CHICAGO (Sept. 27, 2025) – Chicago Fire (14-11-6, 48 points) posted a second consecutive clean sheet in a 2-0 victory over Columbus Crew (13-8-11, 50 points) Saturday night at Soldier Field. The victory lifted Chicago to a five-point lead over the New York Red Bulls for ninth place in the Eastern Conference.
Defender Andrew Gutman tallied his third goal of the season and eventual game-winner, while forward Hugo Cuypers added his 17th goal of 2025.
The Fire started hot, securing the larger share of possession and shots in the first half. But it was a defender who opened the scoring in the 25th minute, when Gutman bent the ball into the far side of the goal. The hosts saw further looks, but a pair of disallowed goals kept the score at 1-0 going into the break.
Chicago continued the aggressive play in the second half and added another one in the 70th minute. André Franco advanced the ball forward, spotting Cuypers on his right. The Portuguese midfielder threaded a ball to the Belgian striker, who took a touch before finishing from the right side for the 2-0 lead. Columbus could not muster further chances as goalkeeper Chris Brady posted his fifth shutout of the campaign and Chicago’s 14th win of 2025.
NEXT MATCH: Chicago heads to South Florida to face Inter Miami CF on Tuesday night in a fixture that was rescheduled due to Miami’s participation in Leagues Cup 2025. The match on Tuesday, Sept. 30 is scheduled to kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV and transmitted locally on wlsam.com (English) and Que Buena Fire via the Uforia App (Spanish).
Notes:
- In his career-high 31st appearance of 2025, defender Andrew Gutman tallied his third of the campaign to give the Fire a 1-0 lead. His career-high 13th goal contribution of the season was also his first game-winning goal with his hometown team and first since 2023 with Atlanta.
- Forward Hugo Cuypers tallied his 17th goal of the season and 27th of his Fire career for the 2-0 lead. Cuypers now trails Ante Razov (18 in 2000) for second-most goals in one season, trailing only 2017 MLS Golden Boot winner Nemanja Nikolić (24).
- Goalkeeper Chris Brady set a career-high in wins in a single season with his 11th win of 2025. He also posted the 17th clean sheet of his career, doing so in back-to-back fashion for the second time this year following a two-game shutout streak in July against CF Montréal and New York Red Bulls.
- Defender Jack Elliott recorded his third assist of the season in Gutman’s opening goal. The three match a single-season career-high set last year, when he also posted three in 28 appearances for the Philadelphia Union.
- In only his fifth match with Chicago, midfielder André Franco recorded his fourth assist of the season. After a late substitution in his season debut against Philadelphia on Aug. 23, Franco has now delivered four assists in the last four matches since then.
- With his 43rd minute corner kick, Philip Zinckernagel tied Álvaro Medrán for second-most corner kicks taken in a single season with 101. The Danish midfielder is now 13 kicks behind Harry Shipp’s record 113 taken in 2014.
- Director of Football and Head Coach Gregg Berhalter earned the 81st victory of his career and first against his old club. The win helped him beat Columbus’ Wilfried Nancy for 20th place all-time among MLS coaches, tied with the Dallas Burn’s Dave Dir.
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Box Score:
Chicago Fire FC 2:0 Columbus Crew
Discipline:
CLB - Aliyu (Yellow Card) 66’
CHI - Rogers (Yellow Card) 90+4’
Chicago Fire FC: GK Brady, D Barroso (Dean, 50’), D Rogers, D Waterman, D Elliott (capt.), D Gutman, M Zinckernagel (Haile-Selassie, 73’), M D’Avilla (Pineda, 73’), M Franco (Acosta, 90’), M Bamba (Gutiérrez, 73’), F Cuypers
Subs not used: GK Gal, M Koaumé, M, Oregel Jr., F Barlow
Columbus Crew: GK Bush, D Herrera (Lappalainen, 80’), D Cheberko (Ruvalcaba, 87’), D Moreira, D Amundsen, M Picard, M Nagbe (capt.), M Chambost, M Sejdić (Aliyu, 46’), M Arfsten, F Gazdag (Russell-Rowe, 72’)
Subs not used: GK Hagen, GK Schulte, M Jones, M Brown
Stats Summary: CHI / CLBShots: 22 / 7
Shots on Goal: 9 / 2
Saves: 2 / 6
Passing Accuracy: 86.1% / 85.3%
Corners: 7 / 4
Fouls: 7 / 9
Offsides: 6 / 4
Possession: 49% / 51%
Attendance: 22,321
Referee: Tori Penso
Assistant Referees: Brooke Mayo, Stefan Tanaka-Freundt
Fourth Official: Calin Radosav
VAR: Michael Radchuck
AVAR: Fabio Tovar
