Chicago Fire FC Draw 1-1 with New York City FC

CHICAGO (March 4, 2023) – Chicago Fire FC (0-0-1, 1 point) drew 1-1 with New York City FC (0-1-1, 1 point) on Saturday evening, coming from behind to tie the match and earn a point in the team’s home opener at Soldier Field. Midfielder Fabian Herbers scored the opening goal of the season for the Club, marking the second time the German attacker has scored in a Chicago Fire home opener on the lakefront since 2020.

The match saw Chicago make two first-half substitutions after Federico Navarro and Jairo Torres made their way off the pitch due to injuries and were replaced by Mauricio Pineda (14th minute) and Fabian Herbers (45+3rd minute), respectively.

It was New York that found the net first, with Gabriel Pereira squaring off against the Fire defense and sending a shot across the goal mouth that hit the post and snuck past goalkeeper Spencer Richey.

Chicago opened up the second half bringing on new signing Kei Kamara off the bench, and the Fire would eventually draw level with a volley from Herbers in the 75th minute. The goal occurred after midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri served a driven ball to Kamara, who headed it back toward the goal. When Kamara’s header wasn’t cleared properly by the NYCFC defense, Herbers pounced on the loose ball and fired a powerful volley to notch his eighth career Chicago Fire goal, and his sixth at Soldier Field.

NEXT MATCH: For the team’s second match of the season, Chicago will travel to take on the Philadelphia Union on Saturday, March 11, at Subaru Park at 6:30 p.m. CT. The match will be broadcast live on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+ and transmitted locally in Spanish on TUDN 1200 AM.

Notes:

Second-half substitute Fabian Herbers scored his first goal of the season.
Tonight's 20-man roster included five of the team's offseason signings, including defender Arnaud Souquet who made his MLS debut as a starter.
Forward Kei Kamara and midfielder Maren Halie-Selassie also made their debuts in a Fire jersey, entering the match as second-half substitutes.
Box Score:
Chicago Fire FC 1:1 New York City FC

Goals:
NYC - Pereira (1) 39’
CHI - Herbers (1) 75’ 

Discipline:
CHI - Pineda (Yellow Card) 34’
NYC - Pellegrini (Yellow Card) 44’
NYC - Jasson (Yellow Card) 58’

Chicago Fire FC: GK Richey, D M. Navarro, D Czichos ©, D Terán, D Souquet, M F. Navarro (Pineda, 14’), M Torres (Herbers, 45+3’), M Mueller (Haile-Selassie, 64’), M Shaqiri, M Gutiérrez (Giménez 64’), F Przybyłko (Kamara, 46’)

Subs not used: GK Gal, D Omsberg, D Dean, Burks,

New York City FC: GK Barraza, D Cufre, D Chanot ©, D Martins, D Jasson (Thiago 68’), D Ilenic, M Sands (Haak 73’), M Pereira, M Pellegrini (Rodriguez 73’), M Parks, F Talles Magno

Subs not used: GK Freese, D Amundsen, D Turnbull, D Alfaro, F Segal, F O’Toole, F Thiago

Stats Summary: CHI / NYC
Shots: 3 / 7
Shots on Goal: 1 / 3
Saves: 2 / 0
Passing Accuracy: 80.3% / 79.8%
Corners: 6 / 4
Fouls: 15 / 19
Offsides: 2 / 0
Possession: 50.9% / 49.1%

Attendance: 19,671

Referee: Filip Dujic
Assistant Referees: Corey Rockwell, Adam Garner
Fourth Official: Guido Gonzales Jr
VAR: Geoff Gamble, Jennifer Garner