CHICAGO (May 13, 2023) – Chicago Fire FC (3-3-5, 14 points) defeated St. Louis CITY SC (6-4-1, 19 points) 1-0 at Soldier Field on Saturday afternoon in their first League match against their Midwest rival.
Featuring in the starting lineup for a third straight match across all competitions, Designated Player Xherdan Shaqiri tallied his first assist of the 2023 campaign, setting up defender Rafael Czichos’ game-winning goal in the 40th minute.
With the victory, Chicago remains unbeaten at home in 2023 (2-0-5), and is now tied on points (14) with teams ranked six through nine in the Eastern Conference, with more matches to be played later today. The result also marked the Fire’s second straight victory against St. Louis, with Chicago winning its head-to-head series (2-0-0) against the 2023 MLS expansion side.
The Fire were once again forced to make an early substitution when defender Carlos Terán left the field on a stretcher in the 36th minute. Czichos replaced the Colombian on the field, scoring the opening goal of the game just four minutes after coming into the match. St. Louis played the final 20 minutes with 10 men after defender John Nelson was shown a second yellow card.
Both teams started with an attacking mindset, with Chicago getting their first dangerous chance in the second minute of play. Shaqiri threaded the ball through two defenders for forward Kei Kamara, who deftly sent a backheel behind him into space for an incoming Federico Navarro. The midfielder took a shot that was deflected by a St. Louis defender before it could reach goalkeeper Roman Bürki.
In the 40th minute, Shaqiri and midfielder Brian Gutiérrez lined up to take a free kick on the left side of the field, with Shaqiri sending a cross to the top of the six-yard-box on the right side. Czichos raced into the space, stretching to get a foot on the ball. It looked like goalkeeper Roman Bürki was going to get a foot on the attempt, but the ball rolled past him and into the lower left corner to give the hosts a well-deserved lead going into the halftime break.
The second half started in much the same way, with Gutiérrez receiving a ball in the 47th minute that he sent into the box for Kamara. The forward brought it down, passing it back to the top of the box for Fabian Herbers, who fired a half volley that ricocheted off the top post.
Despite a push from the visitors to secure the equalizer late in the second half, the Fire would see out the rest of the match to secure its second shutout of the 2023 season.
NEXT MATCH: The Fire will travel to the Queen City to face Charlotte FC at 6:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday, May 17 at Bank of America Stadium. The match will be broadcast on Apple TV+, streamed in English on wlsam.com, and transmitted locally in Spanish on TUDN 1200 AM.
Social: Twitter - @chicagofire, @vamosfire (Hashtags: #CF97 #VamosFire) | Instagram - @chicagofire | Facebook
Notes:
- Goalkeeper Chris Brady recorded his second shutout of the season.
- Defender Rafael Cizchos scored his second goal of the season, and his fifth in a Chicago Fire shirt.
- Midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri recorded his first assist of the season and his 12th with the Fire across the last two seasons. His 12 assists are the most by a Fire player since the start of the 2022 MLS campaign.
- Midfielder and Young Designated Player Jairo Torres returned to the field for the first time since the team’s first game of the season, a 1-1 draw against NYCFC on March 4, in which he left the field in the first half with an injury.
- Seven changes were made to the lineup that faced Nashville SC in Matchday 11 of the MLS regular season and three changes were made to the XI that faced St. Louis CITY SC on Tuesday, May 9, in the 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
- Forward Kei Kamara led the attack, playing in the 401st MLS match of his career.
- Brian Gutiérrez started on the left wing, with Fabian Herbers taking charge of the right wing. Both players flanked the No. 10, Xherdan Shaqiri, who lined up in the middle of the pitch.
- Swiss midfielder Shaqiri wore the captain’s armband against St. Louis today, with Czichos starting the match on the bench as he recovers from an injury.
- Supporting the attacking midfielders were the Argentine duo of Federico Navarro and Gastón Giménez, who controlled the center of the park in the previous match against St. Louis on Tuesday night.
- Colombian defender Carlos Téran rejoined the starting XI, replacing defender Wyatt Omsberg on the backline that faced St. Louis earlier in the week. He lined up with Miguel Navarro, Mauricio Pineda and Arnaud Souquet
- Midfielder Maren Haile-Selassie (concussion protocol), midfielder Jonathan Dean (left leg) and midfielder Chris Mueller (hip) were unavailable for selection due to injury tonight. Mueller was a late scratch, acquiring the injury after the submission of the official player availability report.
- The Fire are unbeaten in their last 14 regular season home matches against Western Conference opponents (eight wins, five ties). Chicago hasn't lost a home match to a Western opponent in over four years, since a 4-2 defeat to Seattle in March 2019.
- In seven MLS matches at home this season, Chicago are unbeaten with two wins and five draws. The eight-match home unbeaten streak dates back to October 2022 against the New England Revolution.
Box Score:Chicago Fire FC 1:0 St. Louis
Goals:
CHI - Czichos (2) (Shaqiri) (WATCH) 40’
Discipline:
STL - Perez (Yellow Card) 27’
STL - Nelson (Yellow Card) 43’
STL - Gioacchini (Yellow Card) 49’
CHI - Giménez (Yellow Card) 59’
CHI - Herbers (Yellow Card) 64’
STL - Nelson (Second Yellow, Ejection) 70’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Brady, D Souquet, D Pineda, D Terán (Czichos, 34’), D M. Navarro, M F. Navarro, M Giménez, M Herbers (Koutsias, 72’), M Shaqiri (capt.), M Gutiérrez (Torres, 89’), F Kamara (Przybyłko, 72’)
Subs not used: GK Richey, D Burks, D Omsberg, D Aceves, F RodrÃguez
St. Louis: GK Bürki, D Nerwinski (Stroud, 64’), D Bartlett (Yaro, 77’), D Hiebert, D Nelson, M Ostrák (Jensen, 64’), M Perez (Blom, 45’), M Löwen (Glover 77’), F Gioacchini, F Vassilev, F Pompeu
Subs not used: GK Lundt, D Watts, D Bell, M Jackson
Stats Summary: CHI / STLShots: 9 / 8
Shots on Goal: 6 / 2
Saves: 2 / 5
Passing Accuracy: 75.1% / 73.8%
Corners: 5 / 3
Fouls: 13 / 15
Offsides: 2 / 0
Possession: 51.3% / 48.7%
Attendance: 18,231
Referee: Filip Dujic
Assistant Referees: Kevin Klinger, Andrew Bigelow
Fourth Official: Jon Freemon
VAR: Kevin Stott
*Asst. VAR: *Rene Parra
