Chicago Fire FC (2-8-6, 12 points) came from behind to tie 1-1 with Orlando City SC (4-6-5, 17 points) on Wednesday night at Soldier Field.
The visitors got on the scoreboard early when midfielder Facundo Torres took advantage of a loose ball in the box to score in the fourth minute.
Chicago pulled one back in the 70th minute. Second-half substitute and midfielder Maren Haile-Selassie played a ball in behind the backline to defender Arnaud Souquet, who was sprinting toward goal from the left wing. The French defender sent the ball back to the edge of the six-yard box, where forward Hugo Cuypers was able to hit a first-time shot into the lower left corner. It was Cuypers’ team-leading fourth goal of the season, and the first assist of 2024 for Souquet.
Goalkeeper Chris Brady kept the score level in the 77th minute, after Torres sent a dangerous ball just over the top of the Fire defense to forward Luis Muriel in the six-yard box. Muriel jumped up for the header, but Brady was there to make the save.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago will return to Soldier FIeld for a weekend encounter with Western Conference opponent LA Galaxy on Saturday, June 1. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT. The match will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass and transmitted locally via wlsam.com (English) and WRTO 1200 AM (Spanish).
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Notes:
- Chicago’s record against Orlando City SC in regular season action now stands at 5-7-7.
- With a goal in the 70th minute, Chicago has now scored eight times between the 60-75th minutes versus Orlando, which is the most Fire goals in a 15-minute interval in the head-to-head series with the Lions.
- Forward Hugo Cuypers remains the only player to start all 16 of Chicago’s matches so far in the 2024 regular season and leads the team with four goals in 2024.
- Tonight’s match also marked the second time this season that Cuypers has registered goal contributions in back-to-back games for the Fire.
- Defender Arnaud Souquet registered his first assist of 2024 on Cuypers’ goal, and his fourth overall for the Men in Red.
- Midfielder Maren Haile-Selassie also recorded an assist on Cuypers’ game-tying goal. Haile-Selassie, who led the Fire in goals scored in 2023 (six), now has the team-lead in assists (three) this season.
- Defender Andrew Gutman made his seventh-straight start, and eighth start overall. Gutman, who had started every match in which he has played for the Men in Red so far in 2024, left the field in the 12th minute due to injury. He was replaced by Souquet.
- Defenders Allan Arigoni (yellow card accumulation), Chase Gasper (leg) and Tobias Salquist (leg); and midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri (international duty) were unavailable for today’s match.
Box Score:
Chicago Fire FC 1:1 Orlando City SC
Goals:
ORL - Torres (2) (Angulo, 5) (WATCH) 4’
CHI - Cuypers (4) (Souquet, 1; Haile-Selassie, 3) (WATCH) 70’
Discipline:
ORL - Jansson (Yellow Card) 46’
CHI - Navarro (Yellow Card) 47’
CHI - Gutiérrez (Yellow Card) 54’
CHI - Dean (Yellow Card) 90+2’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Brady, D Terán, D Czichos, D Gutman (Souquet, 12’), D Dean, M Pineda, M Acosta (capt.) (Giménez, 71’), M Navarro (Herbers, 61’), F Cuypers (Koutsias, 71’), F Barlow (Haile-Selassie, 61’), F Gutiérrez
Subs not used: GK Richey, D Omsberg, M Mueller, M Casas
ORL: GK Gallese, D Brekalo, D Jansson (capt.), D Thorhallsson (Smith, 90+2’), M Araujo, M Lodiero, M Cartagena, M Angulo, F Muriel (Enrique, 79’), F Torres (Kocevski, 90+2’), F Ojeda (Santos, 79’)
Subs not used: GK Stajduhar, D Schlegel, D Freeman, M Martins, F Lynn
Stats Summary: CHI / ORL
Shots: 18 / 9
Shots on Goal: 2 / 2
Saves: 1 / 1
Passing Accuracy: 82.9% / 83.6%
Corners: 6 / 4
Fouls: 14 / 3
Offsides: 3 / 4
Possession: 52.1% / 47.9%
Attendance: 11,372
Referee: Malik Badawi
Assistant Referees: Justin Howard, Kali Smith
Fourth Official: Calin Radosav
VAR: Edvin Jurisevic, Jonathan Johnsonn