The Chicago Fire kept their playoff hopes alive on Saturday night, beating the visiting New York Red Bulls 2-1.
The match-winning goal for Chicago (7-14-8, 29 points) came from Georgios Koutsias, who headed a cross from Kellyn Acosta past Carlos Coronel in the 75th minute.
New York (10-6-13, 43 points) almost scored a match-tying goal in the ninth minute of second-half stoppage time off a corner kick that landed at the feet of Felipe Carballo.
Carballo’s attempt went wide right, though, allowing the Fire to come away with the win.
Chicago opened the scoring in the 31st minute thanks in part to Hugo Cuypers, who put a shot on goal that Coronel saved. However, former Red Bulls forward Thomas Barlow was there to clean up the rebound to give the Fire a 1-0 edge.
After scoring the goal, Barlow didn’t react or celebrate, honoring both his former and current side.
The Red Bulls leveled the match early in the second half, scoring in the 47th minute through the play of Dennis Gjengaar and Dante Vanzeir.
Vanzeir received a pass at midfield, absorbed defensive pressure and sent a cross into the box to a charging Gjengaar, who hit the pass in stride to make it 1-1.
It didn’t seem like the night would go well for the Fire before the match started, as they had to deal with a defensive injury in warmups that impacted the starting 11 for coach Frank Klopas. Rafael Czichos, who has started 25 matches for the Fire this season, was replaced by Wyatt Omsberg, who made his eighth appearance of the year.
Even with the late defensive change, Chicago still excelled, allowing only two shots on goal on 13 overall attempts from New York.
The Fire sit in 13th place in the Eastern Conference with five matches remaining in the regular season. Two of those matches are against Nashville SC, one of two teams below Chicago in the standings.
–Field Level Media
