The Chicago Fire dropped their fifth consecutive match at home and their fifth in their last seven matches overall after the Columbus Crew came to town and left with a 3-1 win.
Chicago (2-4-8, 10 points) went down 2-0 before Carlos Terán scored their first goal in 457 minutes at Soldier Field in the 85th minute but the Crew’s (5-6-2, 21 points) Jacen Russell-Rowe came back moments later and scored to secure his side’s 3-1 win.
Head coach Frank Klopas tried something new by having Xherdan Shaqiri and Kellyn Acosta come off the bench but it wasn’t enough to propel his side to a result on the lakefront.
Columbus took the lead in the 30th minute and the Fire only had themselves to blame after Chris Brady made the save on Diego Rossi’s initial effort. Rossi got in behind the Fire’s backline on the right side and hammered a right-footed effort that Brady punched away from the net.
Andrew Gutman and Rafael Czichos collided in the air after both of them left their feet to clear the ball away from danger, but they just took themselves out of the play as the ball fell back to Rossi. The Crew’s No. 10 didn’t waste his second effort and powered an effort into the corner of the net after collecting the first two on-target shots of the contest.
Kellyn Acosta didn’t start for the Fire for the first time since he made his club debut in the season opener against Philadelphia but came on after halftime for Gastón Giménez with his side trailing 1-0.
Chicago finally had a great chance to score in the 54th minute but the shot from Hugo Cuypers left so much to be desired. Brian Gutiérrez played a pass to Fabian Herbers and the Fire’s captain made a run to the end line before hitting a cross near the penalty spot. Cuypers was wide open but hit his shot right at the Crew’s Patrick Schulte, who made the easy save.
Columbus immediately came down the pitch and took the 2-0 lead.
The Crew brought the ball down to the Fire’s penalty area and eventually recycled it to Mohamed Farsi on the right side. Farsi played a perfect cross to the far post that Christian Ramirez met in the air and headed it into the Chicago net.
The Fire had a chance to cut into the Crew’s lead in the 75th minute but again failed to test Patrick Schulte. Carlos Terán’s pass over the top of Columbus’ backline was collected by Tom Barlow but the striker’s chipped effort flew well wide of the net.
Terán gave the Fire a glimmer of hope in the 85th minute and they cut the Crew’s lead in half after chaos in their penalty area. Xherdan Shaqiri’s cross bounced around the box before Georgios Koutsias popped the ball up to Terán, who had no problem heading the ball into the net past a diving Schulte.
The Fire’s fun didn’t last and the Crew secured the three points in the 88th minute through Jacen Russell-Rowe. Malte Amundsen played a perfect ball in from the left side and Russell-Rowe blasted his shot into the Chicago net to give the match its final 3-1 scoreline.
Match Observations
Chicago had an early chance in front of goal but wasn’t able to capitalize. Brian Gutiérrez had the ball in the middle of the pitch, took a few dribbles, and put a ball into the Columbus area for Hugo Cuypers to run down. Cuypers fought off Rudy Camacho for the ball but the Crew’s defender blocked the striker’s shot out for a corner kick, which Chicago did nothing with.
The Fire created a fabulous goal-scoring opportunity off a corner kick in the 22nd minute but were unable to hit the target. Hugo Cuypers’ shot was blocked out for a corner kick and Brian Gutiérrez’s subsequent set piece flew perfectly into the Crew’s six-yard box. Gastón Giménez got away from his defender but he got too much on his header and it flew harmlessly high of the net.
Chicago wasted another great feed from Gutiérrez in the 26th minute off a corner kick that was taken short. Gutiérrez played a quick give-and-go with Chris Mueller, giving the Fire’s homegrown attacker plenty of space to operate. Gutiérrez played a perfect cross to the far post but nobody was within a yard of his feed (Carlos Terán was the closest) and it flew out of play for a goal kick.
Chicago was their own worst enemy in the 30th minute and gifted Columbus a goal in the 30th minute on the second on-target effort of the match. Diego Rossi got in behind the Chicago defense on the right side and managed a right-footed effort that was parried away by Chris Brady. Rafael Czichos and Andrew Gutman went up for the ball and collided with one another, allowing the ball to fall back to Rossi in front of goal. The Crew’s No. 10 had no problem scoring on his second chance, putting his side up 1-0 with a right-footed shot into the far corner of the net.
Chicago outshot the Crew four-three but Columbus had both on-target efforts that weren’t blocked before halftime.
The Fire finally got a clean shot on target in the 54th minute but Hugo Cuypers needed to do so much better with his effort. Brian Gutiérrez sprung the Fire’s attack down the right side when he found Fabian Herbers with a through ball near midfield. Herbers took the ball toward the end line before playing a cross that found a wide-open Cuypers near the penalty spot. Cuypers hit his shot right at the Crew’s Patrick Schulte, who made the easy save.
