Chicago Fire FC (3-1-2, 11 points) earned a 1-1 draw against CF Montréal (0-4-2, 2 points) on Saturday night at Soldier Field. Winger Philip Zinckernagel tallied his second goal of the season in as many games in a row, assisted by Andrew Gutman and Jonathan Bamba.
Chicago opened the scoring for the second match in a row, this time in the 40th minute. Bamba backheeled a no-look pass to Gutman on the run, who put a ball across the box. A late-arriving Zinckernagel hit a shot from a wide-open position at the top of the six-yard box, giving the Fire a 1-0 lead that they took into the locker room.
Upon the restart, the visitors found the equalizer only five minutes in. Luca Petrasso spotted an open Dante Sealy on the right side of the box. The Montréal wingback then laced a one-time volley to beat Brady and tie the match at 1-1, scoring the first goal for the Bleu-blanc-noir since Matchday 1.
Neither team could muster much thereafter, with Montréal coming close to goal on a handful of occasions. Powered by a season-high six saves from Chris Brady, the Fire defense held to record a point for the fifth consecutive match.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago heads east to face the New York Red Bulls on Saturday, April 5 at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, N.J. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT and the match will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, and transmitted locally on www.wlsam.com (English) and Que Buena 105.1 via the Uforia app (Spanish).
Notes:
- With tonight’s draw, Chicago is now unbeaten in five matches for the first time since 2023, when the Fire went 2-0-3 from March 25 through April 15.
- Goalkeeper Chris Brady recorded six saves in the match, the first time he records as many since notching seven against Inter Miami CF on July 20, 2024. The match also marked the ninth time in his career in which Brady recorded at least six saves, three short of his match-high nine set on March 9, 2024 against Columbus.
- Winger Jonathan Bamba’s fourth assist of the season had him tied for first in Major League Soccer with five other players. The assist was his second in three matches, his last coming in Toronto on March 15.
- Saturday’s match marked the first time the Fire featured the same starting XI as the week prior all season. This was the first time the Fire repeated a lineup since July 13, 2024 against New York City FC.
Social: Twitter - @chicagofire, @vamosfire (Hashtags: #CF97 #VamosFire) | Instagram - @chicagofire | Facebook
Box Score:
Chicago Fire FC 1:1 CF Montréal
Goals:
CHI - Zinckernagel (2) (Gutman 2, Bamba 4) (WATCH) 40’
MTL - Sealy (1) (Petrasso 1, Clark 1) (WATCH) 50’
Discipline:
MTL - Loturi (Yellow Card) 23’
CHI - Gutman (Yellow Card) 47’
CHI - Zinckernagel (Yellow Card) 53’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Brady, D Barroso, D Elliott (capt.), D Rogers, D Gutman, M Oregel, Jr., M Pineda, M Williams (Koaumé, 57’), F Zinckernagel (Haile-Selassie, 79’), F Cuypers (Barlow, 79’), F Bamba (Glasgow, 90+1’)
Subs not used: GK Gal, D Téran, D González, D Reynolds, M Konincks
CF Montréal: GK Sirois, D Guboglo (Marshall-Rutty, 68’), D Waterman, D Campbell, D Petrasso, D Sealy, M Duke (Inakov, 90’), M Piette (capt.) (Alvarez, 81’), M Loturi, M Clark (Opoku, 81’), F Owusu (Ibrahim, 90’)
Subs not used: GK Breza, D Pearce, D Bugaj, M Craig
Stats Summary: CHI / MTL
Shots: 6 / 17
Shots on Goal: 2 / 7
Saves: 6 / 1
Passing Accuracy: 82.4% / 84.7%
Corners: 2 / 8
Fouls: 19 / 14
Offsides: 1 / 5
Possession: 43.2% / 56.8%
Attendance: 16,278
Referee: Elijio Arreguin
Assistant Referees: Jose Da Silva, Adam Garner
Fourth Official: Ismir Pakmic
VAR: David Barrie
AVAR: Joshua Patlak