Ten-Man Chicago Fire FC Falls 5-1 to Nashville SC

NASHVILLE_ (July 17, 2021)_ - Playing with a man down for 76 minutes, Chicago Fire FC (3-8-2, 11 points) fell 5-1 to Nashville SC (5-1-7, 22 points) at Nissan Stadium on Saturday night.

The Fire conceded four goals in the first 39 minutes of the match, with midfielder Hany Mukhtar scoring three times to notch the fastest hat-trick in MLS history. Prior to Mukhtar’s third goal in the 16th minute, the Fire were reduced to 10 men when defender Johan Kappelhof was shown a straight red card for bringing down former Fire forward CJ Sapong just outside the 18-yard box. Nashville added a fourth in the 39th minute when Sapong scored his third goal in 2021.

Chicago pulled one back just two minutes into the second half when forward Ignacio Aliseda finished midfielder Przemysław Frankowski’s pass through the six-yard box, notching his third goal in as many games. Nashville added a fifth when midfielder Brian Anunga scored his first MLS goal in the 62nd minute.

NEXT GAME: Chicago Fire FC begin a two-game homestand on Wednesday, July 21 against D.C. United. The match will begin at 7:00 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on WGN-TV, CFFC Live and WOJO 105.1 FM. Tickets for the Fire’s game on Wednesday are available for purchase here.

NOTES:

• Tonight’s match was the second all-time meeting between Chicago and Nashville. The two teams previously battled to a 1-1 draw on Oct. 31, 2020.
• The result marked the first loss since June 23 for the Fire, who were riding a three-game unbeaten streak coming into tonight’s game.
• Former Fire players Jalil Anababa (2011-2013), Dax McCarty (2017-2019) and CJ Sapong (2019-2020) started for Nashville SC tonight.
• The Fire were without team captain Francisco Calvo, who was called up to represent Costa Rica in the Concacaf Gold Cup.
• Head coach Raphael Wicky missed tonight’s match due to a health matter concerning a close family member in Switzerland. Wicky will also miss the July 21 home match against D.C. United. Assistant coach Frank Klopas will continue to lead the team in his absence.

Goals:
NSH - Mukhtar (5) (Sapong 2) 10’
NSH - Mukhtar (6) (Lovitz 4, Leal 5) 13’
NSH - Mukhtar (7) 16’
NSH - Sapong (3) 39’
CHI - Aliseda (3) (Frankowski 3) 47’
NSH - Anunga (1) (Nealis 1) 62’

Discipline:
CHI - Kappelhof (Red Card) 20’
CHI - Pineda (Yellow Card) 27’
CHI - Navarro (Yellow Card) 49’

Box Score:
Nashville SC 5:1 Chicago Fire FC

Chicago Fire FC: GK Shuttleworth, D Kappelhof ©, D Pineda, D Omsberg, M Sekulić, M Navarro (Bornstein 67’), M Frankowski, M Medrán (Stojanović 67’), M Herbers (Giménez 46’), F Berić (Offor 46’), F Aliseda (Espinoza 82’)

Subs not used: GK G. Slonina, M Casas Jr., M Gutiérrez, F Collier

Nashville SC: GK Willis, D Lovitz, D Anibaba, D Romney, D Maher, D Nealis, M McCarty © (LaGrassa 65’), M Mukhtar (Muyl 65’), M Anunga (Haakenson 74’), F Leal (Danladi 74’), F Sapong (Cádiz 67’)

Subs not used: GK Meredith, D Miller, D Washington, F Rios

Stats Summary: NSH / CHI
Shots: 25 / 14  
Shots on Goal: 12 / 4
Passing Accuracy: 88/1% / 82.1%
Saves: 7 / 2
Corners: 7 / 4 
Fouls: 14 / 9
Total passes: 481 / 402  
Offsides: 2 / 0
Possession: 54.8% / 45.2%

Referee: Lukasz Szpala
Assistant Referees: Ian Anderson, Cameron Blanchard
Fourth Official: Tori Penso
VAR: Kevin Stott, Matthew Nelson