NASHVILLE, Tenn. (April 25, 2025) – Chicago Fire FC (3-4-3, 12 points) fell 7-2 at Nashville SC (5-4-1, 16 points) Saturday night at GEODIS Park.
Philip Zinckernagel scored his third goal of the season for the Fire, and Hugo Cuypers remains tied for first place in the Golden Boot race after scoring his seventh goal of the season. Homegrown defender Christopher Cupps replaced Sam Rogers in the 76th minute to make his Major League Soccer debut.
Nashville took the lead after winning a penalty kick at the quarter hour mark that Sam Surridge scored. Seven minutes later, the home side doubled the lead as Jeisson Palacios headed home a corner kick from Hany Mukhtar. The German midfielder quickly added to his career tally against Chicago just three minutes later, getting on the end of a long counter attack that he initiated, before completing a brace in the 31st minute to make it 4-0 for Nashville.
Surridge completed a brace of his own shortly before the half, slotting home another penalty kick to make it 5-0. He made it a hat trick five minutes after the break, then four in the 57th minute.
Zinckernagel struck back on a free kick in the 64th minute, bending a ball into the upper 90 on a set piece. The Danish winger then provided an assist on Cuypers’ league-leading seventh goal of the year in the 71st minute, wrapping up the scoring for the night.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago opens a two-game homestand with a Saturday night matchup against Orlando City SC on May 3. Kickoff at Soldier Field is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT and the match will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, and transmitted locally on wlsam.com (English), and Que Buena 105.1 via the Uforia app (Spanish).
Notes:
- Forward Hugo Cuypers tallied his seventh goal of the season late in the second half of the match. The goal tied Cuypers with Philadelphia’s Tai Baribo for the league lead in goals scored this season, the first time a Fire player has led the league in scoring since Brian Gutiérrez did after Matchday 1 this season.
- Homegrown defender Christopher Cupps made his Major League Soccer debut Saturday night, checking in for fellow center back Sam Rogers in the 76th minute. Cupps would play 14 minutes of clean defensive football, not allowing any goals in his stint.
- Philip Zinckernagel recorded his second match of the season with two goal contributions after tallying once and adding his fourth assist of the year. This is the first time Zinckernagel gets a goal and an assist in the same match since the March 22 victory at Vancouver Whitecaps FC.
- Defenders Leonardo Barroso (Lower Body), Carlos Terán (Lower Body) and Chase Gasper (Lower Body); and midfielders Rominigue Kouamé (Lower Body), David Poreba (Lower Body) and Chris Mueller (Not Due to Injury) were not available for selection tonight.
Social: Twitter - @chicagofire, @vamosfire (Hashtags: #CF97 #VamosFire) | Instagram - @chicagofire | Facebook
Box Score:
Nashville SC 7:2 Chicago Fire FC
Goals:
NSH - Surridge (3) (Penalty) (WATCH) 15’
NSH - Palacios (1) (Mukhtar 3) (WATCH) 22’
NSH - Mukhtar (3) (WATCH) 25’
NSH - Mukhtar (4) (Najar 1) (WATCH) 31’
NSH - Surridge (4) (Penalty) (WATCH) 45+9’
NSH - Surridge (5) (Najar 2) (WATCH) 50’
NSH - Surridge (6) (Najar 3) (WATCH) 57’
CHI - Zinckernagel (3) (Haile-Selassie 1) (WATCH) 64’
CHI - Cuypers (7) (Elliott 2, Zinckernagel 4) (WATCH) 71’
Discipline:
CHI - D’Avilla (Yellow Card) 42’
CHI - Brady (Yellow Card) 45+7’
CHI - Zinckernagel (Yellow Card) 51’
CHI - Elliott (Yellow Card) 65’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Brady, D Glasgow, D Rogers (Cupps, 76’), D Elliott, D Gutman (Dean, 37’), M Acosta (capt.), M Pineda (D’Avilla, 37’), M Gutiérrez, F Zinckernagel, F Cuypers, F Bamba
Subs not used: GK Gal, D González, D Reynolds, M Haile-Selassie, M Oregel, Jr., F Barlow
Nashville SC: GK Willis, D Najar, D Maher, D Palacios (Applewhite, 86’), D Lovitz, M Yazbek, M Tagseth (Brugman, 60’), M Muyl (Qasem, 73’), F Mukhtar (capt.), F Surridge (Bunbury, 73’), F Shaffelburg (Pérez, 73’)
Subs not used: GK Schwake, D Bauer, M Acosta, M Washington
Stats Summary: NSH / CHIShots: 18 / 9
Shots on Goal: 12 / 6
Saves: 4 / 5
Passing Accuracy: 87.6% / 82.4%
Corners: 4 / 1
Fouls: 12 / 13
Offsides: 4 / 1
Possession: 58.9% / 41.1%
Referee: Rosendo Mendoza
Assistant Referees: Walt Heatherly, Diego Blas
Fourth Official: Nabil Bensalah
VAR: Michael Radchuk
AVAR: Tom Felice
