Chicago Fire FC (5-6-8, 23 points) picked up its second straight win on the road, defeating Sporting Kansas City (5-10-6, 21 points) 1-0 on Saturday night at Children’s Mercy Park. Fabian Herbers’ goal in the second half proved to be the difference between the two teams, while Homegrown goalkeeper Chris Brady recorded his third-career shutout with the Fire.
Despite playing to a scoreless first half, the Fire created more chances to score in the opening 45, outshooting Kansas City 3-2 in shots on target. The first chance for the Fire came in the eighth minute of play when Kei Kamara received a low cross from Herbers on the edge of the six-yard box, hitting his attempt high of the target.
The Fire created another close-range chance in the 37th minute when Kamara cut the ball back across the 18-yard box to Jairo Torres, who hit a left-footed shot on target to force a save from goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh. Then, in the final minute of the first half, Brian Gutiérrez connected with Torres on the right flank, before cutting inside on his right foot. The Homegrown midfielder skipped past his defender and blasted an attempt just wide of the far post.
Building off its first-half momentum, Chicago found the opening goal just minutes after the halftime break when Torres received a pass from Gutiérrez and fired a shot on target that forced a poor clearance. The rebound fell kindly for Herbers near the penalty spot, and the German attacker buried his shot into the ground and in the back of the net to give the visitors the lead just two minutes into the second half .It marked the second straight goal in as many matches for Herbers, and his third of the 2023 MLS campaign.
With the result, head coach Frank Klopas’ side has opened the second half of the campaign with back-to-back wins on the road for the first time since Aug. 6, 2022. It also marked the 300th MLS regular season victory in Chicago Fire history.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago heads to the Sunshine State to face Orlando City at 6:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, July 1 at Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Fla. The match will be broadcast on Apple TV+, streamed in English on wlsam.com, and transmitted locally in Spanish on TUDN 1200 AM.
Social: Twitter - @chicagofire, @vamosfire (Hashtags: #CF97 #VamosFire) | Instagram - @chicagofire | Facebook
Notes:
- Chicago is one of nine teams in MLS history to record 300 MLS regular season wins.
- The result marked the Fire’s fourth shutout of the 2023 regular season.
- Chicago’s three wins away from home are tied for the second-most in the Eastern Conference.
- The Fire are a perfect 4-0-0 against Western Conference opponents in League play in 2023.
- Fabian Herbers scored his 11th career goal for the Fire and his first game-winning goal of the season.
- Midfielders Javier Casas Jr. (right upper arm) and Chris Mueller (right upper leg), and defender Miguel Navarro (right lower leg) were unavailable for selection tonight.
Box Score:
Sporting Kansas City 0:1 Chicago Fire FC
Goals:
CHI - Herbers (3) (WATCH) 47’
Discipline:
CHI - Czichos (Yellow Card) 38’
CHI - Pineda (Yellow Card) 64’
CHI - Souquet (Yellow Card) 67’
SKC - Shelton (Yellow Card) 88’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Brady, D Souquet, D Pineda, D Czichos (capt.), D Aceves (Dean, 70’), M F. Navarro, M Giménez (Shaqiri, 59’), M Herbers (Haile-Selassie, 58’), M Gutiérrez (Koutsias, 89’), M Torres (Terán, 70’), F Kamara
Subs not used: GK Richey, D Omsberg, D Burks, F Przybyłko
Sporting Kansas City: GK McIntosh, D Fontas, D Leibold, D Castellanos, M Radoja, M Davis (Shelton, 84’), M Thommy (Kinda, 55’), M Walter, F Russell (capt.) (Tzionis, 55’), F Pulido, F Salloi
Subs not used: GK Pulskamp, D Rindov, D Voloder, M Espinoza, M Hernandez, F Afrifa
Stats Summary: SKC / CHI
Shots: 13 / 12
Shots on Goal: 4 / 5
Saves: 4 / 4
Passing Accuracy: 89.9% / 81.4%
Corners: 7 / 1
Fouls: 9 / 12
Offsides: 0 / 2
Possession: 66.1% / 33.9%
Attendance: 18,032
Referee: Alex Chilowicz
Assistant Referees: Matthew Nelson, Diego Blas
Fourth Official: John Griggs
VAR: Luis Guardia
Asst. VAR: Jonathan Johnson
Chicago Fire FC Head Coach Frank Klopas
On winning a second straight match on the road…
“Great performance from the team. I'm extremely proud of the group. In both games, the effort, the attitude, the mentality, the ability to stick with the game plan and really in difficult moments, improve as a team and from game-to-game manage situations better. You know, two difficult places to come in Portland and here and to start the second half of the season with two huge, huge, massive wins for the team and obviously (a) really good performance. We played well. We created good opportunities, and everybody just stepped up.
Again, everybody played extremely well. Chris Brady in the back made some key saves, and what can you say? It's just a great performance, congrats to all the players.”
