June 15, 2024 – Major League Soccer (MLS)
Chicago Fire FC Press Release
Chicago Fire FC celebrates victory.
(Chicago Fire FC)
TORONTO, Ontario – Chicago Fire FC (4-8-6, 18 points) earned its first away win of the season with a 4-1 win over Toronto FC (7-8-3, 24 points) on Saturday night at BMO Field.
The Men in Red include strikers Hugo Cuypers and Maren Haile-Selassie, defender Allan Arigoni, and defender/midfielder Mauricio Pineda. Goals were scored from three players, and the club extended its unbeaten streak in MLS regular season play to four games (2-0). -2). The result also marks the second time the Fire have scored four goals in a game this season.
The Fire often created multiple shots on goal early in the game against Toronto and throughout the game. After Kuipers’ narrow chance in the eighth minute, Chicago had another dangerous opportunity two minutes later. Arigoni cut inside and fired a curling left-footed shot that goalkeeper Luca Gabran beat but went high into the goal.
Moments later, the Fire continued to put pressure on the Toronto backline and came close to scoring on two occasions in a two-minute span. In the 16th minute, midfielders Kellyn Acosta and Haile-Selassise combined from a short corner to create space for Acosta to curl a well-placed cross to an unmarked Cuypers, who missed the inside of the near post with a first-time volley. Two minutes later, Haile-Selassie received the ball on the left wing, confidently cut inside with his right foot and fired a powerful shot that was blocked by another strong save from Gabran.
Chicago eventually scored the first goal in the 41st minute of the first half with a Haile-Selassie header. The Fire pressed Toronto deep in their own half and midfielder Fabian Herbers won the ball back and crossed into the box for the Swiss attacker, who made no mistake with a header to give Chicago a 1-0 half-time lead. .
But the Fire’s lead was short-lived, as Toronto equalized just three minutes later when homegrown goalkeeper Chris Brady failed to stop midfielder Lorenzo Insigne’s deflected right-footed shot.
Despite conceding a goal just before the end of the first half, the Fire continued their strong performance in the second half, scoring two goals in three minutes to take a two-goal lead. In the 57th minute of the first half, Kuipers beat right-wing defender Kevin Long and rushed toward the goal. The Belgian striker beat his defender and carefully curled a left-footed shot into the far corner to score his sixth goal of the season.
Soon after, the Fire scored their third goal after once again winning the ball deep in Toronto’s half. Homegrown midfielder Brian Gutierrez, after a back-and-forth with Hail-Selassie, threw the ball to the edge of the 18-yard box for defender/midfielder Mauricio Pineda, who curled his shot perfectly into the far-right corner with a powerful strike. I connected it properly. It marked his first campaign.
Chicago added the fourth and final goal of the game when Arigoni took a pass from Herbers on the right wing. Arigoni carried the ball forward, cut inside with his left foot and curled it past Gavran and into the far corner to round out the scoring for the Fire.
Next Game: Chicago plays the second of a three-game stretch on the road to face Orlando City SC on Saturday, June 22. Kickoff at INTER&Co Stadium is scheduled for 6:30 PM CT. Matches will be broadcast globally via MLS Season Pass and locally via wlsam.com (English) and WRTO 1200 AM (Spanish).
Social: Twitter – @chicagofire, @vamosfire (hashtag: #CF97 #VamosFire) | Instagram – @chicagofire | Facebook
note:
The Fire’s regular season record against Toronto FC currently stands at 12-14-12.
Tonight’s win was the Fire’s first in Toronto since 2012.
With this win, the Fire have now gone undefeated in four consecutive league games. This marks their longest undefeated streak until 2024.
During that span, forward Hugo Kuipers has led the way for the Fire in the top three offense, recording four goal contributions (three goals, one assist) in his last four games.
After the win, Chicago moved up to 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings and is now just two points below the playoff line.
The result gave Chicago its first road win of 2024 (1-3-5, 8 points), while the Fire also scored four or more goals on the road for the first time since Oct. 20, 2021.
Kuipers now leads the team with six goals in 18 games (18 starts) in his debut season in MLS.
Winger Maren Haile-Selassie scored her second goal of the season.
With two assists tonight, midfielder Fabian Herbers now has four assists in 2024, setting a career high for assists in a single season with the Fire.
Herbers is also tied with Haile-Selassie for most assists on the team this season.
Defender Allan Arigoni scored his first career goal for the Fire, and defender/midfielder Mauricio Pineda scored his first goal of the season.
With Arigoni and Pineda each scoring a goal, Chicago now has goals from nine different players in 2024.
Pineda started four consecutive games this season and recorded his 99th career start. He is now one step away from becoming the first domestic player to reach 100 starts for the Men in Red.
Starting tonight’s game, defender Carlos Terán made his 73rd appearance for the Fire, tying former Fire defender Wilman Conde for the most appearances by a Colombian-born player in club history.
Defender Wyatt Omsberg made his first appearance of the season, coming on in the 73rd minute against the Terrans.
Midfielder Javier Casas made his first appearance of the season, replacing Herbers in stoppage time.
Box Score:
Toronto FC 1:4 Chicago Fire FC
target:
CHI – Haile-Selassie (2) (Herbers, 3) (WATCH) 41′
TOR – Insigne (5) (Petretta, 3) (WATCH) 44′
CHI – Kuipers (6) (WATCH) 57′
CHI – Pineda (1) (Gutierrez, 3) (WATCH) 60′
CHI – Arigoni (1) (Herbers, 4) (WATCH) 89′
Discipline:
doesn’t exist
Chicago Fire FC: GK Brady, D Arrigoni, D Terran (Ohmsberg, 73”), D Pineda, M Suque, M Acosta (Jiménez, 73”), M Herbers © (House, 90+3”) , M Dean, F Gutierrez, F Kuipers (Cusias, 84′), F Heil-Selassie (Barlow, 73′).
Subs not used: GK Ritchie, D Konincks, M Müller
TOR: GK Gabran, D Long, D Petretta (Mailula, 84′), D Rosted (Thompson, 63′), M Marshall-Ruti (Mavica, 69′), M Longstaff, M Coello (Franklin) , 63′), M Flores, F Etienne Junior, F Insigne ©, F Kerr (Owusu, 63′)
Subs not used: GK Ranjitzing, M Simermancic, M Ayari
Stat Summary: TFC / CHI
Shot: 16/15
Goal percentage: 6/8
Save: 4/5
Passing accuracy: 88% / 80%
Corner kicks: 5 / 5
Fouls: 7/12
Offside: 1/1
Reserve: 60% / 40%
Attendance: 28,303
Referee: Pierre-Luc Rosier
Assistant referees: Gerard-Kader Lebuis, Andre PIckler
Reserve referee: Mathieu Soiret
VAR: Jair Maruffo, Logan Brown
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