Chicago Fire Fail to Score Again, Lose 1-0 to Charlotte FC

The Chicago Fire’s inability to score goals was an issue once again and they shared the points with Charlotte FC after a goalless draw at Soldier Field.

The win is Charlotte’s first on the road since they defeated the Fire 2-0 last October.

Chicago has only scored a single goal in its last six matches and has only accumulated two points in that span.

The Fire was the better side before halftime and it was a relatively one-sided affair, but they couldn’t manage a goal.

Hugo Cuypers was at the center of the Fire’s attacks and registered a couple of chances that hit the target. Chicago’s number nine should’ve scored in the fifth minute after Brian Gutiérrez set him up in the penalty area with a perfect through ball, but he couldn’t get the ball out of his feet quick enough and his shot was blocked.

Cuypers nearly managed to deflect a cross from Xherdan Shaqiri into the net in the 16th minute after a corner kick was taken short but Charlotte’s Kristijan Kahlina covered his cage well and denied the point-blank effort. Cuypers then collected a long ball from Carlos Terán in the 26th minute but his right-footed effort from a tough angle was saved with relative ease by Kahlina.

Shaqiri had a chance from beyond midfield after catching Kahlina off his line in the 37th minute but his long-range effort floated just high of the crossbar.

Charlotte nearly took the lead in the 54th minute but Chris Brady stepped up for the Fire and made a massive save to maintain a goalless scoreline on the lakefront. Joao Pedro’s corner kick found Adilson Malanda but his header was saved by a sliding Brady at the far post.

The visitors finally broke through in the 60th minute through an entirely preventable opportunity. Carlos Terán made a cynical tackle on Charlotte’s Patrick Agyemang in the center of the pitch only 20 yards from goal. Ashley Westwood stepped up to the free kick and knocked it over the Fire’s wall and into the goal to secure his side’s win. Westwood’s free kick flew just over the heads of Arnaud Souquet and Hugo Cuypers, neither of whom jumped at the ball.

The Fire didn’t record a single shot on target after conceding until their last-gasp efforts in 95th second-half stoppage time. Hugo Cuypers directed a Chris Mueller corner kick on target in the 95th minute but Kristijan Kahlina was there to deny the effort. Kahlina made another diving save in the 96th on Carlos Terán’s shot from the edge of the penalty area and clinched his side’s first road win of 2024.

Match Observations

The Fire had a great chance to score in the fifth minute but Hugo Cuypers couldn’t get the ball out of his own feet quick enough to test the goalkeeper. Brian Gutiérrez combined with Andrew Gutman near midfield and brought the ball into the attacking half of the pitch before playing a through ball to Cuypers. Chicago’s number nine took one touch too many and his shot was blocked by Charlotte’s Andrew Privett. It was the type of chance that Cuypers is expected to bury and the Fire wasted a great chance to take an early lead at home after the subsequent corner kick was dealt with easily by Charlotte.

Chicago had a corner kick in the 16th minute and nearly created a goal after a nice set-piece action from the Fire. Xherdan Shaqiri took the corner kick short to Brian Gutiérrez and Gutiérrez took a dribble before playing it back to Shaqiri on his left. The Fire’s captain then whipped a cross into Charlotte’s penalty area that Hugo Cuypers deflected on goal but right at Charlotte goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina, who made the save.

The early emphasis for the Fire was to create for Hugo Cuypers and he had another great chance to score in the 26th minute. Carlos Terán played a fabulous ball from his own half of the pitch that floated just off the toe of Andrew Privett so Cuypers could collect it and make a burst toward goal. Cuypers hit a strong right-footed effort on target but Kristijan Kahlina tapped the ball away from danger. Someone needed to follow up the Cuypers shot because Kahlina made a mess of the save and it had to be knocked out of play by a defender.

Xherdan Shaqiri was inches away from scoring from midfield in the 32nd minute but his shot just floated above the crossbar after the Fire’s captain caught Kristijan Kahlina off his line.

Chicago nearly scored an own goal in the 37th but Carlos Terán sacrificed his body to save the day before halftime. A cross was whipped in from the right side by Charlotte and was tapped toward the center of Chicago’s penalty area by Andrew Privett. The ball bounced off Terán and Cuypers and as it was about to cross the goalline, Terán slid in and cleared the ball away from danger. Terán managed to return to action but it wasn’t after needing to wait two minutes to recover from sliding into the goalpost.

The Fire were the stronger side in the first half and managed to outshoot Charlotte five-four while taking both of the on-target efforts before the break.

Chicago managed the first shot on target after halftime but it wasn’t much of an effort. Hugo Cuypers found Kellyn Acosta at the edge of Charlotte’s penalty area but the USMNT midfielder’s left-footed shot lacked power and was saved easily by Kristijan Kahlina.

Charlotte should have gone up 1-0 in the 54th minute but Chris Brady covered a lot of ground and made the big save to maintain the 0-0 scoreline. Joao Pedro played a corner kick to the far post that Adilson Malanda beat everyone to in the air. Malanda’s headed shot was destined for goal but Brady made himself big and denied the point-blank effort.

Ashley Westwood put Charlotte up 1-0 in the 60th minute after scoring from a straightaway free kick 20 yards from goal. Patrick Agyemang won Charlotte the centrally-located free kick after a cynical foul from Carlos Terán and Westwood took advantage. Charlotte’s captain hit a right-footed effort that flew just above the heads of Hugo Cuypers and Arnaud Souqet on the Fire’s wall (neither of them jumped) and into the net past a diving Chris Brady. Fire head coach Frank Klopas wasn’t thrilled with the effort from Cuypers and Souquet on the free kick when asked post-match why they didn’t jump.

“I couldn’t tell you,” said Klopas. “I mean, jump or no jump, normally if you’re a player, you're trying to make yourself as big as possible and jump. We don't tell players to not jump.”