Chicago Fire FC Falls 2-1 against FC Cincinnati at Soldier Field

CHICAGO (March 2, 2024) – Chicago Fire FC (0-1-1, 1 point) fell 2-1 against FC Cincinnati (1-0-1, 4 points) on Saturday night at Soldier Field. The result marked the Fire’s first defeat of the 2024 MLS campaign. 

With both teams seeing their share of chances in the early minutes, Homegrown goalkeeper Chris Brady kept the score level in the 16th minute when FC Cincinnati earned a corner kick. Cincinnati captain Lucho Acosta sent the ball into the six-yard box where it was directed toward the goal. Brady stood his ground, stopping the almost point-blank shot with his legs before forward Hugo Cuypers cleared the rebound away from danger. Brady was once again up to the task in the 33rd minute when Cincinnati captain Luciano Acosta took a shot from short-range that Brady reacted well to save with his foot.

Cincinnati’s Aaron Boupendza opened the scoring in the 39th minute, sneaking a ball into the lower right corner. However, Chicago leveled the score in the 45th minute after Brian Gutiérrez was fouled in the box. Captain Xherdan Shaqiri stepped up to the penalty spot, sending the ball into the net for his 13th-career Chicago Fire goal.

Miles Robinson put the visitors ahead in the 68th minute with the final goal of the match. The defender connected with Acosta’s corner kick to the near post, hitting a first-time effort to break the deadlock and score the game-winner. 

NEXT MATCH: Chicago will travel to Columbus to face the defending MLS Cup Champion Columbus Crew on March 9 at Lower.com Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 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:

• Xherdan Shaqiri’s goal from the spot was his sixth penalty kick goal for the Fire and his 13th overall.

• Mauricio Pineda recorded his 92nd career MLS start and is now eight away from being the first Homegrown Player in Club history to start 100 MLS matches for the Fire.

• Midfielder Gastón Giménez earned his 98th start for the Fire.

• Homegrown midfielder Brian Gutiérrez made his 90th MLS appearance, just 10 games away from becoming the second Chicago Fire Homegrown Player to reach 100 games played.

• Tonight’s match marked the fifth all-time regular season meeting between the two teams. Chicago’s record against FC Cincinnati at Soldier Field now stands at 1-2-2.

• The Fire wore their Return to Red Kit for the first time in tonight’s match. With his goal, Shaqiri became the first Fire player to score in a red kit since Sept. 29, 2019, when Fabian Herbers scored in a 2-2 draw against Toronto FC at SeatGeek Stadium.

• Goalkeeper Bryan Dowd (lower leg), defender Andrew Gutman (upper leg), midfielder Javier Casas Jr. (lower leg) and forward Victor Bezerra (upper leg) were not be available for tonight’s match due to injury.

Box Score:Chicago Fire FC 1:2 FC Cincinnati

Goals:
CIN - Boupendza (1) (WATCH) 39’
CHI - Shaqiri (Penalty) (1) (WATCH) 45’
CIN - Robinson (1) (Acosta, 1) (WATCH) 68’

Discipline:
CIN - Nwobodo (Yellow Card) 43’
CHI - Acosta (Yellow Card) 55’
CHI - Pineda (Yellow Card) 66’
CIN - Santos (Yellow Card) 81’
CIN - Baird (Yellow Card) 84’
CHI - Gutiérrez (Yellow Card) 90+4’

Chicago Fire FC: GK Brady, D Arigoni, D Pineda, D Czichos, M Giménez, M Acosta (Navarro, 74’), M Haile-Selassie, M Shaqiri (capt.) (Mueller, 85’), M Gutiérrez, M Herbers (Koutsias, 74’), F Cuypers

Subs not used: GK Richey, D Barlow, D Omsberg, D Dean, D Gasper, D Salquist

CIN: GK Celentano, D Powell (Halsey, 64’), D Robinson, D Miazga, D Murphy, M Kubo, M Nwobodo, M Acosta (capt.), M Bucha, M Baird (Valenzuela, 87’), F Boupendza (Santos, 80’)

Subs not used: GK Louro, D Foster, D Aghedo, M Pinto, M Jimenez, F Ordoñez

Stats Summary: CHI / CINShots: 5 / 14
Shots on Goal: 1 / 6
Saves: 4 / 0
Passing Accuracy: 84.7% / 84.4%
Corners:  3 / 9
Fouls: 16 / 12
Offsides:  1 / 3
Possession: 51.4% / 48.6%

Referee: Mario Maric
Assistant Referees: Sergio Santana Pena, Rogelio Alvarez
Fourth Official: Nikola Aleksic
VAR: Frank Anderson

Attendance: 26,582