Fire win – Robin Lod and Andrew Gutman scored as the Chicago Fire beat Toronto 2-1 at Soldier Field for their third consecutive win on Saturday night.
Saturday night at Soldier Field started with the kind of momentum teams rarely talk about—then never let go of. Chicago didn’t just win. It kept winning, stretching its run to three straight with a 2-1 victory over Toronto behind goals from Robin Lod and Andrew Gutman.
The Fire (implied by record 8-4-2) moved forward again at the exact moment Toronto’s season seemed to tighten. Toronto (3-6-5) has now lost three in a row and is winless in eight straight since a 3-2 victory over Colorado on April 4. the last match in a stretch that had been part of a four-game unbeaten run.
Chris Brady made three saves for the Fire. doing his part while the game turned into a back-and-forth fight for control. Lod struck first in the 22nd minute, taking advantage of a counter-attack that looked sharp from the moment it began. Hugo Cuypers played a centering pass from the left side to Maren Haile-Selassie. who tapped a first-touch pass to Lod charging into space. Lod then beat goalkeeper Luka Gavran one-on-one.
Toronto answered on Josh Sargent’s return. Sargent came back from a three-game absence with a thigh issue. and he scored to make it 1-1 in the 34th minute. Alonso Coello triggered the response with a counter-attack through ball to a charging Sargent. Sargent finished on the first touch, sending the ball under the crossbar.
Chicago found the go-ahead goal in the 65th minute through a set piece that turned into a decisive moment. Gutman headed home a corner kick played in by Philip Zinckernagel, putting the Fire back in front and giving them the lead they would protect the rest of the way.
Cuypers, meanwhile, kept offering danger even as his own streak snapped. He leads MLS with 13 goals, but his recent run of consecutive appearances ended at 10 games when he scored in this match. It was the third-longest consecutive appearances streak in league history.
Outside the match, Brady’s night carried extra weight. Brady made the U.S. team that will compete in the World Cup this summer, joining starter Matt Freese and backup Matt Turner on the roster. Brady, 22, has been in the national team’s camp several times but has yet to play in a game.
By the final whistle, the story was simple: Chicago kept its edge, Toronto couldn’t escape its spiral, and Soldier Field saw a third straight win built on goals at the right times—one crafted with speed for Lod, one finished by Gutman from Zinckernagel’s corner.
Chicago Fire Toronto Soldier Field Robin Lod Andrew Gutman Josh Sargent Chris Brady MLS Luka Gavran Philip Zinckernagel Hugo Cuypers Maren Haile-Selassie