Chicago Fire Score Plenty of Goals, Defeat Toronto FC 4-1

There’s something about when the Chicago Fire play against Canadian teams in this 2024 MLS Season.

In April, Chicago had a miraculous 4-3 win over CF Montréal that required two goals in second-half stoppage time. Now, in June, they’ve scored four goals for only the second time this season and won their second consecutive match after defeating Toronto FC 4-1 at BMO Field in Canada.

It’s the first road win of the year for Chicago and marks the first two-match win streak for the Fire in 2024.

The Fire (4-8-6, 18 points) were on the counter throughout the contest as they utilized a back-five for a fourth consecutive match, none of which resulted in a loss.

That high press finally created a goal for the 41st minute. Hugo Cuypers had just turned over Toronto in their own half but his effort was saved but Fabian Herbers won back possession only seconds later. Herbers played a perfect cross from the left side to Maren Haile-Selassie and the winger made it look easy as he gave the Fire the 1-0 lead.

Toronto responded quickly and tied the match, after a VAR check, in the 44th minute. Lorenzo Insigne hit a shot that was deflected off Carlos Terán and Chris Brady wasn’t able to keep the ball out of the net as the hosts tied it at one before halftime.

Chicago turned things around after halftime and Toronto had absolutely nothing to say about it.

Hugo Cuypers fought off Toronto’s Kevin Long to win the ball in the opposition's half and promptly made a run towards goal. Cuypers hit a perfect left-footed strike into the net, giving his side the lead once again.

Chicago didn’t stop there and it was Mauricio Pineda who doubled their lead in the 60th minute. The ball was near the endline with Maren Haile-Selassie, who played it to Brian Gutiérrez in the Toronto penalty area to his left. Gutiérrez somehow saw Pineda 30 yards to his left and played a perfect pass that the Fire’s Homegrown defender hit with the force of a thousand suns into the back of Toronto’s net to make it 3-1.

Allan Arigoni wasn’t about to allow Pineda to be the only defender on the scoresheet and added his name to the list through a delectable strike in the 89th minute. Herbers set up Arigoni on the right side of the penalty area and the Swiss wingback took his man on before unleashing a curling left-footed effort that snuck into the corner of the net to secure the Fire’s 4-1 win.

Match Observations

Toronto had a great chance in the third minute but failed to test Fire goalkeeper Chris Brady with a shot on goal. Derrick Etienne had the ball on the left flank, cut into his right, and hit a perfect cross into the Fire’s penalty area. Deandre Kerr beat everyone in the air to the ball but his quest for his first goal of 2024 continued after header floated harmlessly wide of Brady’s net. Kerr did well to find space between the Fire defenders and they’re lucky he missed the target.

The Fire had a great scoring chance in the eighth minute after finding Hugo Cuypers in an attacking area early on in Toronto. Jonathan Dean played a through ball to Fabian Herbers and the Fire’s captain hit a perfect cross to Cuypers in Toronto’s penalty area. The header from Cuypers was on target but Luka Gavran parried the shot away from danger.

Allan Arigoni of all people nearly scored a banger in the tenth minute after a massive run down the right side. Maren Haile-Selassie started everything by finding Brian Gutiérrez in space near midfield before the homegrown played the ball to a sprinting Arigoni to his right. The on-loan right wingback made a fifty-yard run, cut to his left, and hit a curling effort that drifted just wide of the far post.

The Fire haven’t been good on corner kicks this season but a cheeky set-piece play in the 16th minute created a great scoring chance. Kellyn Acosta played the corner kick short to Maren Haile-Selassie on the right before getting the ball back closer to goal. Acosta hit a cross to the far post that an unmarked Hugo Cuypers volleyed into the side-netting, inches away from sneaking into the near post.

Maren Haile-Selassie combined with Acosta again in the 18th minute and nearly scored a beautiful goal from 23 yards. Acosta played a simple ball to Haile-Selassie to his right and Chicago’s number seven hit a right-footed strike that a diving Luka Gavran got a fingertip on to deny the winger from a delightful finish.

Toronto had on-target efforts from Deandre Kerr and Lorenzo Insigne in the 28th and 38th minutes, respectively, that Chris Brady made easy work of.

The Fire finally took the lead on the road and it was after creating multiple turnovers in Toronto’s half of the pitch. Hugo Cuypers created a chance in the 41st minute but Luka Gavran was able to intervene before Chicago’s number nine got a good shot off. Fabian Herbers created another turnover seconds later and proceeded to hit a perfect cross to Maren Haile-Selassie in the penalty area, who hit a perfect header into the corner of the net to give Chicago the 1-0 lead.

The fun didn’t last for the Fire as Toronto tied the match, after a VAR check, in the 44th minute. Lorenzo Insigne hit a right-footed shot that deflected off Carlos Terán and Chris Brady made a mess of it, allowing the ball to trickle into the net to gift Toronto a 1-1 ballgame at halftime.

The Fire would’ve played the perfect first half if not for the mistake from Brady, utilizing their counterattack well alongside a back five. Toronto outshot the Fire seven-five overall while both sides recorded three shots on goal before halftime.