On Brian Gutiérrez’s continued development…
“Yeah, I want him to be more aggressive, and this is what I've talked to him from the beginning. I think he gets in good spots and maybe he tries to do one extra move when he can, at moments, take a shot, and decision-making that's for sure. But in the final third he's got to have more of a killer mentality, finish plays off himself, take guys on, combine. If it's the final pass or someone is in a better spot but then also at certain moments, he also has to be selfish a bit, unless someone is in a better spot.
I think that, you know, he's becoming a more complete player because he has the quality and he needs to make an impact with the quality that he has in the final third. In every game now, he's making better runs, he's looking to get behind. It’s not just ball-to-feet. He's making great runs to get behind. Whether he gets the ball or not, he's very dangerous because he just creates opportunities and opens up space for others.
His decision-making has been great, it's just his ability to be more aggressive is what I saw starting the second half of the season. It's been great and he needs to continue to do that and be consistent. He needs to be a key guy for us in every match.”
On if he is getting a really core sense of the group and how to move forward…
“Yeah, 100 percent. There was one change tonight but for me, I believe in the team. It's not going to be the same 11 every time they walk out on the field. I base that on performance. I base that on training, on form the players have. I think that all plays a part into it but obviously the most important component of all of those is performance in the game.
But you know, for us to continue to develop and be a team that's going to be there in the end and in the playoffs, everybody's got to make sure right now there's no complacency. We won two games and we got a long way to go and we've just got to keep working hard. I have a very clear idea on how we want to play with the ball and without the ball, and I believe I have the players to do that. So whether it's this guy or that guy, it really doesn't matter. I believe in the team.”
On the reports that the Club is set to acquire midfielder Ousmane Doumbia…
“Yeah, I think it's all about having options, you know, at the moment, and you know, we brought in a young player in (Georgios)Koutsias. We have two strikers that are there. If there was the right person to bring in that position, I think as a Club that wants to improve and get better, I think we are always looking to bring someone, whether it's a nine or in the midfield. At that time, there were discussions to do so.
(Ousmane) Doumbia is a very good player. When you look at him, even before he joined FC Lugano, in Zurich he was a big part of their team when they won the championship there. He's a solid player. He'll bring a lot of experience. He's a guy that's played minutes. He's very smart. He's good on the ball. He covers a lot of ground, and you know, I think he's just going to add more quality to our team, and so I think I'm excited to have him, and now if we can add one more piece, that would be great.”
Chicago Fire FC Goalkeeper Chris Brady
On his overall performance…
“Yeah, overall I felt good. Today was more about the mental side of things than anything, how long our boys could see it through because it's hot; we're away; we've been doing a week of travel. So, the mental side was the key and our guys were able to see it out, hunker down and secure the three points.”
On the mental preparation for playing in the heat…
“First and foremost it takes leaders. So guys like Rafa, Mau (Mauricio Pineda). You've got Kei coming in and really holding everybody around them accountable, including themselves, making sure that you're doing that run and you're making sprint and you're making that effort, because although you may be tired, you know, Kansas City is probably just as tired.
The key for us was having those leaders with us, and then also, I think ahead of the game, knowing that it's going to be hot, hydration, treating your body right, eating right. That all went into it. But at the end of the day, it's can you see it through; can you fight; can you be the stronger warrior.
On the big saves that he made in the match…
“So you know, things that run through my head as a goalkeeper, just making sure I'm in the right line with the shooter, right as he touches it. Watching film, we knew that (Johnny) Russell and on the other side and you've got guys like (Alan) Pulido and those guys, who they are looking to cut in essentially and either shoot or combine, and they did a fair amount of that.
As soon as he cut in, just kind of making sure that I'm in line with the ball and then reacting as quickly as I can off how the ball comes off of his foot. It happened to go to my left. It wasn't a curler necessarily. It was a strong shot. Just one that you really just parry to the side, and then making sure that right after the save, the guys on that opposite side are staying tuned in, and making sure that we don't give away possession. That's kind of all that went into it.”
On the team starting to prevent conceding goals late in matches…
“It's a little bit of everything. I'll go through, first and foremost, the break really helped us, letting our minds reset, get off of the football and then coming back into it, it was kind of like a fresh start. So I don't think the guys, including myself, are really thinking about, you know, what may have happened in the beginning of the season.
Many people know that the second half of the season is a whole new season. The other part that goes into it is like you said, on the training ground, is working on kind of like tactical, situational things.
So maybe you're down a goal and how do you play with your team when you're down a goal and chasing, or you're up a goal, how do you defend that lead. Little things like that we'll work on. Obviously May was a busy month so (we) didn't have too much time to work on the training ground on all of that. But those are some of the things us as a team would work on just to perfect that part of the game.”
On if the team is gaining confidence by starting to close out matches…
“I think even throughout the first part of the season, we knew that. It was just a big part of it was mental, and yeah, I think now, we are all in a good spot and good head space, physically prepared for anything. So yeah, I would say so.”
On Carlos Terán’s return and his impact on the pitch…
“Huge. I mean, it adds a great amount of strength to the back line. It's great having guys like Rafa, Wyatt, Kendall and Mau (Mauricio Pineda). But yeah, when I saw Carlos come back, I was thinking, all right, this is a strong back line. We are going to do our job, and we did it.”