COLUMBUS, Ohio (Feb. 22, 2025) – Chicago Fire FC (0-0-1, 0 points) opened the 2025 Major League Soccer regular season with a 4-2 loss at Columbus Crew (1-0-0, 3 points) on Saturday night at Lower.com Field. Homegrown midfielder Brian Gutiérrez opened his 2025 account with two goals, assisted twice by Jonathan Bamba in his Fire debut. Columbus forward Diego Rossi added a brace of his own, tallying the match-winning and insurance goals along the way.
On a frigid night in Columbus, both teams took a few minutes to establish their game, but the Fire warmed up more quickly than the Crew. After multiple opportunities out on the left wing, Bamba found plenty of space off a lofted ball from Andrew Gutman. The winger cut into the box, drawing defenders, before finding Gutiérrez on a late run. The Homegrown took a pair of touches before unleashing a shot that snuck under the glove of a diving Patrick Schulte in the 13th minute.
The hosts answered just seven minutes later. Receiving a ball off a goal kick, Sergio Oregel, Jr. was tackled in the box. With no foul called, the ball found Jacen Russell-Rowe, who beat Chris Brady on a one-on-one to grab the equalizer.
Despite that goal, the Fire continued to exploit the space on Columbus’ left. The hosts once again tried to press high, but the Fire took advantage of the space just seconds later when Hugo Cuypers headed the ball to Bamba on the left wing. The Ivorian winger once again cut into the box, splitting two defenders with a through ball to Gutiérrez. The midfielder composed himself, slipping a left-footed shot under the legs of Schulte to once again grab the lead.
Columbus continued to add the pressure and equalized before the first half ended. After a foul, Steven Moreira went wide right to cross into the box. The ball took a couple of deflections, unfortunately bouncing off Fire defender Carlos Terán and over Brady for the 2-2 draw.
The hosts continued the push into stoppage time and finally nabbed the lead. Mo Farsi dribbled into the box, passing back to Moreira to once again send a cross to the head of an open Rossi. The Uruguayan forward struck, giving the hosts the 3-2 lead going into the locker room.
Rossi added to his tally five minutes after the second half whistle. Columbus defender Malte Amundsen earned a takeaway deep in Fire territory, feeding an open Rossi, who took his time to strike a well-placed shot away from Brady and into the net.
The fourth goal invigorated Columbus, nearly adding a fifth in the 63rd minute before a VAR review disallowed it. Chicago dropped back to keep from further damage, reducing the number of opportunities to cut the deficit. A late flurry of chances was not enough, as the hosts came away with their first win of 2025.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago will host Eastern Conference rival D.C. United on Saturday, March 1 at Soldier Field at 7:30 p.m. CT in the Club’s home opener. Tickets for the 2025 season are available for purchase starting at $29 and can be purchased HERE via Ticketmaster or by calling 888-MLS-FIRE. The match will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, and transmitted locally on WLS-AM 890 and La Que Buena 105.1 via the Uforia app.
Notes:
- Brian Gutiérrez’s first half brace was the first multi-goal MLS appearance of his career. Prior to Saturday, the midfielder had scored 10 goals in 120 MLS regular season appearances.
- In only the second game of his career, Sergio Oregel, Jr. recorded his first start with his hometown club. The midfielder also became the 15th Homegrown to start a match for the Fire.
- Jonathan Bamba became the second player in Fire history to notch multiple assists in his debut with the Club. David Vaudreuil is the only other Fire player to do so, recording 2 assists in a 7-0 road victory over the Kansas City Wizards on Fourth of July, 2001.
- Beside Bamba, Philip Zinckernagel and Jack Eliiott made their Fire debuts Saturday night. Elliott played the full match, while the Danish winger played 68 minutes and was booked with a yellow card in the first half.
- Coming into the match, Columbus was the Fire’s most common opponent, facing off 77 times to an even record of 27-27-23 apiece. Having earned a win in their 78th meeting, Columbus takes the all-time series lead with 28 victories.
- Saturday’s match was the fourth time the old foes faced off in the opening match of the MLS regular season. The loss marks the first time Chicago drops a season opener against the Crew. Chicago is now 1-1-2 all time against Columbus in the opener, with all four contests played in the Buckeye State.
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Box Score:
Columbus Crew 4:2 Chicago Fire FC
Goals:
CHI - Gutiérrez (1) (Bamba 1, Gutman 1) (WATCH) 13’
CLB - Russell-Rowe (1) 20’
CHI - Gutiérrez (2) (Bamba 2) (WATCH) 22’
CLB - Terán (Own Goal) (WATCH) 37’
CLB - Rossi (1) (Moreira 1) (WATCH) 45+1’
CLB - Rossi (2) (Amundsen 1) 50’
Discipline:
CHI - Oregel, Jr. (Yellow Card) 37’
CHI - Zinckernagel (Yellow Card) 43’
CHI - Gutiérrez (Yellow Card) 59’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Brady, D Dean, D Terán, D Elliott, D Gutman, M Acosta (capt.), M Oregel, Jr. (Pineda, 68’), M Gutiérrez, F Zinckernagel (Glasgow, 68’), F Cuypers (Barlow, 46’), F Bamba
Subs not used: GK Gal, D Rogers, D González, D Reynolds, M Osorio, M Williams
Columbus Crew: GK Schulte, D Amundsen, D Cheberko, D Moreira, M Farsi (Herrera, 83’), M Nagbe (capt.), M Chambost, M Rossi, M Zawadzki, M Arfsten, F Russell-Rowe (Jackson, 59’)
Subs not used: GK Bush, D Jones, M Jones, M Mrowka, M Brown, M Presthus, F Adams
Stats Summary: CLB / CHI
Shots: 13 / 14
Shots on Goal: 4 / 6
Saves: 4 / 1
Passing Accuracy: 86.9% / 84.0%
Corners: 5 / 2
Fouls: 8 / 17
Offsides: 1 / 2
Possession: 61.8% / 38.2%
Attendance: 20,210
Referee: Fotis Bazakos
Assistant Referees: Andrew Bigelow, Jeffrey Swartzel
Fourth Official: Calin Radosav
VAR: Sorin Stoica
AVAR: Claudiu Badea
