Columbus, Ohio (March 9, 2024) – Chicago Fire FC (0-2-1, 1 point) fell 2-1 to the Columbus Crew (2-0-1, 7 points) on Saturday night at Lower.com Field.
Chicago’s most dangerous chance of the first half came in the third minute when Xherdan Shaqiri connected with Maren Haile-Selassie on the right flank. Haile-Selassie carried the ball up and faced Columbus goalkeeper Patrick Schulte, who held his ground and redirected the ball with his back leg.
In the 15th minute, it was Chris Brady’s turn to make the save when Columbus sent a corner kick across the box that Brady did well to swat away. The rebound landed near the top of the six-yard box but the shot was sent wide.
The Fire had another close chance in the 65th minute when midfielder Fabian Herbers picked the pocket of a Columbus defender at midfield and sped toward goal. He passed it slightly to his right for Cuypers, whose shot across the goalmouth hit the left post and bounced out.
Columbus second-half sub Jacen Russell-Rowe opened the scoring for Columbus in the 68th minute but Chicago pulled one back in the 72nd minute. Haile-Selassie ran down a ball in the box, touching it to his left just as Schulte came out to cut off the angle. Herbers had followed the play, sending the ball into the open goal for Chicago’s first goal in Columbus in five seasons.
After a back and forth second half, the fourth official called for 12 minutes of stoppage time. Late into stoppage time, Mohamed Farsi scored on a rebound off of Diego Rossi’s initial shot that was denied by Brady. The late tally gave Columbus the victory on home field.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago returns to the Windy City, playing host to CF Montréal on Saturday, March 16, at Soldier Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT on MLS Season Pass. The match will also be transmitted locally via wlsam.com in English and WRTO 1200 AM in Spanish.
Social: Twitter - @chicagofire, @vamosfire (Hashtags: #CF97 #VamosFire) | Instagram - @chicagofire | Facebook
Notes:
- Defenders Chase Gasper and Tobias Salquist earned their first starts in a Fire jersey. Salquist made his MLS debut.
- With today’s start, midfielder Fabian Herbers made his 125th appearance with the Fire, becoming the 15th player in Club history to reach the mark.
- Midfielder Fabian Herbers scored the first goal in Columbus since August 31, 2019, when midfielder Przemysław Frankowski scored in the 90+4' to earn Chicago a point against the Crew.
Box Score: Columbus Crew 2:1 Chicago Fire FC
Goals:
CLB - Russell-Rowe (1) (Amundsen, 1) 68’
CHI - Herbers (2) (Haile-Selassie, 1) 72’
CLB - Farsi (1) (Rossi, 2) 90+10’
Discipline:
CHI - Arigoni (Yellow Card) 13’
CLB - Amundsen (Yellow Card) 90+1’
CHI - Barlow (Yellow Card) 90+5’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Brady, D Arigoni, D, Salquist, D Czichos, D Gasper, M Acosta (Navarro, 89’’), M Herbers, M Haile-Selassie (Dean, 89’), M Shaqiri (capt.) (Giménez, 82’), M Gutiérrez (Mueller, 60’), F Cuypers (Barlow, 82’)
Subs not used: GK Richey, D Terán, D Pineda, F Koutsias
Columbus Crew: GK Schulte, D Camacho (Jones, 86’), D Amundsen, M Nagbe (capt.) (Moreira, 60’), M Morris, M Hinestroza (Russell-Rowe, 59’), M Yeboah (Cheberko, 86’), M Arfsten (Farsi, 68’), M Zawadzki, F Rossi, F Hernandez
Subs not used: GK Bush, D Quinton, D Sands, F Ramirez
Stats Summary: CLB / CHI
Shots: 17 / 9
Shots on Goal: 10 / 2
Saves: 1 / 8
Passing Accuracy: 91.3% / 83.4%
Corners: 6 / 5
Fouls: 10 / 10
Offsides: 5 / 1
Possession: 62.3% / 37.7%
Referee: Richonne Clark
Assistant Referees: Andrew Hanks, Nicola Vesia
Fourth Official: Emmy Nonso
VAR: Mark Geiger
