Harrison, N.J. (April 13, 2024) – Chicago Fire FC (2-3-3, 9 points) earned its first shutout of the season in a 0-0 tie with the New York Red Bulls (4-1-3, 15 points) on Saturday night at Red Bull Arena.
Chicago remains unbeaten in four straight away matches against the Red Bulls, winning twice and tying on two occasions along the Hudson River.
Both teams created dangerous chances in the first half, before New York went down to 10 men in the 42nd minute when defender Andrés Reyes fouled Tobias Salquist in the box in the lead-up to a free kick. Initially shown a yellow card, the call was changed to a straight red following Video Assistant Referee review. Chicago used a concussion substitute following the encounter, with Mauricio Pineda replacing Salquist in the backline.
Homegrown goalkeeper Chris Brady made several key saves to keep the clean sheet for the Fire, including one in the second minute when Wikelman Carmona sent a left-footed shot to the near post that ricocheted between the goalkeeper and the post before being cleared out. He then saved a Lewis Morgan header in the sixth minute. In the 65th minute, Brady once again stopped a shot from Morgan when the Scottish forward got past the Chicago defense and sent a hard shot to the near post where the Naperville native was holding his line to make the reaction save.
With seven minutes added to the end of the second half, it was in the 90+1st minute that New York had its clearest opportunity of the game. A long ball was sent over the top that Elias Manoel brought down and shot as Brady was coming out to cut off his angle. The ball hit the near post and bounced back into the box. Frankie Amaya was ready for the rebound, taking a shot across the goal that bounced off the far post before being cleared out of danger. Brady ended the night with five saves to keep his ninth career shutout.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago returns to the lakefront to begin a three-game homestand that begins Saturday, April 20 against Real Salt Lake. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT and Soldier Field, and the match is slated to be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass. The match will also be transmitted locally via wlsam.com in English and WRTO 1200 AM in Spanish.
Social: Twitter - @chicagofire, @vamosfire (Hashtags: #CF97 #VamosFire) | Instagram - @chicagofire | Facebook
Notes:
- Goalkeeper Chris Brady started in the net for the eighth time this season, having only missed one game due to international duty. The clean sheet marks his first of 2024, and the ninth of his career.
- Midfielder Brian Gutiérrez made his 96th appearance for the Fire when he entered the match in the 60th minute for midfielder Chris Mueller.
- Defenders Rafael Czichos and Allan Arigoni, midfielder Maren Haile-Selassie and forward Hugo Cuypers started their eighth-consecutive match together. Czichos is the only player to have played the full 90 minutes in all of the Fire’s eight matches this season.
- Defenders Chase Gasper (upper leg) and Andrew Gutman (upper leg) were unavailable for today’s match.
Box Score:New York Red Bulls 0:0 Chicago Fire FC
Goals:
None
Discipline:
NYR - Reyes (Ejection) 40’
CHI - Acosta (Yellow Card) 55’
CHI - Czichos (Yellow Card) 75’
CHI: GK Brady, D Souquet (Dean, 75’), D Czichos, D Salquist (Pineda, 45+1’), D Arigoni, M Haile-Selassie (Koutsias, 64’), M Mueller (Giménez, 61’), M Shaqiri (capt.), M Herbers, M Acosta (Gutiérrez, 60’), F Cuypers (Barlow, 75’)
Subs not used: GK Richey, D Terán, M Navarro
NYR: GK Coronel, D Eile, D Reyes, D D. Nealis, D Tolkin, M Stroud (Edelman, 80’), M Amaya, M Morgan (Duncan, 90+6’), M Forsberg (capt.) (Manoel, 85’), M Carmona, F Vanzier (S. Nealis, 43’)
Subs not used: GK Meara, M Zakrzewski, M Harper, F Gjengaar, F Mitchell
Stats Summary: NYR / CHIShots: 19 / 9
Shots on Goal: 5 / 3
Saves: 3 / 5
Passing Accuracy: 74.5% / 86.5%
Corners: 4 / 4
Fouls: 5 / 7
Offsides: 1 / 4
Possession: 34.2% / 65.8%
Referee: Sergii Boiko
Assistant Referees: Cameron Blanchard, Matthew Nelson
Fourth Official: Jeremy Scheer
VAR: Michael Radchuk
Assistant VAR: Chantal Boudreau