Columbus immediately came back down the field and doubled their lead in the 55th minute. The Crew moved the ball around the Fire’s penalty area before it found Mohamed Farsi on the right side. Farsi played a perfect cross to the opposite side of the penalty area that Christian Ramirez headed into Chicago’s net after sneaking behind Carlos Terán. It was a lovely feed from Farsi but Terán needed to get his body between the ball and Ramirez because Chris Brady had no chance of making the save.
The Crew should have made it 3-0 in the 69th minute but Chris Brady made a spectacular save to deny Jacen Russell-Rowe. Columbus’ Evgen Cheberko played a fabulous ball from his own penalty area over the top of Chicago’s back line that Russell-Rowe managed to track down after fighting off Carlos Terán. Russell-Rowe took the ball near goal but his shot was saved by a fully extended Brady. The chance shouldn’t have happened in the first place but Russell-Rowe fought off the strong Terán and ended up with a great goal-scoring opportunity.
Carlos Terán made up for his mistake in the 75th minute and created a great chance that went to waste. Terán played a pass over the top of the Crew’s backline that Tom Barlow managed to corral near the Crew’s penalty area. Barlow appeared to be caught between two minds and the effort he chipped flew wide of the Crew’s net. Barlow had to hit the target with the chance after replacing Hugo Cuyers in the 70th minute but he didn’t and the Fire were left wondering what could have been.
Chicago scored their first goal at Soldier Field in 457 minutes in the 85th minute through Carlos Terán. Georgios Koutsias missed out on a great scoring chance a moment before but won his side the corner kick. The corner from Xherdan Shaqiri bounced around the Fire’s penalty area and Terán headed it into the Crew’s net, cutting the Crew’s lead to 2-1.
Columbus immediately responded and secured the win in the 88th minute through Jacen Russell-Rowe. Malte Amundsen had the ball on the left side and played a perfect ball to Russell-Rowe on the left side of the Fire’s penalty area. The Canadian attacker hit a rocket of a shot into the back of Chicago’s net, giving the match its final 3-1 scoreline.
The Fire outshot Columbus 13-9 overall but the Crew had five shots on target compared to only four for Chicago.
Fire head coach Frank Klopas told reporters post-match that he’s been trying to change things with his squad amidst their dreadful start to the 2024 season.
“It’s obviously difficult,” said Klopas. “I just told the players in there, I felt the attitude, the effort the guys put in, you know, I felt that was good. We created good moments – there were good moments in the game – but again, I think it’s the little things that just seem not to be going our way right now. I mean, it’s tough for me, it’s tough for all of us. A lot of people care– I mean, it’s not a good feeling. The fans care, we all care. People seem to forget, it’s very easy– it’s what have you done for me lately, which is understandable. I’m in a position where I have to find a way to put the team– to find the right way. We’ve tried different things and right now we just haven’t been able to do that.
“For me, and I think for all the staff, it’s extremely– and the players – difficult. I don’t know what to tell you. I just told the guys to take a couple of days off right now, and we’ve got to try to find a way to look forward and find positives. At the end of the day, it’s difficult to say that because in the end people look at whether you win or lose, and they don’t care how they play. It’s just about the W at times and that’s something we haven’t been able to do right now. So, it’s a tough time.”
Fabian Herbers, who wore the captain’s armband until he was removed in the 56th minute in favor of Georgios Koustias, said the confidence in the locker room isn’t high after these poor results.
“I mean obviously, the confidence is low if you don’t get the results,” said Herbers. “You’re trying to still believe, keep your heads up, keep fighting, keep working hard in training, and you know to go again, go again, go again. But yeah, the results aren’t coming our way, for like, I don’t know, I have no real answer or solutions for you. But yeah, confidence is low and we're in a tough spot.”
Chris Brady became the Chicago Fire’s leader in games (44) played by a homegrown goalkeeper against Columbus, passing Gabriel Slonina for the most in club history. Personal accolades aside, he wants results as soon as possible.
“I feel probably even more upset than I was the past few games just because I felt like we played so much better in comparison to, like I said, the last two,” said Brady. “I felt like we really got after it, especially in the first half. They weren't anything special. Again, it's just a case of we're beating ourselves with just silly little mistakes, and miscommunications, but because we played so much better I’m a little more upset.
“We’re at a low but like you said, with seven points to the playoff line. I mean, anything could change with a couple of wins, three wins, four wins, whatever. We need some things to go our way, but once you get that first one, you would hope to pull the band-aid off and everything starts coming. Quick turnaround, it only takes one game.”
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