Seattle Scores Twice From the Penalty Spot, Sounders Defeat Chicago Fire 2-1

It was one long night for the Chicago Fire in the Emerald City.

The Fire wasted a perfect first-half performance by conceding two penalty kicks and that was enough for the Seattle Sounders to keep all three points after a 2-1 loss for Chicago on the road.

Chicago has now lost two consecutive after going their previous four without a loss and remains at the bottom of the Eastern Conference table through 20 MLS matches.

It was looking good for the Fire early on at Lumen Field when they tested goalkeeper Stefan Frei twice within five minutes of kickoff. Seattle’s ‘keeper punched away an ambitious cross from Brian Gutiérrez in the first minute before making a sliding intervention on a Maren Haile-Selassie opportunity in the fifth minute.

The Fire continued to pressure the Seattle backline and finally broke through in the 30th minute thanks to some lovely dribbling from Maren Haile-Selassie.

Gastón Giménez played a strong pass to Haile-Selassie from near midfield and the Swiss winger made Jackson Ragen look silly as he took his first touch completely around the former Fire draft pick. Haile-Selassie created enough space with his touch around Ragen to take his time and hit a right-footed effort past the diving Frei to give his side the 1-0 lead after a half hour.

The Fire were able to take their one-goal lead into the second half but the wheels fell off after halftime.

Seattle was given a penalty kick after the referee went to VAR and deemed that Jonathan Dean had pulled Paul Rothrock down by his jersey in the Fire’s penalty area. Albert Rusnák stepped up to take the PK and beat Chris Brady to the goalkeeper’s right to tie the match at one in the 57th minute.

Chicago looked to be on their way to a share of the points before they got in their own way in second-half stoppage time. Mauricio Pineda tackled Jordan Morris poorly in the Fire’s penalty area and the referee immediately pointed to the spot for another Seattle penalty kick. Rusnák stepped up and beat Brady to the same spot to the goalkeeper’s right, securing his brace and three points for Seattle.

Match Observations

The Fire had two nice chances in the first five minutes that they weren’t able to convert into on-target opportunities of substance. Brian Gutiérrez hit a nice cross into Seattle’s penalty area in the first minute that Stefan Frei punched away before being fouled by Hugo Cuypers. Gutiérrez created another chance in the fifth minute with a through ball to Maren Haile-Selassie, but the offside flag went up as Frei slid in to deny Haile-Selassie’s effort.

Chicago utilized a cheeky set-piece play to create a nice scoring chance in the 18th minute after a lot of soccer had been played without a shot. Maren Haile-Selassie took the Fire’s free-kick short and carried it 15 yards before playing the ball to Fabian Herbers on his right. Herbers hit a cross into Seattle’s penalty area that was half-cleared to Gastón Giménez at the edge of the penalty area but the effort from Chicago’s Designated Player flew just high of Seattle’s net.

Maren Haile-Selassie finally put the Fire up 1-0 in the 30th minute after his side had been the better side to that point at Lumen Field. Gastón Giménez, who made his first start since May 18, played a 2-yard pass to Haile-Selassie near Seattle’s penalty area and the Swiss winger took a touch that completely fooled Jackson Ragen. Haile-Selassie took his time and slotted his shot past the left shoulder of the sprawling Stefan Frei to give Chicago the lead.

The fun didn’t last for too long as the Fire were forced into a sub in the 38th minute. Seattle played a free kick quickly and Carlos Terán was tracking down the long ball when he pulled up grabbing the back of his left leg. He was visibly upset when he made his way off the pitch on his own power moments after going down and was replaced at center-back by Mauricio Pineda.

Seattle finally created something in front of the Fire’s goal in the first minute of first-half stoppage time. Christian Roldan played a delicious pass from near midfield that found Jordan Morris in stride in the Fire’s penalty area. Morris darted to his right before hitting a shot that Chris Brady denied at the near post. Seattle had another chance a minute later but Brady smothered an appetizing cross from the left side of the Sounders attack.

The Fire doubled Seattle’s overall shots in the first half (six-three) and shots on target (two-one).

Chicago gifted Seattle an equalizer in the 57th minute after there hadn’t been much action after the halftime break. Jordan Morris hit a fabulous cross from the left side that Paul Rothrock just missed out on at the far post. Referee Joe Dickerson reviewed the play and saw that Jonathan Dean pulled Rothrock down from behind by his jersey and awarded a penalty kick for the Sounders, which Albert Rusnák subsequently scored to level the match at one.

Seattle came inches away from taking the lead in style less than two minutes later. João Paolo ripped a left-footed effort from 22 yards that flew inches wide of the net in the 59th minute. João Paolo had another chance a moment later after a nice pass from Cristian Roldan but Chris Brady covered his space well and parried the shot away from danger.

For a moment, it looked like the Fire were going to give up another penalty kick while having their other center back collect a yellow card as well in the 65th minute. Referee Joe Dickerson went to VAR once again and came back rescinding the yellow card he assessed on Rafael Czichos after it was deemed there was no handball.

Allan Arigoni scored his first goal in a Chicago Fire shirt two weeks ago in Toronto and nearly scored his second in the 71st minute. Brian Gutiérrez made a nice run with the ball down the left side before cutting inside and playing the ball to Arigoni on the right side. Arigoni hit a right-footed effort that was destined for the top corner of the net before Stefan Frei got a fingertip on the ball to knock it out of play. Arigoni has been forced into more of an attacking role since the Fire shifted to a 3-5-2 and he’s proven that he can be a real offensive threat.

The Sounders had control of the run of play for most of the second half and nearly took the lead in the 82nd minute. Cristian Roldan did well to find Obed Vargas in space with a pass but the 18-year-old’s right-footed effort was saved by a sprawling Chris Brady to maintain the 1-1 scoreline.

Chicago couldn’t keep Seattle at bay at all in the second half and the Sounders were once again rewarded with a penalty kick, this time giving them the lead in second-half stoppage time at home. Mauricio Pineda clumsily tackled Jordan Morris on the left side of the Fire’s penalty area and the referee immediately pointed to the spot. Even with the minimal access to the camera due to a power surge near the stadium, it was a clear penalty and Albert Rusnák secured his brace with his effort from 12 yards.

Cristian Roldan tried to make it 3-1 on the last kick of the match but Chris Brady was there to deny the effort and make his fifth save of the match. Brady was making his 50th start for the Fire, becoming the fourth goalkeeper in club history to do so alongside Zach Thornton, Sean Johnson, and John Busch and the first homegrown goalkeeper to accomplish the feat.

The Fire didn’t make non-injury-related substitutions until the 85th minute and that was a decision based on the performance of the players on the pitch and part of a plan for a week with three matches according to head coach Frank Klopas.

“I felt the team was playing well, there was no need to change anything at the moment,” said Klopas. “And then I felt that later on guys got a little fatigued and tired and we tried to bring fresh legs in. But just because you have subs, you know, guys are playing well there's no need to try to change anything, to freshen things up.

“To try to change something tactically, I think we did it on the fly with the players that were out there were [creating] problems, I think a little bit out wide. And we flattened out when we brought Maren [Haile-Selassie] a little bit deeper without the ball on the right side for their 5-4-1. But we didn't feel that there was a need to change anything. The team was playing well and so had nothing to do with the schedule on Wednesday.”

What’s On Tap Next?

The Fire will be back at Soldier Field when they host the Philadelphia Union on July 3. The match is scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+.

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