Chicago Fire FC lose 2-1 to Seattle Sounders FC at Lumen Field

Seattle, Washington. (June 29, 2024) – Chicago Fire FC (4-10-6, 18 points) lost 2-1 to Seattle Sounders FC (7-7-7, 28 points) on Saturday night at Lumen Field.

The Fire took the lead in the 30th minute of play, but the home side scored twice from penalties in the second half, including in the third minute of added time. Winger Maren Haile-Selassie scored the only goal for the Fire, her fourth goal of the season.

After controlling nearly 60 percent of the ball possession early in the game, the Fire took the lead with 15 minutes left in the first half when Haile-Selassie scored for the third consecutive time. The Swiss forward received a pass from midfielder Gastón Giménez just outside the box and quickly turned toward goal, pushing the ball past his defender before calmly placing his shot past goalkeeper Stefan Frei and into the back of the net.

Seattle managed to equalize in the 57th minute when defender Jonathan Dean was whistled for a foul in the box. Midfielder Albert Rusnak converted the ensuing penalty, placing his shot over the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Chris Brady. Rusnak scored his second penalty of the match in the 90+3rd minute after defender/midfielder Mauricio Pineda was whistled for a foul in the box.

Tonight's game against Seattle marked the conclusion of three straight away games for the Fire, who have scored seven goals in that span.

NEXT MATCH: Chicago will return home to host the Philadelphia Union on Wednesday, July 3. Kickoff at Soldier Field is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT. The match will be broadcast worldwide on MLS Season Pass and transmitted locally via wlsam.com (English) and WRTO 1200 AM (Spanish).

Social: Twitter – @Chicago Fire, @vamosfire (Hashtags: #CF97 #VamosFire) | Instagram – @chicagofire | Facebook

• Maren Haile-Selassie scored the opening goal tonight, netting for the third time in a row. It's the first time the Swiss forward has scored in three consecutive MLS games since joining the Fire from FC Lugano in 2023.
• Haile-Selassie has now scored four goals for the Fire in 2024, two shy of his team-best six in 2023.
• Gastón Giménez recorded his second assist of the season and his 10th career MLS assist since joining the Fire in 2020.
• Chris Brady made his 50th appearance for the Fire, becoming the fourth goalkeeper in club history to play 50 games for the Fire. He joined Jon Busch, Sean Johnson and Zach Thornton as the only Fire goalkeepers to play 50 or more MLS games with the club.
• Defenders Chase Gasper (leg), Andrew Gutman (leg), Tobias Salquist (leg); and midfielders Xherdan Shaqiri (national team) and Federico Navarro (leg) were unavailable for today's match.

The score of the box:Seattle Sounders FC 1:1 Chicago Fire FC

Goals:
CHI – Haile-Selassie (4) (Giménez, 3) (VIDEO) 30'
SEA – Rusnák (2) (WATCH) 57'
SEA – Rusnák (3) (WATCH) 90+3'

Discipline:
CHI – Pineda (Yellow Card) 42'
CHI – Dean (Yellow Card) 55'
SEA – Ragen (Yellow Card) 77'
SEA – Rusnák (Yellow card) 90+4'

Chicago Fire FC: GK Brady, D Czichos, D Terán (Pineda, 39'), D Souquet, M Dean, M Gutiérrez (M Acosta, 85'), M Giménez, M Herbers, M Arigoni (M Mueller, 85'), F Haile- Selassie (F Koutsias, 86'), F Cuypers (F Barlow, 85')

Unused Subs: GK Richey, GK Gal, D Omsberg, M Casas

Seattle Sounders: GK Frei, D Baker-Whiting, D Ragen, D Yéimar, D A. Roldan (Rothrock, 46'), M Paulo (F Musovski, 85'), M Vargas, M Chú (F de la Vega 76'), M Rusnák (D Nathan, 90+8'), M C. Roldan, F Morris

Unused subs: GK Thomas, D Baker, M Leyva, M Atencio, M Teves

Summary of statistics: SEA / CHIHits: 13 / 9
Shots on goal: 7/4
Backups: 3 / 5
Passing accuracy: 82.4% / 78.6%
Coins: 3 / 2
Fouls: 10/17
Offside: 2 / 0
Ownership: 52.3% / 47.7%

Arbitrator: Joe Dickerson
Assistant referees: Stefan Tanaka-Freundt, Eric Weisbrod
Fourth official: Calin Radosav
VAR: Alejandro Mariscal, Craig Lowry