Chicago Fire FC Falls 1-0 against New York City FC in Regular Season Finale at Citi Field

CHICAGO (Oct. 21, 2023) – Chicago Fire FC (10-14-10, 40 points) fell 1-0 to New York City FC (9-11-14, 41 points) in a hard-fought match on Saturday night at Citi Field.

The race to reach the 2023 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs came down to Decision Day for the Fire, who entered the match with everything to play for in the last game of the season against their direct opponent. With the loss, Chicago finishes the 2023 season in 13th place in the Eastern Conference with 40 points. Despite the victory, New York City will also miss the playoffs, finishing in 11th place with 41 points.

Chicago and New York battled evenly throughout the match, each finishing the game with four shots on target and with 15 and 14 shots overall, respectively. It was New York that broke through in the 64th minute by way of Julian Fernandez to claim the victory.

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Box Score:
New York City FC 1:0 Chicago Fire FC

Goals:
NYC - Fernandez (2) (Rodríguez, 8) (WATCH) 64’

Discipline:
NYC - Rodríguez (Yellow Card) 78’
NYC - O’Toole (Yellow Card) 89’
NYC - Perea (Yellow Card) 90+4

Chicago Fire FC: GK Brady, D Dean, D Terán, D Czichos (capt.), D Aceves (M. Navarro, 84’), M Doumbia (Przybyłko, 75’), M F. Navarro (Pineda, 75’), M Herbers (Haile-Selassie, 66’), M Shaqiri, M Gutiérrez, F Koutsias (Kamara, 66’)

Subs not used: GK Richey, D Omsberg, D Souquet, M Torres

NYC: GK Freese, D Risa, D Sands, D Martins (capt.), D O’Toole, D Gray (Ilenic, 60’), M Rodriguez, M Fernandez (Jasson, 84’), M Talles Magno, M Parks (Perea, 60’), F Bakrar

Subs not used: GK Barraza, D Cufre, M Pellegrini, M McFarlane, M Haak, F Martinez

Stats Summary: NYC / CHI
Shots: 14 / 15
Shots on Goal: 4 / 4
Saves: 4 / 3
Passing Accuracy: 84.6% / 80.3%
Corners:  6 / 8
Fouls: 13 / 9
Offsides:  1 / 3
Possession: 50.2% / 49.8%

Attendance: 23,260

Referee: Allen Chapman
Assistant Referees: Cameron Blanchard, Michael Barwegen
Fourth Official: Alex Chilowicz
VAR: Kevin Stott
Assistant VAR: Claudiu Badea