Chicago Fire FC II (5-4-1-0, 16 points) shut out Columbus Crew 2 (2-6-2-0, 8 points) 5-0 on Sunday afternoon at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois. Defender and captain Diego Konincks tallied his first goal of the season, followed by defender Justin Reynolds’ second of the season in the first half. Trip Fleming, Jean Alpha Diouf and Jason Shokalook each added a goal in the second half of the match for Chicago.
The visitors took the initiative early in the match, turning a high press into eight corner kicks in the opening 45 minutes. But the Fire defense prevailed, playing out of the press and into a corner kick of their own in the 16th minute. Winger Claudio Cassano’s low kick was flicked by Fleming into the path of Konincks, who placed a perfect header on the bottom right corner of the far post to give Chicago the lead.
Columbus continued the aggressive play, leading to a handful of fouls that resulted in a red card on the field and another one in the technical area. Chicago exploited the situation, turning a man advantage into a flurry of touches in the Columbus box that ended with Reynolds’ second goal of 2025 in the last minute of the first half.
Chicago took a more aggressive approach in the second half, paying dividends within 10 minutes of the restart. Cassano sent a pass forward that deflected to Harold Osorio, who coolly laid off to Fleming to finish on the run.
The match opened up for the Fire and broke open in the 70th minute. Cassano once again took a corner kick that swung perfectly into the path of Diouf, who tapped home cleanly for his third goal of the season. Just one minute later, Reynolds found Vitaliy Hlyut in the middle of the field, who played right to Shokalook. The forward turned away from his defender to set up a right-footed shot at the top of the box, lacing the kick off the far post and in to complete the 5-0 rout. Goalkeeper Patrick Los would make three saves to record his second clean sheet of the year and fifth win for Chicago.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago Fire FC II wraps up a brief homestand with a match against New England Revolution II next Sunday, June 8. Kickoff at SeatGeek Stadium is slated for 3 p.m. CT. The match will be free for fans to attend and will be streamed on www.MLSNEXTPro.com.
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Box Score:
Chicago Fire FC II 0:5 Columbus Crew 2
Goals:
CHI - Konincks (1) (Fleming 1) (WATCH) 16’
CHI - Reynolds (2) (Hlyut 1) (WATCH) 45’
CHI - Fleming (2) (Osorio 1) (WATCH) 54’
CHI - Diouf (3) (Cassano 2) (WATCH) 70’
CHI - Shokalook (3) (Hlyut 2) (WATCH) 71’
Discipline:
CLB - Sy (Yellow Card) 10’
CLB - Sy (Second Yellow, Ejection) 41’
CLB - Higuaín (Ejection) 42’
CLB - Granda (Yellow Card) 85’
Chicago Fire FC II: GK Los; D Reynolds, D Diouf, D Konincks (capt.), D Gasper (Soudan, 46’); M Fleming, M Nagle (Calle, 68’), M Osorio (Boltz, 68’); F Hlyut (Kanyane, 78’), F Shokalook (Montiel, 84’), F Cassano
Substitutes not used: GK Stechnij, D Oyegunle, D Richards
Columbus Crew 2: GK Lapkes (capt.), D Elliot, D Alaouieh (Flanary, 76’), D Presthus, D Palacios, D Randazzo, M Mrowka (Granda, 60’), M Rincon (Grinblat, 76’), M Sy, F Adu Gyamfi (Adja, 69’), F Ortiz (Gimple, 69’)
Substitutes not used: GK Pruter
Stats Summary: CHI / CLB
Shots: 17 / 7
Shots on Goal: 10 / 3
Passing Accuracy: 86.8% / 82.7%
Saves: 3 / 5
Corners: 9 / 10
Fouls: 11 / 16
Offsides: 2 / 0
Referee: Nicholas Strednak
Assistant Referee 1: Ethan Buege
Assistant Referee 2: Art Arustamyan
4th Official: Ryan Homik