Chicago Fire FC (3-8-6, 15 points) earned three points at home with a 2-1 win against the LA Galaxy (7-3-7, 28 points) on Saturday night at Soldier Field. With the result, the Fire extended its unbeaten run to three matches without a loss in league play (1-0-2).
LA was awarded a penalty kick after VAR determined that the ball was handled in the box in the fifth minute. Riqui Puig stepped up to take the shot, sending his strike into the lower left corner, inside the post and just past the outstretched hands of Chris Brady.
Chicago leveled the score in the 32nd minute when Hugo Cuypers scored his second goal in as many games and his fifth of the season. Brian Gutiérrez carried the ball up the middle of the field to the top of the 18-yard box, touching it left for Maren Haile-Selassie. The Swiss winger touched the ball but wasn’t able to control it. The ball bounced off a defender, falling back onto Haile-Selassie’s path allowing him to touch it into the box for Cuypers, who ran onto it and slid it into the lower left side of the goal.
With the score remaining tied 15 minutes into the second half, Gutiérrez put the Fire ahead in the 61st minute when he took advantage of a misplaced pass by the Galaxy defense. The Chicago native carried the ball up the middle of the field, sending a powerful low shot that hit the bottom of the left post, then crossed the goal and hit the bottom of the right post before rolling into the back of the net. The game-winning goal marked the 20-year-old’s fourth goal of the season, which ranks as the second-most on the team in 2024.
Brady kept the score as it stood in the 69th minute with a double save, holding off the Galaxy attack when Dejan Joveljić collected a ball at the top of the box and maneuvered toward his right to pull off a shot. Brady made the stop, with the ensuing rebound falling to Julián Aude on the left side. He also tried his luck, but Brady was once again there, this time catching the ball to stop the play. The Fire defense limited the Galaxy to four shots on target, with Brady making three saves on the night.
NEXT MATCH: Following the international break, Chicago will travel to face Toronto FC on Saturday, June 15. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT. The match will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass and transmitted locally via wlsam.com (English) and WRTO 1200 AM (Spanish).
Social: Twitter - @chicagofire, @vamosfire (Hashtags: #CF97 #VamosFire) | Instagram - @chicagofire | Facebook
Notes:
- Tonight’s result marked the Fire’s first win against the LA Galaxy in regular season play since Aug. 1, 2010.
- The 2-1 victory also marked the team’s second come-from-behind win of the season (prev: 4-3 win vs. MTL on March 16).
- With his 13th career win, Naperville native Chris Brady surpassed Gaga Slonina for the most wins by a Homegrown goalkeeper in Club history.
- Forward Hugo Cuypers started his 17th game of 2024, making him the only player to start every game for the Fire in the 2024 regular season. Cuypers has registered two goals and an assist in the last three matches, marking the first time this season he has documented a goal contribution in three consecutive games.
- Cuypers notched his team-leading fifth goal of the season tonight.
- Midfielder Brian Gutiérrez scored his second game-winning goal of the season, with his previous game-winner occurring on April 6 in the team’s 2-1 win over the Houston Dynamo.
- Midfielder Maren Haile-Selassie made his ninth start of 2024 for the Fire, and his 11th start overall of the regular season. Haile-Selassie contributed to a Cuypers goal for a second-straight match, increasing his team-leading assist tally to four.
- Defender Carlos Terán started his sixth straight game of the regular season and his seventh overall. With 72 appearances, Terán is one match away from tying Wilman Conde for the most all-time appearances by a Colombian-born player in Fire history.
- With an appearance in tonight’s match, midfielder Chris Mueller is now four away from 50 appearances with his hometown Club.
- Defenders Chase Gasper (leg), Andrew Gutman (leg) and Tobias Salquist (leg); and midfielders Federico Navarro (leg) and Xherdan Shaqiri (international duty) were unavailable for today’s match.
