Chicago Fire Defeat New England 3-2 in Key Victory
Chicago Fire FC secured a 3-2 win over the New England Revolution at SeatGeek Stadium on Saturday night, climbing to ninth place in the Eastern Conference with 42 points. The match featured decisive contributions from wingers Jonathan Bamba and Philip Zinckernagel, while striker Hugo Cuypers netted his sixth game-winning goal of the season. Midfielder André Franco, making his first home start, played a pivotal role by registering two assists.
The home side struck quickly when Bamba converted a pass from Brian Gutiérrez in just the second minute. Only eight minutes later, Franco set up Zinckernagel to double Chicago’s lead to 2-0. In the second half, Dje D’Avilla initiated a sequence that ended with Franco assisting Cuypers for the Fire’s third goal in the 68th minute.
New England mounted a late comeback as Peyton Miller pulled one back in the 78th minute. In stoppage time, Carles Gil converted a penalty to make it 3-2, but goalkeeper Chris Brady produced a crucial save in the dying moments to ensure Chicago held on for the victory.
The result sets up the Fire’s return to Soldier Field for their next game against New York City FC on September 13 at 7:30 p.m. CT. The match will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass via Apple TV and locally through wlsam.com and Que Buena Fire on the Uforia App, with a replay scheduled on Marquee Sports Network.
Zinckernagel’s goal and assist brought his season tally to 12 goals and 13 assists, surpassing Ante Razov’s mark for the second-most goal contributions by a Fire player in a single season. He now trails only Nemanja Nikolić’s record of 28 set in 2017. Cuypers added to his remarkable run with his 16th goal of the year, tying Mike Magee’s 2013 record and Nikolić’s 2018 campaign for the third-most goals in a single season for Chicago. His six game-winning goals also equal Razov’s total from 2000.
Franco’s performance made him the first Fire player since Zinckernagel on August 16 against LAFC to deliver a multi-assist game. Defender Jonathan Dean recorded his career-high 14th start as teammate Leonardo Barroso was away on international duty with Portugal’s U-21 squad.
