Chicago Fire FC (6-14-8, 26 points) fell 2-1 to D.C. United (8-12-8, 32 points) on Saturday night at SeatGeek Stadium.
The Fire fell behind in the first half after conceding twice in a three-minute span. The visitors opened the scoring in the 26th minute through league-leading scorer, forward Christian Benteke, then doubled their lead in the 29th minute with a goal from midfielder Gabriel Pirani.
Chicago defender Andrew Gutman scored his first goal for his hometown Club in the 54th minute, blasting a powerful shot from outside the 18-yard-box to cut into the deficit.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago will conclude a three-game homestand against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday, Sept. 14 at Soldier Field. The match is scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass, and transmitted locally in Spanish on WRTO 1200 AM and in English on 890 WLS-AM.
Notes:
- Andrew Gutman scored his first goal for the Chicago Fire in his 100th career MLS start.
- With the assist on Gutman’s goal, Maren Haile-Selassie surpassed Hugo Cuypers in goal contributions (13) in 2024. Currently in his second season with the Fire, Haile-Selassie has recorded 11 goals and 12 assists in 55 regular season matches (40 starts), including five goals and eight assists in 2024.
- Fabian Herbers entered the match in the 74th minute, becoming the second German-born player to play in 200 Major League Soccer matches after Julian Gressel. Herbers has played 147 of his 200 matches with the Fire and is the longest-tenured player on the roster.
- Defender Rafael Czichos (yellow card accumulation) and Chase Gasper (leg); midfielders Ariel Lassiter (international duty) and Mauricio Pineda (leg); and forward Georgios Koutsias (international duty) were unavailable for today’s match.
Social: Twitter - @chicagofire, @vamosfire (Hashtags: #CF97 #VamosFire) | Instagram - @chicagofire | Facebook
Box Score:
Chicago Fire FC 1:2 D.C. United
Goals:
DCU - Benteke (18) (Klich, 9) (WATCH) 26’
DCU - Pirani (4) (Klich, 10) (WATCH) 29’
CHI - Gutman (1) (Haile-Selassie, 8) (WATCH) 54’
Discipline:
CHI - Gutman (Yellow Card) 45+1’
DCU - Badji (Yellow Card) 73’
DCU - Klich (Yellow Card) 90’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Brady, D Souquet (Dean, 86’), D Terán, D Gutman (Herbers, 74’), D Arigoni (Barlow, 46’), M Haile-Selassie, M Gutiérrez, M Acosta (Reynolds, 74’), M Giménez (capt.), F Cuypers
Subs not used: GK Richey, D Salquist,M Mueller, M Navarro, M Casas Jr.
D.C. United: GK Bono, D Bartlett, D Santos, D Tubbs (Canouse, 83’), D McVey, M Stroud (Murrell, 68’), M Pirani (Ku-DiPietro, 57’), M Rodríguez, M Klich, F Dájome, F Benteke (capt.) (Badji, 68’)
Subs not used: GK Zamudio, D Sargis, M Garay
Stats Summary: CHI / DCU
Shots: 6 / 10
Shots on Goal: 2 / 3
Saves: 1 / 1
Passing Accuracy: 85.4% / 74.6%
Corners: 3 / 4
Fouls: 10 / 12
Offsides: 0 / 0
Possession: 65% / 35%
Attendance: 16,426
Referee: Fotis Bazakos
Assistant Referees: Micheal Barwegen, Jeffrey Swartzel
Fourth Official: Alexis Da Silva
VAR: Carol Anne Chenard
AVAR: Fabio Tovar