Box Score:
Chicago Fire FC 2:1 LA Galaxy
Goals:
LA - Puig (Penalty) (6) (WATCH) 7’
CHI - Cuypers (5) (Haile-Selassie, 4) (WATCH) 32’
CHI - Gutiérrez (4) (WATCH) 61’
Discipline:
CHI - Pineda (Yellow Card) 29’
LA - Cerrillo (Yellow Card) 45+4’
CHI - Herbers (Yellow Card) 75’
LA - Cuevas (Yellow Card) 77’
CHI - Arigoni (Yellow Card) 90+5’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Brady, D Terán, D Czichos, D Dean, D Arigoni, M Herbers (capt.), M Pineda (D Souquet, 46’), M Acosta (Giménez, 76’), F Haile-Selassie (Koutsias, 76’), F Cuypers (Barlow, 66’), F Gutiérrez (Mueller, 85’)
Subs not used: GK Richey, D Omsberg, M Casas, Jr.
LA: GK Micovic, D Yamane, D Aude (Cuevas, 72’), D Yoshida (capt.), D Cáceres, M Delgado, M Puig, M Peréz (Joveljic, 59’), M Cerrillo (Aguirre, 72’), F Pec, F Berry (Fagúndez, 82’)
Subs not used: GK McCarthy, D Nelson, D Neal, D Garcés, M Lepley,
Stats Summary: CHI / LA
Shots: 11 / 13
Shots on Goal: 4 / 4
Saves: 3 / 2
Passing Accuracy: 85.4% / 92.3%
Corners: 2 / 5
Fouls: 16 / 6
Offsides: 0 / 0
Possession: 41.3% / 58.8%
Attendance: 25,237
Referee: Marcos DeOliveira
Assistant Referees: Brian Dunn, Stephen McGonagle
Fourth Official: Jeremy Scheer
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero, Peter Balciunas
Chicago Fire FC Quotes
Chicago Fire FC Head Coach Frank Klopas
On the team winning its first match since April and earning four points during the week…
“We don’t look back, we look forward. That’s what I say. Today it’s a great feeling. Three games undefeated, that’s huge.”
On tactical changes having an impact on the result…
“We changed tactics a little bit, the way we played, and I think even today, with Hugo [Cuypers] and Maren [Haile-Selassie]. Maren also, for me, felt that he had an excellent game because he has more like a free role, but he picks good moments when to drop into midfield and create overloads. But for me, it was an excellent win. Even, again, the start, because we talked to the team before the game to have a good start and not fall behind, and then four minutes in, when I saw the PK, the handball. I knew 100 percent – and I told the guys in there – there was no doubt in my mind that I felt that we were going to come back. And then, I think the team – within every match, including this one – is growing. From a confidence standpoint, I feel that with this change tactically, I feel we had a really good game plan, but I think that it's helped a lot. And I think it's helped put players in certain positions where they can play better.
Big win. We have a long way to go. But I think for me, it's starting, the team is getting stronger. We're coming together and we're playing good soccer. We're competing really hard and we're creating chances. And it's good to see Hugo scoring and also to see [Brian Gutiérrez], I think that was a huge goal, take a big initiative. It was fantastic.”
On the recent mentality of the team…
“I think that there is a huge belief within the team. I think you can talk about it with the players, but I think once you're in situations like that and then you find a way to come out of it, I think that gives confidence to the group. And I think for me, there's a lot of confidence and the team is sticking together. There's a huge commitment by everyone, everyone's in every play. When you look at the game tonight, I felt from the guys, they had to step up. We had the third game in one week, we had to rotate certain guys. They're in the same boat, I understand.
But I think that more than anything is that huge belief. And I think you get that when you come back from games that you're never out of it. Never ever, ever give up. I know that’s one of the things I showed the team in preseason because I was in London, in the war tunnels, and I saw on the wall, the quote [from] Winston Churchill, it says, ‘Never, never, ever give up.’ And I think I had it in one slide when I was talking about culture. I think the players had that mentality.