Chicago came out with a purpose after halftime and created some chaos within a minute of the restart. The Fire won the ball in Toronto’s half of the pitch and the ball fell to Hugo Cuypers on the left. Cuypers played the ball to Fabian Herbers on his right and the captain’s shot was blocked by Deybi Flores right to Maren Haile-Selassie, but his shot flew high off the net.

Carlos Terán made a crucial block in the 51st minute to deny Lorenzo Insigne from scoring his second goal of the match. Insigne played a nice give-and-go with Derrick Etienne on the left side of Chicago’s penalty area and the Italian’s shot was goalbound before Terán got his toe on the ball, deflecting it out of play. Insigne’s confidence level was much higher after scoring his goal in the first half and nearly created another goal in the 55th minute that was disrupted by Terán. Insigne’s cross was heading to a wide-open Deandre Kerr but a sliding Terán knocked the ball away from danger.

Hugo Cuypers deserves all the credit in the world for creating and scoring a fabulous goal in the 57th minute. Cuypers fought off Toronto center back Kevin Long to a 50/50 ball near the sideline, carried the ball into Toronto’s penalty area, and slotted a perfect shot into the far corner of the net. It was such a nice display of strength from Cuypers before he hit the perfect shot to give his side the lead once again.

Mauricio Pineda only scores bangers and he did it again in the 60th minute. The Fire had the ball at the endline with Maren Haile-Selassie, who played it to Brian Gutiérrez nearby to his left in Toronto’s penalty area. Gutiérrez then somehow played a perfect pass to Mauricio Pineda 20 yards to his left and Chicago’s homegrown defender unleashed a rocket off his right foot to increase Chicago’s lead to 3-1 with 30 minutes of regular time remaining.

Lorenzo Insigne hit another great shot on goal in the 63rd minute but Chris Brady did well to turn the shot away for a corner kick that the hosts did nothing with.

Chicago created chaos in front of Toronto’s net in the 67th minute but somehow couldn’t hit the target despite ample time to do so. Kellyn Acosta set up Carlos Terán but his shot was blocked and Hugo Cuypers’ follow-up effort hit the bar and bounced away.

How confident was Lorenzo Insigne after scoring? He hit a shot from midfield in the 79th minute that Chris Brady chested down easily before wasting a good thirty seconds of time and subsequently falling on the ball. Brady bounced back very well from that mistake before halftime and this sequence embodied that confidence perfectly. Brady made five saves in Toronto, the third time he’s had that many saves in the last five matches for Chicago.

Luka Gavran nearly had a howler of his own in the 87th minute. Brian Gutiérrez hit a shot from nearly 30 yards that flew right through the arms of Gavran, bounced off the post, and deflected right back to the Toronto goalkeeper as Tom Barlow was bearing down on the rebound.

Allan Arigoni teased his goal-scoring abilities in the first half but he buried a sensational strike in the 89th minute to secure the Fire’s first road win of the season. Fabian Herbers played the ball to Arigoni on the left and the Swiss wingback hit a gorgeous left-footed strike into the far corner of the net, giving his side the 4-1 lead. It’s the first goal for Arigoni with the Fire and the assist secured Herbers’ first two-assist performance since Chicago’s 4-1 win over Inter Miami in October 2023.

Toronto outshot the Fire 16-15 but Chicago won the on-target battle eight-six.

Wyatt Omsberg and Javier Casas made their first MLS appearances of the 2024 season in Toronto, coming off the bench once the match was firmly in hand. Omberg replaced a hobbled Carlos Terán in the 72nd minute and his first touch was a crucial block on a goalbound shot from Lorenzo Insigne. Casas only had four touches after coming on in the match’s final moments.

Fire head coach Frank Klopas was pleased with how his side’s continued pressure affected Toronto FC but acknowledged that it did leave them vulnerable at the back.

“I just think we are a really good team when we can counter-press and hit teams in transition,” Klopas said post-match. “There were moments I felt we could have stepped higher, especially with our midfield players and they were overloading that side with Insigne, at times, but then they were able to find their pivot and six and go to the other side.

“I think our midfielders could have stepped, which leaves you (with) moments in the back where you have to defend in 1v1 situations. We got more comfortable with that but we are still a very good team when we press or when there's counter-press opportunities where we can regain the ball and hit teams in transition. I think that we are very effective. It's things that we do in training. We have players with pace that can break quickly.

“I think it worked really well tonight. But there were also good moments where I felt (in) the second half, we were able to manage the game really well, also, with the ball through possession.”

Maren Haile-Selassie has been given more freedom in the attacking half and it resulted in a goal tonight. He said post-match that the team is finally enjoying playing soccer with each other after their slow start to the 2024 season.

“Well, first of all, the staff made an adjustment with the system,” said Haile-Selassie. “So obviously it looks like we feel comfortable with that. It gives some guys freedom going forward, so I think we are really enjoying playing together, combining together.

“Overall the chemistry of the team was never bad, even though we didn't have the results at times. We always stayed positive and we always came to training with a good mindset, and yeah, the past games, we were able to show it in the games and just show that we are united as a team.”

Toronto FC head coach John Herdman was furious post-match with his side’s performance against the Fire, saying “this one sucks” and that his side was ‘flat,’ among other things.

What’s On Tap Next?

The Fire will be in Florida to take on Orlando City SC at Inter & Co Stadium on June 22. The match is scheduled to kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+.

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