BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. (June 6, 2023) – Chicago Fire FC fell 4-1 to the Houston Dynamo in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Ill. on Tuesday Night.
Chicago had the first dangerous chance of the game in the ninth minute when Arnaud Souquet found Xherdan Shaqiri on the right side. Shaqiri served a ball to the far post for Brian Gutiérrez, who couldn’t reach it in time, but the rebound bounced to Miguel Navarro inside the box. The Venezuelan defender took a shot that forced Andrew Tarbell to make a save.
Houston opened the scoring with a penalty kick in the 12th minute when Amine Bassi sent a powerful shot high and to the right of Spencer Richey. Houston scored again in the 33rd minute when Chase Gasper sent a long ball behind the defense for Aliyu Ibrahim, who ran onto it and carried it toward goal, where he placed it just inside the left post.
Souquet scored his first Chicago Fire goal of the year in the 40th minute after the team earned their first corner kick of the game. Shaqiri sent a precise cross into the right side of the box where the Frenchman redirected it with his head to the inside of the left post.
After finding its opening goal, the Fire started to gain momentum in the final third and had two strong appeals for penalty kicks in the second half. The first chance occurred when midfielder Gastón Giménez’s shot appeared to hit a Houston defender on the arm inside the 18-yard box. Shortly afterward, the Fire had an even stronger appeal for a penalty when Gutiérrez was clipped inside the box by goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell in the 52nd minute, but both appeals were waved off by the center referee.
With the Fire pushing its way back into the match, Houston would score twice against the run of play in the 59th and 74th minutes, respectively, to seal the victory and advance to the semifinals.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago returns to the lakefront to host the Columbus Crew in MLS play at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 10 at Soldier Field. The match will serve as the Club’s annual Pride Night and will feature special events, a Pride flag giveaway, and activities planned to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. The match will be broadcast on Apple TV+, and transmitted locally in English on 890 WLS-AM and in Spanish on TUDN 1200 AM.
Social: Twitter - @chicagofire, @vamosfire (Hashtags: #CF97 #VamosFire) | Instagram - @chicagofire | Facebook
Notes:
- Defender Arnaud Souquet scored his first career goal for the Club.
- Midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri recorded his second assist in Open Cup play and his fifth across all competitions with the Fire.
- Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup rosters are limited to 18 players, unlike 20-player Major League Soccer rosters.
- The Fire lined up against Houston with the same XI that faced Austin FC in the Round of 32 on May 24 at TQL Stadium.
- Forward Kei Kamara started for the third time in the 2023 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, playing in his 17th U.S. Open Cup game (10 starts).
- Xherdan Shaqiri and Brian Gutiérrez once again teamed up from the outset to back up Kamara and guide the attack.
- Maren Haile-Selassie and Federico Navarro earned their fourth 2023 U.S. Open Cup starts, while Gastón Giménez, Mauricio Pineda, Arnaud Souquet and Miguel Navarro all earned their third start of this year’s tournament.
- Captain Rafael Czichos started in the backline for the second-straight Open Cup match.
- Goalkeeper Spencer Richey backstopped the group from the outset for the fourth-straight 2023 Open Cup match.
- Goalkeeper Chris Brady (head), defenders Jonathan Dean (left upper leg) and Carlos Terán (right knee), and midfielder Chris Mueller (hip) are unavailable for selection tonight.
Box Score:
Chicago Fire FC 1:4 Houston Dynamo
Goals:
HOU - Bassi (Penalty) 12’
HOU - Ibrihim (Carrasquilla) 31’
CHI - Souquet (Shaqiri) 40’
HOU - Ibrahim 59’
HOU - Quiñónes (Herrera) 75’Â
Discipline:
CHI - Pineda (Yellow Card) 21’
CHI - F. Navarro (Yellow Card) 62’
CHI - Giménez (Yellow Card) 63’
HOU - Gasper (Yellow Card) 89’
CHI - Burks (Yellow Card) 90’Â
Chicago Fire FC: GK Richey, D Souquet (Burks, 46’), D Pineda, D Czichos (capt.), D M. Navarro, M Giménez (Koutsias, 74’), M F. Navarro (Torres, 67’), M Haile-Selassie, M Shaqiri, M Gutiérrez, F Kamara
Subs not used: GK Gal, D Aceves, M Herbers, F Przybyłko
Houston Dynamo: GK Tarbell, D dos Santos Silva, D Escobar, D Gasper, D Sviatchenko (Bartlow, 61’), M Herrera (Franco, 83’), M Bassi (M De Lima Junior, 73’), M Cicedo, M Carrasquilla (Baird, 61’), F Ibrahim (Úlfarsson, 72’), F Quiñónes
Subs not used:Â GK Clark, D Steres
Stats Summary: CHI / HOU
Shots: 13 / 11
Shots on Goal: 5 / 6
Saves: 2 / 4
Passing Accuracy: 86.1% / 77%
Corners: 8 / 2
Fouls: 15 / 11
Offsides: 2 / 6
Possession: 65.9% / 34.1%
Attendance:Â 7,512
Referee:Â Marcos Deoliveira
Assistant Referees:Â Matthew Seem, Artyom Arustamyan
Fourth Official:Â Alexander Beehler
