Home Sweet Home: Chicago Fire 3, Charlotte FC 2
CHICAGO, Ill. — “Home sweet home” is not a phrase the Chicago Fire have uttered at Soldier Field matchnights too often this season. Now they can.
For just the second time in 2025, Gregg Berhalter’s team secured a win at home, doing so in their ninth attempt. The fans finally got something to celebrate as they defeated fellow playoff contender Charlotte FC 3-2.
Disappointment at Soldier Field has been one of the stories of the season for the Fire as they were unable to overcome some sort of psychological barrier at home for the first half of the season. Most recently, it came in the form of successive losses at the hands of Nashville and Philadelphia, in which the Fire didn’t score a goal.
Despite the poor run of results, Berhalter just made minor changes to the team. Jonathan Dean and Sam Rogers returned to the lineup, replacing Leo Barroso and Omar González respectively. The midfield personnel remained the same, with Brian Gutiérrez, Sergio Oregel, and Mauricio Pineda going unchanged, though the shape returned to a 4-3-3 after a 4-2-3-1 had been used in possession on Wednesday.
One of the two introductions, Dean, found himself at the center of things to start the first half. Charlotte nearly opened the scoring from a counter attack, but the 28-year-old recovered well to clean up his own mess and knock the ball out of bounds.
A few minutes later, he was involved at the other end. Dean was awarded an assist for a pass to recently-named MLS All-Star Philip Zinckernagel, who embarked on a remarkable solo run to score his ninth goal of the season. It was a goal defined by sheer determination and will, and continued his remarkable form to start his debut season in the league.
Two minutes later, the Dane extended his output. Zinckernagel drilled a ball across the penalty box, setting up 22-year-old Brian Gutiérrez for his seventh goal of the season. Gutiérrez’s strike could mark a turning point after two forgettable performances last week, it was his third goal against Charlotte this season, and officially secured his career-high tally of seven MLS goals.
Charlotte’s first half implosion continued eight minutes later. Adilson Malanda gifted the ball to Hugo Cuypers inside Charlotte’s own penalty box, and the Belgian cooly scored his scored his 13th goal of the season in all competitions.
Despire cruising into the break up three goals, the game wasn’t over. Berhalter seemed to think it might be, withdrawing Jonathan Bamba and Mauricio Pineda after fairly anonymous first halves, and introducing Djé D’Avilla and Maren Haile-Selassie. While the latter looked sharp and added fresh energy to the right wing, D’Avilla continued to look out of his depth after a $5 million move to the club in April.
Just a few minutes into the second half, D’Avilla’s struggles materialized. He was the main man responsible as Spanish TAM midfielder Pep Biel cut the lead to two with his sixth goal of 2025.
Three minutes on, things got even more anxious for the Fire. Biel added an assist and Idan Toklomati took advantage of an erroneous Sam Rogers step forward to bring the deficit to one. The two quick-fire goals made for a nervy last 30 minutes.
Berhalter adjusted by dropping Gutiérrez deeper into the midfield, outnumbering Charlotte in an area where they were taking command of the game. That reinstated calm, and it was enough to see the last half-hour through. Cuypers was unable to add to his tally, as his teammates continued to try to play balls over the top and in the air, not getting the most out of the #9.
Despite the slow second half response, the Fire did what they had to do and got the win. They’ll now go on the road to face Cincinnati before heading to Minnesota for the Open Cup quarterfinals.
Player Ratings
Starting XI (4-2-3-1) — Jeff Gal (6); Andrew Gutman (5.5), Jack Elliott (7.5), Sam Rogers (5.5), Jonathan Dean (8); Mauricio Pineda (6), Sergio Oregel Jr. (6.5); Jonathan Bamba (5), Brian Gutiérrez (8.5), Philip Zinckernagel (8.5); Hugo Cuypers (7)
Substitutes — Djé D’Avilla (4.5), Maren Haile-Selassie (6.5), Kellyn Acosta (NR), Omar González (NR), Tom Barlow (NR)
