Bad and Ugly: Chicago Fire 0, Philadelphia Union 3
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. — The Chicago Fire’s 2025 season ended tonight in Bridgeview with a depressing whimper as they were destroyed 3-0 by the Philadelphia Union. Backup goalkeeper Jeff Gal was at the center of it all as the Union ran away with Game 2 before halftime.
Shortly before kickoff, when it became apparent that Chris Brady would miss the game due to an injury sustained this week in training, Gal was thrust into his first career postseason start. In other news, Philip Zinckernagel was deemed fit enough to start after missing Game 1, but it would ultimately mean very little.
Eight minutes into the game, it was evident why. Philadelphia’s star forward, Tai Baribo, pressed high as Gal tried to play out of the back and forced a giveaway that gifted the Union an early lead. The attempt to play the same way with the ball despite fielding a backup with a dramatically different playstyle was a bold one, and in less than ten minutes, it was clear why it was not a smart one.
A few moments later, the Israeli forward doubled the Union’s lead. There was a total lack of communication in front of the goal as Jack Elliott and Gal left Baribo again totally unmarked from close range.
Nonetheless, the Fire were gifted a lifeline. Star midfielder Jovan Lukić brought down Elliott on a corner, handing the Fire a penalty kick. Danley Jean Jacques shoved Joel Waterman to the ground in the aftermath as the team tussled around the penalty spot, but despite the play’s similarity to Sergio Oregel’s sending-off in Game 1, the midfielder escaped with only a yellow. Brian Gutiérrez missed the ensuing penalty, and the Fire left the sequence with nothing.
Their misery was compounded mere moments later. In the 35th minute, Gal once again caused a howler, failing to properly clear a ball and enabling Bruno Damiani to easily roll the ball into an empty net. 3-0 Union, the Fire fans booed their own goalkeeper with every touch, and everything that could have possibly gone wrong for Gal and the Fire went wrong.
Midway through the first half, Berhalter already turned to his bench, pulling on-loan midfielder Rominigue Kouamé for Mauricio Pineda after the Mali international had looked off the face for the first 25 minutes. Down three goals at the half, Berhalter turned to Maren Haile-Selassie at right back, going all-out attack for the second 45.
For a moment, it seemed to work. The Fire started the second half significantly better than they had finished the first, and Gutiérrez even put the ball in the back of the net by blocking an Andre Blake clearance, but it was called back for a handball. The crowd’s energy remained strong, particularly in the supporters’ end behind the goal, but some fans had already been making their way to the parking lot since halftime throughout the bowl.
The hole was just too deep to dig their way out of. Laziness and frustration took over, exemplified by a 63rd minute Djé D’Avilla yellow card for following through on a tackle. It was one of many yellows handed out in quick succession as the game totally slipped away.
There was no way back into it. A questionably officiated game was overshadowed by Gal’s errors, and a performance that was otherwise objectively not terrible by most players on the field meant absolutely nothing. In the 78th minute, things got even uglier when repeated use of “the Chant” resulted in play being stopped for three minutes, causing Berhalter himself to personally plead with the fans to stop. They did not.
And when it was all said and done, the season came to an end in the ugliest way possible. Both on and off the field were terrible, and an unfortunate way for an otherwise incredibly productive and thrilling year. The Fire’s return to the postseason gave fans two memorable occasions last week that will forever be remembered, but tonight’s debacle is one they’ll want to quickly forget.