For me, it's just good to see a lot of guys play with a lot of confidence and belief. And a big one, we talked about [Brian Gutiérrez], who is huge. He continues to grow within every game. He's putting the team and moments on his shoulder. He can make the difference, that's for sure. He's great. Really great to watch on the eye, for the fans. But as a coach sometimes you don't look [at] that because you want production; but now he's doing the production also, which is great to see. Because he can, he has the quality.”
On the growth of Brian Gutiérrez in absence of Xherdan Shaqiri…
“I think that he's taking more initiative and stuff like that. I think it's great to see because I've told him that he's a guy that can make a difference in games. And maybe when Shaqiri is here, maybe he relies a lot maybe on Shaqiri to do a lot of the load. But now, it's not that he has to do it all by himself, but he's taken more of that initiative and he's growing as a player. Even though he's very young, he's becoming more mature in his ability to have a big impact for the team over 90 minutes. Not just flashes, because we all see flashes, but to be at the next level, which he can be, it's about doing it over 90 minutes, and doing it consistently. And that's what I've told him.
I'm not saying that if he couldn't do it, I wouldn't tell him that or I wouldn't push him. And the other thing is the relationships: when you build relationships with players, I've known [Gutiérrez] for a long time, there is a trust. So when you say certain things, they know that it comes from a good place. I want this kid to be, you know, reach the level that he can. And if he doesn't, I'm gonna blame only him, because we're all here to help him and he has that quality. And I'm not going to let him relax. I wouldn't be doing my job. He has too much quality. He needs to be a top player in this league, because he can. For me, and I told him, this year, he needs to score at least eight to 10 goals and 10 assists.”
On feeling happy after the win…
“I see you guys here too, because this is our team and I love the team, and the city and the Club. And, you know, I can't go out there because, you know, when the team doesn't win, I have no problem when the fans get upset. But we work extremely hard. They come and see games and sometimes they don't understand, it's fine. That's one thing. You can say that to me, but when I hear certain things about our owner and stuff like that, that to me is unacceptable because we have a guy here that's given everything to this Club. He believes in this Club, he believes in the city, and you know what? He's put resources which we never had in his Club before. And now it's our part to get it right. So that's the one guy, you know, you can say, I have big shoulders, no problem. Say it, but know what you say, watch the game. Don't be saying stuff; watch the game. Don't be a fan; watch the game. So for me that's what bothers me when the team loses. Of course it hurts. Because I'm not here, it's not like I'm going to a different city or a different club to be in a coaching job. You know, I care about the Club, I carem, there's a history here. I played in this city way before the Fire ever existed. And I care all about the, everything about soccer in the city and about this Club. And I want it to be the best and I know we can't. We haven't gotten there yet, but we will.”
On handling a winless streak…
“It’s tough, 100 percent. Sometimes I take it home because like I said, it weighs a lot more being here than anywhere else. It’s good that I have a great wife and she's understanding, and she knows when she sees me sometimes coming, she has a glass of wine that's ready and she says, ‘Hey, I have a little bit for you.’
So I think you try to unwind but to tell you the truth, it's not always easy because wherever I go, people are gonna say, Frank, wherever I go, they will ask me and then it does bother me. I try to move forward as much as I can because the next day, I'm in front of the team and I'm a very optimistic person as it is. That's the one thing: I'm a fighter, always have been, because I know where I came from. And I owe that to my parents, they're immigrants, they came here. I tell all these stories to the players. My mom worked three jobs and didn't want to take the bus back to save 25 cents. So don't complain like this.
I have that kind of mentality, I'm very driven. But I'm also realistic and honest and I care about the players and I put a lot into it. I have a passion for what I do. If I didn't love the sport, then I should go do something else. And I love the team, just like you guys, we're all here in the same boat like this, down. Now we can smile. Because it is a bigger game. Health and everything's the most important thing; this is a game, we can deal with it. But things happen that we have to look for, but it's always great to come out of there. We have a long way to go, guys. It's just a one-win, we’re in a streak. I know that. So we need to keep working hard and we haven't done anything yet. We’ve got to continue to believe and work hard. That's the most important thing.”
