Seattle, Wash. (June 29, 2024) – Chicago Fire FC (4-10-6, 18 points) fell 2-1 to Seattle Sounders FC (7-7-7, 28 points) on Saturday night at Lumen Field.
The Fire took the lead in the 30th minute of play, but the home side scored from the penalty spot on two occasions in the second half, including in the third minute of second half stoppage time. Winger Maren Haile-Selassie scored the lone goal for the Fire, tallying his fourth of the season.
After controlling nearly 60 percent of the possession to start the match, the Fire went ahead with 15 minutes remaining in the first half when Haile-Selassie scored for a third straight match. The Swiss attacker received a pass from midfielder Gastón Giménez just outside the 18-yard box and turned quickly to face the goal, pushing the ball by his defender, before calmly slotting his shot past goalkeeper Stefan Frei and into the back of the net.
Seattle managed to level the score in the 57th minute when defender Jonathan Dean was called for a foul inside the box. Midfielder Albert Rusnak converted the subsequent penalty kick, placing his strike past the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Chris Brady. Rusnak scored his second penalty kick of the match in the 90+3rd minute after defender/midfielder Mauricio Pineda was whistled for a foul inside the area.
Tonight’s match against Seattle marked the conclusion of three straight on the road for the Fire, who scored seven goals during that stretch.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago will return home to host the Philadelphia Union on Wednesday, July 3. Kickoff at Soldier Field is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT. The match will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass and transmitted locally via wlsam.com (English) and WRTO 1200 AM (Spanish).
Social: Twitter - @chicagofire, @vamosfire (Hashtags: #CF97 #VamosFire) | Instagram - @chicagofire | Facebook
Notes:
- With the opening goal in tonight’s match, Maren Haile-Selassie scored for a third straight game. It marked the first time the Swiss attacker has scored in three straight MLS matches since joining the Fire from FC Lugano in 2023.
- Haile-Selassie has now scored four goals for the Fire in 2024, two shy of his team-leading six-goal output in 2023.
- Gastón Giménez tallied his second assist of the season and his 10th career MLS assist since joining the Fire in 2020.
- Chris Brady made his 50th appearance for the Fire, becoming the fourth goalkeeper in Club history to play 50 games for the Fire. He joined Jon Busch, Sean Johnson and Zach Thornton as the only Fire goalkeepers to play 50 or more MLS matches with the Club.
- Defenders Chase Gasper (leg), Andrew Gutman (leg), Tobias Salquist (leg); and midfielders Xherdan Shaqiri (national team) and Federico Navarro (leg) were unavailable for today’s match.
Box Score:Seattle Sounders FC 1:1 Chicago Fire FC
Goals:
CHI – Haile-Selassie (4) (Giménez, 3) (WATCH) 30’
SEA – Rusnák (2) (WATCH) 57’
SEA – Rusnák (3) (WATCH) 90+3’
Discipline:
CHI – Pineda (Yellow Card) 42’
CHI – Dean (Yellow Card) 55’
SEA – Ragen (Yellow Card) 77’
SEA – Rusnák (Yellow Card) 90+4’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Brady, D Czichos, D Terán (Pineda, 39’), D Souquet, M Dean, M Gutiérrez (M Acosta, 85’), M Giménez, M Herbers, M Arigoni (M Mueller, 85’), F Haile-Selassie (F Koutsias, 86’), F Cuypers (F Barlow, 85’)
Subs not used: GK Richey, GK Gal, D Omsberg, M Casas
Seattle Sounders FC: GK Frei, D Baker-Whiting, D Ragen, D Yéimar, D A. Roldan (Rothrock, 46’), M Paulo (F Musovski, 85’), M Vargas, M Chú (F de la Vega 76’), M Rusnák (D Nathan, 90+8’), M C. Roldan, F Morris
Subs not used: GK Thomas, D Baker, M Leyva, M Atencio, M Teves
Stats Summary: SEA / CHIShots: 13 / 9
Shots on Goal: 7 / 4
Saves: 3 / 5
Passing Accuracy: 82.4% / 78.6%
Corners: 3 / 2
Fouls: 10 / 17
Offsides: 2 / 0
Possession: 52.3% / 47.7%
Attendance: 30,045
Referee: Joe Dickerson
Assistant Referees: Stefan Tanaka-Freundt, Eric Weisbrod
Fourth Official: Calin Radosav
VAR: Alejandro Mariscal, Craig Lowry
