CHICAGO (April 15, 2023) – Chicago Fire FC (2-1-4, 10 points) and the Philadelphia Union (2-4-2, 8 points) battled to a 2-2 draw at Soldier Field on Saturday night.
Despite racing ahead to a two-goal lead just two minutes into the second half, the Fire conceded twice in a two-minute stretch midway through the final 45 minutes, resulting in a point gained for each side.
Both Chicago and Philadelphia were keen to attack and Chicago’s first dangerous chance came in the eighth minute when the Fire intercepted a ball near midfield in their own defensive end. The loose ball fell into space, where defender Arnaud Souquet pounced with a one-time shot that sailed toward Andre Blake’s empty goal with the Philadelphia goalkeeper well off his line. The long-range shot, which would have been an instant Goal of the Year candidate, went inches over the crossbar. Chicago had another chance 10 minutes later when forward Kei Kamara trapped the ball in the box but hit a close-range shot just wide.
It was winger Maren Haile-Selassie that opened the scoring with his first Chicago Fire goal in the 19th minute. Chris Mueller passed a ball up the left flank for an overlapping Miguel Navarro, who sent a service in across the box. Kamara was in front of the goal, but left the ball for Haile-Selassie at the far post. The Swiss midfielder had a touch before sending it into the right side of the goal.
Two minutes into the second half, Chicago created a play that resulted in an own goal for the Philadelphia Union. Mueller, Souquet and Fabian Herbers combined on the right side to get the ball into the box, where Souquet played a pass in for Brian Gutiérrez. Philadelphia defender Jakob Glesnes tried to clear it, but it bounced off Nathan Harriel and into the net.
Philadelphia leveled the score with back-to-back goals in the 62nd and 64th minutes. The referee pointed to the penalty spot after a hard tackle just inside Chicago’s 18-yard-box and Daniel Gazdag lined up to take the penalty, sending it into the top left corner. Shortly afterward, a cross put into the box was met by a headed pass from Daniel Gazgad to Alejandro Bedoya for a low, driven shot that found the back of the net.
Chicago’s pressure didn’t let up and in the 82nd minute, some back-and-forth play between second-half substitutes Xherdan Shaqiri and Georgios Koutsias ended with Shaqiri lobbing a ball over the Union defense. The Greek forward got a touch on the ball, directing it toward goal, but his effort bounced off the post and back into play.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago will head south for Club’s first and only road match of April against Atlanta United at 3:30 p.m. CT on Sunday, April 23, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The match will be broadcast on Apple TV+ and FS1, and transmitted locally in Spanish on TUDN 1200 AM.
Notes:
- With the 2-2 result, the Fire remained above the playoff line, ranking eighth in the East for points (10) so far this season.
Swiss winger Maren Haile-Selassie scored his first goal in a Chicago Fire shirt, with Miguel Navarro registering his first assist of the season. - The Chicago Fire have scored seven first-half goals in seven matches. Only the Columbus Crew (8) have scored more first half goals in MLS this season.
- Chicago remains unbeaten at home this season with one win and four draws from their five contests at Soldier Field.
- In their last six league matches, Chicago have won two, drawn four and lost one to earn 10 points.
- The Fire started with the same opening lineup that began in last weekend's 2-1 win against Minnesota United.
- Coming in as a substitute in the 65th minute, Swiss international Xherdan Shaqiri returned to the field for the first time since the two teams last faced off on March 11 in Philadelphia. Shaqiri had missed the team’s last four matches due to injury.
- Forward Kei Kamara started for a second-straight match after delivering a first half brace in last weekend's win.
- Defenders Arnaud Souquet, Rafael Czichos and Carlos Terán are the only Fire players to start every match this season.
- Midfielder Fabian Herbers also returned to the starting XI to line up alongside Gastón Giménez in the deep-lying spot. Herbers is closing in on an MLS milestone, as he made his 149th career regular season appearance tonight.
- In net, 19-year-old Chris Brady started his sixth-straight match.
- Midfielder Jairo Torres (right upper leg), midfielder Federico Navarro (left upper leg), and forward Victor Bezerra (left upper leg) are unavailable for selection due to injury tonight.
Box Score:
Chicago Fire FC 2:2 Philadelphia Union
Goals:
CHI - Haile-Selassie (1) (M. Navarro 1, Mueller 1) 19’
CHI - Own Goal (WATCH) 47’
PHI - Gazdag (3) (penalty) 62’
PHI - Carranza (3) (Gazdag 5, Sullivan 1) 64’
Discipline:
CHI - Herbers (Yellow Card) 66’
PHI - Gazdag (Yellow Card) 90+2’
PHI - Curtin (Yellow Card) 90+5’
CHI - Giménez (Yellow Card) 90+5’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Brady, D Souquet, D Terán (Burks, 58), D Czichos (capt.), D M. Navarro, M Haile-Selassie, M Mueller, M Gutiérrez (Shaqiri, 65’), M Herbers (Casas Jr., 80’), M Giménez (Pineda, 46’), F Kamara (Koutsias, 65’)
Subs not used: GK Gal, D Omsberg, D Dean, F Przybyłko
Philadelphia Union: GK Blake, D Elliott, D Glesnes, D Mbaizo, D Harriel, M Martinez, M Gazdag, M Bedoya (capt.), M McGlynn (Bueno, 90’), F Uhre, F Carranza
Subs not used: GK Bendik, D Real, D Lowe, M Perea, M Torres, M Sullivan, M Craig, F Donovan
Stats Summary: CHI / PHI
Shots: 12 / 16
Shots on Goal: 2 / 4
Saves: 2 / 1
Passing Accuracy: 77.5% / 80.1%
Corners: 4 / 2
Fouls: 8 / 12
Offsides: 0 / 2
Possession: 49.5% / 50.5%
Attendance: 12,811
Referee: Ismail Elfath
Assistant Referees: Logan Brown, Adam Garner
Fourth Official: Walt Heatherly
VAR: Alejandro Mariscal, Mike Kampmeinert
