Chicago Fire FC defeats LA Galaxy 2-1 at Soldier Field

CHICAGO (June 1, 2024) – Chicago Fire FC (3-8-6, 15 points) gained three points at home with a 2-1 victory over the LA Galaxy (7-3-7, 28 points) Saturday night at Soldier Field. With this result, the Fire extended their invincibility to three matches without defeat in the league (1-0-2).

LA was awarded a penalty after VAR determined the ball had been handled in the box in the fifth minute. Riqui Puig stepped up to shoot, sending his shot into the bottom left corner, inside the post and just past Chris Brady's outstretched hands.

Chicago evened the score in the 32nd minute when Hugo Cuypers scored his second goal in as many games and his fifth of the season. Brian Gutiérrez carried the ball through midfield to the top of the penalty area, touching it to the left for Maren Haile-Selassie. The Swiss winger touched the ball but failed to control it. The ball bounced off a defender, falling into Haile-Selassie's path, allowing him to touch it in the box for Cuypers, who ran on it and slotted it into the bottom left side of the goal.

With the score still tied 15 minutes into the second half, Gutiérrez gave the Fire the lead in the 61st minute when he took advantage of a misplaced pass from the Galaxy defense. The Chicago native carried the ball to midfield, sending a powerful low shot that hit the bottom of the left post, then crossed the goal and hit the bottom of the right post before rolling into the back of the net. The game-winning goal marked the 20-year-old's fourth goal of the season, which ranks second on the team in 2024.

Brady kept the score as it was in the 69th minute with a double save, holding back the Galaxy attack when Dejan Joveljić collected a ball at the top of the box and maneuvered to his right to slot in a shot. Brady made the save, the ensuing rebound fell to Julián Aude on the left side. He tried his luck as well, but Brady was there again, this time catching the ball to stop the play. The Fire defense limited the Galaxy to four shots on target, with Brady making three saves on the night.

NEXT MATCH: After the international break, Chicago will face Toronto FC on Saturday June 15. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 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

• Tonight's result marks the Fire's first victory against the LA Galaxy in the regular season since August 1, 2010.
• The 2-1 win also marked the team's second win of the season (previous: 4-3 win over MTL on March 16).
• Forward Hugo Cuypers started his 17th game of 2024, making him the only player to start every game for the Fire during the 2024 regular season. Cuypers has two goals and an assist in the last three matches, marking the first time this season that he has documented a goal contribution in three consecutive games.
• Cuypers scored his fifth goal of the season this evening, a team high.
• Midfielder Brian Gutiérrez scored his second game-winning goal of the season, with his previous game-winning goal coming on April 6 in the team's 2–1 victory over the Houston Dynamo.
• Midfielder Maren Haile-Selassie made her ninth start of 2024 for the Fire and her 11th start overall in the regular season. Haile-Selassie assisted on Cuypers' goal for a second straight game, bringing his team-best assist total to four.
• Defenseman Carlos Terán started his sixth consecutive regular season game and his seventh overall. With 72 appearances, Terán is one game away from tying Wilman Conde for the most appearances all-time by a player of Colombian descent in Fire history.
• With an appearance in tonight's game, midfielder Chris Mueller is now four from 50 appearances for his hometown club.
• Defenders Chase Gasper (leg), Andrew Gutman (leg) and Tobias Salquist (leg); and midfielders Federico Navarro (leg) and Xherdan Shaqiri (international) were unavailable for today's match.

The score of the box:Chicago Fire FC 2:1 LA Galaxy

Goals:
LA – Puig (Penalty) (6) (WATCH) 7'
CHI – Cuypers (5) (Haile-Selassie, 4) (WATCH) 32'
CHI – Gutiérrez (4) (WATCH) 61'

Discipline:
CHI – Pineda (Yellow Card) 29'
LA – Cerrillo (Yellow Card) 45+4'
CHI – Herbers (Yellow Card) 75'
LA – Cuevas (Yellow Card) 77'
CHI – Arigoni (Yellow Card) 90+5'

Chicago Fire FC: GK Brady, D Terán, D Czichos, D Dean, D Arigoni, M Herbers (capt.), M Pineda (D Souquet, 46'), M Acosta (Giménez, 76'), F Haile-Selassie (Koutsias, 76' ), F Cuypers (Barlow, 66'), F Gutiérrez (Mueller, 85')

Unused submarines: GK Richey, D Omsberg, M Casas, Jr.

THERE: GK Micovic, D Yamane, D Aude (Cuevas, 72'), D Yoshida (captain), D Cáceres, M Delgado, M Puig, M Peréz (Joveljic, 59'), M Cerrillo (Aguirre, 72'), F Pec , F Berry (Fagúndez, 82')

Unused subs: GK McCarthy, D Nelson, D Neal, D Garcés, M Lepley,

Summary of statistics: CHI / LAHits: 11/13
Shots on goal: 4/4
Saves: 3/2
Passing accuracy: 85.4% / 92.3%
Corners: 2/5
Fouls: 16/6
Offside: 0/0
Ownership: 41.3% / 58.8%

Arbitrator: Marcos De Oliveira
Assistant referees: Brian Dunn, Stephen McGonagle
Fourth official: Jeremy Scheer
VAR: José Carlos Rivero, Peter Balciunas