, which ranks as the most in the league since June 23.
- Defender Jonathan Bornstein captained the team for the first time this season. The start marked his first since May 8, 2021 and his 162nd appearance (146 starts) in MLS.
- Tonight was the Club’s first game at full soccer capacity at Soldier Field since the team announced their return to the historic venue on Oct. 8, 2019.
- The Fire wore limited edition adidas Americana pre-match tops that were reimagined from the 1994 U.S. FIFA World Cup kits.
- Fans in attendance received a woven patch, marking the first opportunity for fans to secure an item featuring the new Chicago Fire FC crest. Crafted by soccer identity specialist Matthew Wolff, the new crest’s core elements were inspired by the collective voice of Fire fans through a series of roundtables, website submissions, surveys and social media responses. More information on the new crest and visual identity can be found here.
- Tonight’s match was the third game of a four game homestand - the Club’s longest homestand of the season.
- The Fire, alongside Cook County Health, hosted a pop-up COVID-19 vaccination station that offered a single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccination to individuals ages 18 and older.
- Fire play-by-play commentator Arlo White called his final game for the Fire for the 2021 season. White called four matches for the Fire that aired live on WGN-TV and CFFC Live.
- The Fire were without defender Francisco Calvo and midfielder Gastón Giménez due to international duty.
Goals:
CHI - Aliseda (1) (Medrán 3) 34’
CHI - Aliseda (2) (Navarro 1) 45+6’
CHI - Frankowski (1) (Aliseda 1, Herbers 1) 58’
Discipline:
CHI - Bornstein (Yellow Card) 26’
ATL - Bello (Yellow Card) 27’
CHI - Frankowski (Yellow Card) 31’
ATL - Tyler Wolff (Yellow Card) 52’
CHI - Walkes (Yellow Card) 69’
Box Score:
Chicago Fire FC 3:0 Atlanta United FC
Chicago Fire FC: GK Shuttleworth, D Kappelhof, D Pineda, D Bornstein © (Omsberg 83’), M Sekulić, M Navarro, M Frankowski (Gutiérrez 82’), M Medrán (Stojanović 90’), M Herbers, F Berić (Offor 72’), F Aliseda (Collier 90’)
Subs not used: GK G. Slonina, D Espinoza, M Casas Jr., M Monis
Atlanta United FC: GK Guzan ©, D Bello (Hernandez 85’), D Walkes, D Robinson, D Lennon, M Barco, M Adams (Ambrose 75’), M Wolff (Conway 75’), F Mulraney (Moreno 54’), F Torres, F Lopez (Chol 56’)
Subs not used: GK Lundgaard, D De John, D Campbell
Stats Summary: CHI / ATL
Shots: 14 / 11
Shots on Goal: 4 / 2
Passing Accuracy: 73.7% / 85.8%
Saves: 2 / 1
Corners: 7 / 4
Fouls: 16 / 10
Total passes: 270 / 492
Offsides: 1 / 5
Possession: 36.2% / 63.8%
Attendance: 14,898
Referee: Baldomero Toledo
Assistant Referees: Eric Boria, Brian Dunn
Fourth Official: Luis Arroyo
VAR: Daniel Radford, Craig Lowry
