Five-Star second half for Fire torches Sporting KC

Photo: Leslie Smith

Chicago Fire FC 5-0 Sporting Kansas City

CHICAGO, IL—Sporting Kansas City’s strategy was simple on Saturday night at Soldier Field: Frustrate the Fire attack and hope to nick them on a counter attack. For 50 minutes, that strategy was effective in keeping the Fire out of the net and came close to scoring early when Calvin Harris struck one off the post.

Then, Ian James was called for a handball in the box. Hugo Cuypers took the penalty kick. Jonathan Pulskamp made the initial save, but Philip Zinckernagel would come in a bundle the ball over the line on the rebound for the opening score.

From there, Sporting were forced to open up, and the Fire ended up finding the gaps. Zinckernagel added a second goal in the 65th minute off a feed from Maren Haile-Selassie. Zinckernagel then turned provider on a counter for Hugo Cuypers who would score in his sixth consecutive match—a club record.

Andrew Gutman then sent a dime of a pass to Haile-Selassie who would get his second of the season to make it 4-0. Cuypers would complete the scoring with the last kick of the ball off a corner kick and complete Sporting KC’s miserable night.

Sporting have now lost six straight in all competitions while the Fire are now unbeaten in six straight in all competitions.

Patience was key for Gregg Berhalter’s side after a goalless first half against a Sporting KC team playing five in the back.

“We knew it was going to be a difficult game,” said Berhalter. “We knew that they were going to be very compact, very defensive, and it was a really good example of having to be patient.

“In the first half, I thought the ball movement was a little bit too slow. We weren’t threatening their back line. We didn’t have an occupation in the penalty box when we did get the ball in the box, so it wasn’t great. And the message at halftime was, we need to speed up the play, we need to play behind them; we need to get numbers in the penalty box.

“And I thought the guys did a really good job of executing, staying patient. And then, once we got the first goal, not to sit back, to keep going and pushing and get more goals. So overall, happy with the performance. I realize it’s not easy for Sporting Kansas City at this time. It was a professional performance from our group.”

In addition to the goals—the first time since the classic against Inter Miami that the Fire scored five in a match—the Fire kept a clean sheet for the fifth time this season in just nine matches after getting just six of them all last season.

“I think scoring goals is the best there is,” said Hugo Cuypers. “I think at one point, after 3-0 or 4-0, it’s also all about keeping that clean sheet, which is very important for the whole team because it’s not only about us and scoring goals in front. It’s a team effort and support for the guys in the back that we stay solid.”

The Fire play Wednesday in an Open Cup Round of 16 match against St. Louis City SC at SeatGeek Stadium. Kickoff is at 7pm on Paramount+.

Photos by Leslie Smith

SCORING SUMMARY:
CHI-Philip Zinckernagel (unassisted) 52
CHI-Philip Zinckernagel (Haile-Selassie, Lod) 65
CHI-Hugo Cuypers (Zinckernagel) 73
CHI-Maren Haile-Selassie (Gutman, Shokalook) 79
CHI-Hugo Cuypers (Elliott) 90+8

BOOKING SUMMARY:
CHI-Andrew Gutman (caution, tactical foul) 10

CHICAGO FIRE (4-3-3): #1-Chris Brady; #15-Andrew Gutman, #3-Jack Elliott (#14-Viktor Radojevic 84), #16-Joel Waterman, #24-Jonathan Dean; #7-Maren Haile-Selassie, #42-Dje D’Avilla (#22-Mauricio Pineda 84), #6-Anton Saletros (#35-Sergio Oregel 76); #12-Puso Dithejane (#17-Robin Lod 61), #9-Hugo Cuypers, #11-Philip Zinckernagel (#20-Jason Shokalook 76)

Subs not used: #44-Josh Cohen, #4-Mbekezele Mbokazi, #27-Dylan Borso, #29-David Poreba

SPORTING KANSAS CITY (5-4-1): #1-Jonathan Pulskamp; #20-Kwaku Agyabeng, #15-Jansen Miller, #23-Ethan Bartlow, #2-Ian James (#28-Wyatt Meyer 75), #8-Jake Davis; #7-Capita Capemba (#16-Jacob Bartlett 86), #6-Manu Garcia, #4-Lasso Johnsen, #11-Calvin Harris (#17-Stephen Afrifa 75); #9-Dejan Joveljic

Subs not used: #12-Jack Kortkamp, #30-Stefan Cleveland, #14-Cielo Tschantret, #19-Taylor Calheira, #93-Shapi Suleymanov, #99-Jayden Reid

TOTAL SHOTS: CHI 18-7 SKC
SHOTS ON GOAL: CHI 7-1 SKC
EXPECTED GOALS: CHI 4.7-0.8 SKC
FOULS: CHI 15-17 SKC
OFFSIDES: CHI 0-0 SKC
CORNER KICKS: CHI 4-2 SKC
SAVES: CHI 1-2 SKC

Referee: Brandon Stevis
Assistant Referees: Ian McKay, Tyler Wyrostek
4th Official: Sergii Boiko
VAR: Edvin Jurisevic
AVAR: Fabio Tovar
Weather: Party Cloudy and 44º
Attendance: 17,892
Man of the Match: Philip Zinckerbagel (CHI)