CHICAGO (June 1, 2024) – Chicago Fire FC (3-8-6, 15 points) earned three points at home with a 2-1 win against the LA Galaxy (7-3-7, 28 points) on Saturday night at Soldier Field. With the result, the Fire extended its unbeaten run to three matches without a loss in league play (1-0-2).
LA was awarded a penalty kick after VAR determined that the ball was handled in the box in the fifth minute. Riqui Puig stepped up to take the shot, sending his strike into the lower left corner, inside the post and just past the outstretched hands of Chris Brady.
Chicago leveled the score in the 32nd minute when Hugo Cuypers scored his second goal in as many games and his fifth of the season. Brian Gutiérrez carried the ball up the middle of the field to the top of the 18-yard box, touching it left for Maren Haile-Selassie. The Swiss winger touched the ball but wasn’t able to control it. The ball bounced off a defender, falling back onto Haile-Selassie’s path allowing him to touch it into the box for Cuypers, who ran onto it and slid it into the lower left side of the goal.
With the score remaining tied 15 minutes into the second half, Gutiérrez put the Fire ahead in the 61st minute when he took advantage of a misplaced pass by the Galaxy defense. The Chicago native carried the ball up the middle of the field, sending a powerful low shot that hit the bottom of the left post, then crossed the goal and hit the bottom of the right post before rolling into the back of the net. The game-winning goal marked the 20-year-old’s fourth goal of the season, which ranks as the second-most on the team in 2024.
Brady kept the score as it stood in the 69th minute with a double save, holding off the Galaxy attack when Dejan Joveljić collected a ball at the top of the box and maneuvered toward his right to pull off a shot. Brady made the stop, with the ensuing rebound falling to Julián Aude on the left side. He also tried his luck, but Brady was once again there, this time catching the ball to stop the play. The Fire defense limited the Galaxy to four shots on target, with Brady making three saves on the night.
NEXT MATCH: Following the international break, Chicago will travel to face Toronto FC on Saturday, June 15. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT. The match will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass and transmitted locally via wlsam.com (English) and WRTO 1200 AM (Spanish).
Social: Twitter - @chicagofire, @vamosfire (Hashtags: #CF97 #VamosFire) | Instagram - @chicagofire | Facebook
Notes:
- Tonight’s result marked the Fire’s first win against the LA Galaxy in regular season play since Aug. 1, 2010.
- The 2-1 victory also marked the team’s second come-from-behind win of the season (prev: 4-3 win vs. MTL on March 16).
- Forward Hugo Cuypers started his 17th game of 2024, making him the only player to start every game for the Fire in the 2024 regular season. Cuypers has registered two goals and an assist in the last three matches, marking the first time this season he has documented a goal contribution in three consecutive games.
- Cuypers notched his team-leading fifth goal of the season tonight.
- Midfielder Brian Gutiérrez scored his second game-winning goal of the season, with his previous game-winner occurring on April 6 in the team’s 2-1 win over the Houston Dynamo.
- Midfielder Maren Haile-Selassie made his ninth start of 2024 for the Fire, and his 11th start overall of the regular season. Haile-Selassie contributed to a Cuypers goal for a second-straight match, increasing his team-leading assist tally to four.
- Defender Carlos Terán started his sixth straight game of the regular season and his seventh overall. With 72 appearances, Terán is one match away from tying Wilman Conde for the most all-time appearances by a Colombian-born player in Fire history.
- With an appearance in tonight’s match, midfielder Chris Mueller is now four away from 50 appearances with his hometown Club.
- Defenders Chase Gasper (leg), Andrew Gutman (leg) and Tobias Salquist (leg); and midfielders Federico Navarro (leg) and Xherdan Shaqiri (international duty) were unavailable for today’s match.
Box Score:Chicago Fire FC 2:1 LA Galaxy
Goals:
LA - Puig (Penalty) (6) (WATCH) 7’
CHI - Cuypers (5) (Haile-Selassie, 4) (WATCH) 32’
CHI - Gutiérrez (4) (WATCH) 61’
Discipline:
CHI - Pineda (Yellow Card) 29’
LA - Cerrillo (Yellow Card) 45+4’
CHI - Herbers (Yellow Card) 75’
LA - Cuevas (Yellow Card) 77’
CHI - Arigoni (Yellow Card) 90+5’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Brady, D Terán, D Czichos, D Dean, D Arigoni, M Herbers (capt.), M Pineda (D Souquet, 46’), M Acosta (Giménez, 76’), F Haile-Selassie (Koutsias, 76’), F Cuypers (Barlow, 66’), F Gutiérrez (Mueller, 85’)
Subs not used: GK Richey, D Omsberg, M Casas, Jr.
LA: GK Micovic, D Yamane, D Aude (Cuevas, 72’), D Yoshida (capt.), D Cáceres, M Delgado, M Puig, M Peréz (Joveljic, 59’), M Cerrillo (Aguirre, 72’), F Pec, F Berry (Fagúndez, 82’)
Subs not used: GK McCarthy, D Nelson, D Neal, D Garcés, M Lepley,
Stats Summary: CHI / LAShots: 11 / 13
Shots on Goal: 4 / 4
Saves: 3 / 2
Passing Accuracy: 85.4% / 92.3%
Corners: 2 / 5
Fouls: 16 / 6
Offsides: 0 / 0
Possession: 41.3% / 58.8%
Attendance: 25,237
Referee: Marcos DeOliveira
Assistant Referees: Brian Dunn, Stephen McGonagle
Fourth Official: Jeremy Scheer
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero, Peter Balciunas
