Chicago Fire FC (8-8-4, 28 points) dropped a 2-1 result against FC Cincinnati (13-5-3, 42 points) Saturday night at TQL Stadium. Philip Zinckernagel tallied his ninth goal of the season and seventh on the road for Chicago.
The hosts took the lead in the 19th minute after a quarter hour of high pressure. Midfielder Evander took a few touches from beyond the box before rifling a shot that found the far corner of the goal for his 12th of the season.
Five minutes into the second half, the hosts struck again. Evander picked off a Fire throw-in, receiving a give-and-go from forward Kei Kamara on the right wing. The midfielder spotted an open Kevin Denkey on the left, who tapped home the breakaway goal to double the lead.
Chicago answered back in the 56th minute. Winger Jonathan Bamba held up the ball near the top of the box long enough for defender Andrew Gutman to overlap on the left. Gutman drew the pass and played the ball to an empty pocket of space in the top of the six-yard box, where Zinckernagel stepped to finish his ninth of the year. The goal invigorated the Fire, but the Orange and Blue defense held on to earn their league-leading seventh home win of the season.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago will return to Soldier Field for an inaugural matchup against San Diego FC. The interconference match will kick off at 7:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV and transmitted locally on wlsam.com (English) and Que Buena Fire via the Uforia App (Spanish).
Notes:
- MLS All-Star winger Philip Zinckernagel scored his ninth goal of 2025 and seventh on the road. With his goal, Zinckernagel tied Jaime Moreno and Ronald Cerritos for the second most consecutive road matches with goal contributions (8) in Major League Soccer history.
- Jonathan Bamba tied Zinckernagel for the team lead in assists with his eighth this season. The winger stayed one assist ahead of defender Andrew Gutman, who has now recorded a career-high seven assists in the 2025 campaign.
- Goalkeeper Jeff Gal recorded two saves in his sixth match of the year. In six starts, the Bartlett, Ill. native posted a record of 3-3, playing well in matches against the top three teams (Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Nashville) in the Eastern Conference.
- Saturday marked only the second loss at TQL Stadium for Chicago. The Men in Red still have a favorable 3-2-0 record at the Cincinnati stadium, where they had not lost since 2023.
- Goalkeeper Chris Brady (International duty); defenders Carlos Terán (Lower Body), Justin Reynolds (Head) and Christopher Cupps (Lower Body); and midfielders Rominigue Kouamé (Lower Body), Chris Mueller (Not Due to Injury) and David Poreba (Lower Body) were unavailable for selection Saturday night.
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Box Score:
FC Cincinnati 2:1 Chicago Fire FC
Goals:
CIN - Evander (12) (Orellano 5) (WATCH) 19’
CIN - Denkey (12) (Evander 8, Kamara 1) (WATCH) 50’
CHI - Zinckernagel (9) (Gutman 7, Bamba 8) (WATCH) 55’
Discipline:
CIN - Kamara (Yellow Card) 53’
CHI - Bamba (Yellow Card) 76’
CIN - Miazga (Yellow Card) 83’
CHI - Elliott (Yellow Card) 90+7’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Gal, D Barroso (Dean, 73’), D Rogers, D Elliott (capt.), D Gutman, M Pineda, M Oregel Jr. (Barlow, 83’), M Gutiérrez (Haile-Selassie, 73’), F Zinckernagel (Williams, 90+4’), F Cuypers, F Bamba (Glasgow, 83’)
Subs not used: GK Dowd, D González, D Gasper, M D’Avilla
FC Cincinnati: GK Celentano, D Yedlin, D Powell, D Miazga (capt.), D Engel, D Orellano (Smith, 73’), M Evander (Hadebe, 90’), M Anunga, M Bucha, F Kamara (Valenzuela, 68’), F Denkey (Baird, 90’)
Subs not used: GK Walters, D, M Jimenez, F Chirila, F Mboma Dem
Stats Summary: CIN / CHI
Shots: 13 / 14
Shots on Goal: 4 / 5
Saves: 4 / 2
Passing Accuracy: 87.4% / 87.2%
Corners: 1 / 10
Fouls: 8 / 13
Offsides: 3 / 2
Possession: 52% / 48%
Attendance: 25,513
Referee: Pierre-Luc Lauziere
Assistant Referees: Eric Weisbrod, Gerard-Kader Lebuis
Fourth Official: Nabil Bensalah
VAR: Carol Anne Chenard
AVAR: Craig Lowry