On adjustments in light of injuries…
“We made the changes but sometimes you can’t predict that. Allan [Arigoni], normally, he didn't play last game because of cards, so he should have been fresh, you know? And it was unexpected. Hopefully it's nothing really bad because we have, now, Andrew [Gutman] and [Federico Navarro] with hamstring situations, and with Allan.
But the guys came in. I mean, I brought Arnaud [Souquet] in the second half, I felt he was excellent. We're playing guys, we don't have a left footed player now because, especially as a left back and I put [Jonathan] Dean, and he was more, tactically, to cover this guy [Gabriel] Pec. And I thought [Dean] did an unbelievable job, unbelievable. Did you see him? Pec was going on the other side, hiding from Jonny Dean.
But Allan recovered, he didn't play midweek. Listen, nowadays, there's more technology than you know: the scientists, the data of what you’re running, the meters, we track everything. But unfortunately, when you're playing the game, the game pulls you, you have to sprint, there's things that you can't control. In practice, you can control a lot of things; in the games, it's more difficult to control. But we have to deal with it. We have great staff that are on top of the players and let's see how they feel next couple of days. Hopefully it's not long term. “
On the growth of Carlos Terán…
“With Carlos, for me, since we changed to the back three, he's been incredible. I tell you, he's been incredible. I think sometimes with the two center backs, he wants to do so much and he leaves the center of the field and he's trying to help everywhere. I think with the three, I have [Rafael Czichos] on one side and [Mauricio Pineda] on the other side and I say, pin them in, don't move, stay there, keep him on there. So, Carlos has been incredible, man. And I think the thing with him, you can just see he’s comfortable on the ball. He's so fast, great in the air, dominant in the air. And with him staying healthy, it's important because that's been the issue with him in the past, and being consistent. If he does, for me, he's one of the best center backs in the league.”
Chicago Fire FC Goalkeeper Chris Brady
On the saves he made in the second half...
“Yeah, I'm doing my best to see what I could. There were a lot of guys in front of me and the ball came sort of at me, sort of at the side and tried to parry it away to a good spot and unfortunately, I didn’t, but I was able to save the second one. I felt good about staying alive mentally throughout the full game, so I wasn't too worried about it. It's always good to make some saves, you know.”
On his back...
“Just a little bit of tightness, that’s all. I get back cramps every now and again. I'm getting old (laughs). But, no, I’m alright.”
On handling the LA Galaxy pressure and bouncing back from the early penalty kick...
“Yeah, the PK was unfortunate. But like Frank said, there wasn't a doubt in any of our minds that we would get one back, and then we got one back. I felt very, very, very confident with my backline in front of me. I felt like we stayed super solid, especially in those last 20 or so minutes. We're doing everything we could to take time off the clock, relieve that pressure, because obviously they were trying to come. But I felt good about my backline.”
On the extra pressure Galaxy forward Dejan Joveljić brought coming off the bench...
“Yeah, he was definitely a guy that we watched in our pregame film. So, it adds a little bit more pressure, especially when he's getting the ball in areas where he can turn and shoot. But, you know, again, he's just another player.”
On if this game feels like a turning point in the season...
“I feel like it's a combination of the last three. Maybe not just this game. I felt like we've been able to build on each game slowly. And this is a good win, a much needed one. But I feel like it was a culmination of the last three.”
On his celebration after the game and if it was a release of joy...
“It was a lot of that. And I also get super hype when Guti [Brian Guiterrez] scores, it always makes me happy, always makes me smile when he gets one. So yeah, I was getting pretty hyped back there. Yeah, you could say it was just a release of everything.”
Chicago Fire FC Midfielder Brian Gutiérrez
On growing into Klopas’ system in the “10” position…
“I mean it’s my third game playing under that role and I think as time goes on players like that have to have time and develop into that role and get a sense of it.”
On Shaqiri’s leave to the Euro’s leading to more playing time as the “10”…
“I mean, he’s there, I’m trying to fill that role and do the most I can. Honestly, that’s what I’m trying to do, help the team get wins and that’s the main goal.”
