Chicago Fire FC II (4-4-0-0, 12 points) earned a 2-1 victory over FC Cincinnati 2 (1-4-2-2, 7 points) on Friday afternoon at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois. One week after scoring their first goals of the year, defender Jean-Alpha Diouf and forward Jason Shokalook tallied their second to hand Chicago its second win in as many matches at home.
Diouf doubled his score tally for the year in the 25th minute. Claudio Cassano sent in a corner kick that the center back headed on goal, hitting the crossbar. Diouf collected his own rebound, guiding the ball into the goal with his body.
Chicago added a second goal in the 72nd minute off another set-piece. After Peter Soudan was fouled on the right wing, Cassano curled a ball to the far post, where Shokalook headed towards goal for the second Fire tally of the afternoon.
Cincinnati answered immediately following the restart, with leading scorer Kenji Mboma Dem tallying his fourth of the season. But the Fire persisted, gaining a man advantage on a counter attack in stoppage time to ice the game and get the win before traveling east to New York City.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago Fire FC II heads to the Big Apple to face New York City FC II on Friday, May 23. Kickoff at Belson Stadium in Queens, New York is set for 3 p.m. CT. The match will be be streamed on mlsnextpro.com.
Social: X - @ChicagoFireFCII (Hashtags: #ChicagoFireII) | Instagram - @chicagofirefcii | Facebook
Box Score:
Chicago Fire FC II 2:1 FC Cincinnati 2
Goals:
CHI - Diouf (2) (WATCH) 24’
CHI - Shokalook (2) (Cassano 1) (WATCH) 72’
CIN - Mboma Dem (4) (Mangione 2) (WATCH) 74’
Discipline:
CIN - Caicedo (Yellow Card) 15’
CHI - Hlyut (Yellow Card) 76’
CIN - Crockford (Ejection) 90+5’
Chicago Fire FC II: GK Los; D Soudan, D Diouf, D Konincks (capt.), D Reynolds (Nagle, 75’); M Fleming, M Hlyut (Calle, 84’), M Williams; F Borso, F Shokalook (Boltz,88’), F Cassano (Montiel, 84’)
Substitutes not used: GK Stechnij, D Oyegunle, D Pfrommer, D Kanyane, D Richards
FC Cincinnati 2: GK Crockford, D Daley (capt.), D Adnan (M Sakr, 90+1’), D Schaefer, D Chirilǎ, D Caicedo (Hurtado, 63’); M Manyana (Mangione, 63’), M Augee (Chávez, 63’), M Jimenez; F Chirila, F Ikoba (Mboma Dem, 46’)
Substitutes not used: GK Broz, D Matuskiewicz
Stats Summary: CHI / CIN
Shots: 17 / 10
Shots on Goal: 4 / 2
Passing Accuracy: 80% / 79.4%
Saves: 1 / 2
Corners: 9 / 6
Fouls: 14 / 16
Offsides: 2 / 2
Referee: Elvis Osmanovic
Assistant Referee 1: Jake Brochu
Assistant Referee 2: Shane Richards
4th Official: Ryan Shanklin