On personal growth over the course of the season…
“I’ve had ups and downs, I think the team also had ups and downs, but I think right now I feel more confident on the ball and my play is developing even more as I’m playing. Every player has ups and downs, but you always have to look forward and see the future.”
On eight to 10 goals being the expectation for him…
“I think that’s a reasonable target. I think I can do it and I know I’m capable of reaching those goals.”
On the interception leading up to the second goal…
“I feel like during the game we were intercepting that pass because they always wanted to find Riqui [Puig]. I had a lot of space in front of me and I took my chance. I feel like I have to do more of that, but thankfully I got the goal.”
On the adjustment of defending [Riqui] Puig far back into the field…
“Yeah, he drops really far. He has a free-roam role and honestly you just have to hold him. He’s a really good player, a quality player, but we were trying to do the best and I thought we held him off enough to help us get the win.”
On his reaction when the game-winning shot hit both posts…
“I saw it hit the first post and then the other post, but I know once it hit the second post the ball was rolling inside so I knew it was a goal. Thankfully it went in and we got the three points which is much needed for us and I think this momentum will keep us going, the group is heading in a good positive direction.”
On personal feelings after the win and goal…
“I want to dedicate this game to my family and personally to my cousin who is sick and currently fighting for his life, that goal was for him. He is a warrior and that’s what motivates me to play better on the field.”
Chicago Fire FC Forward Georgios Koutsias
On tucking in his jersey against the LA Galaxy after not doing it since last season…
“Yeah, before the game Kellyn [Acosta} told me that I had to do it [tuck his shirt]. He told me if I put it in, we're going to win, and I listened to him. So, I put it in and finally we won. And I'm very happy for the team. We are passing a difficult time for the team. Now we need to keep going forward and to win every game so we can go to the playoffs.”
On the weird attention his tucked shirt is getting in the match against LA Galaxy…
“Yeah, I saw that all the stuff and the players were laughing and so was I. Finally, we won. I'm very happy. I want to keep going forward. So, if the team needs me to do it again [tuck his shirt], I will do it again.”
On his current role with the team…
“Every time I try to do my best. I go to the field, and I give them my energy, my passion. I try to give energy to the team to push the opponent. I train every day and work hard.”
Chicago Fire FC Defender Carlos Terán
On the importance of the victory and the three points at home…
“Like I said in the game against D.C. [United], I believe that result gave us confidence, confidence in believing in ourselves because like I said previously, we have a good team. We want to work, we want to get better, and little by little the results are coming but I feel like it’s something that can motivate the team.
Motivationally, these games impulse you, they make you believe in the work. But it’s three more points and there are a lot of games left to be played. But it’s not important anymore, it’s passed, it’s over, we already have to think about San Jose and the games that follow.”
On the weather, and the confidence Frank Klopas has had in him in recent matches…
“About the weather, football is played in any climate. Sun, heat, rain, snow. In Colombia, I come from the country that I believe is the second-rainiest country in the world. So for me, to play in the rain or with a wet field is not a problem, to be honest. I enjoy it. Additionally, I feel like it’s good because the pitch is quicker and the ball can move more.
And about the confidence, I believe it’s not just me, everyone has to be full of confidence. Everyone needs to work hard and everyone, not just me, is working really hard and we’re full of confidence not just because of coach but we’re confident in each other. We give each other confidence and we motivate each other to get better because with work and support, we can get the best possible results. We’re all motivated. Within ourselves as we get the confidence, we need to show that confidence on the pitch.”
On playing the center back position alongside Rafael Czichos and Mauricio Pineda…
“Rafa and Mauri are excellent players. They are, honestly, great professionals. I enjoy playing with them, with Allan [Arigoni], and whoever. We’re a team, it’s not just us three, it’s all of us, whoever has to play is going to give it their all because between all of us, we support each other. I support them the way they support me. Whatever formation we play in, we’re going to give our all.”