Player Ratings: Chicago Fire 4, CF Montréal 3

The Fire went down 2-0 within the first 12 minutes of the match due to a brace of penalties from Matías Cóccaro, and despite Maren Haile-Selassie getting one back in first-half extra time, another Montréal goal from Dominik Yankov put the score at 3-1 in the 70th minute. The game seemed done for, but a red card from former Man-in-Red Raheem Edwards granted a chance back into the match, with Brian Gutiérrez notching the subsequent penalty. The game continued to open up even more for the Fire, as Hugo Cuypers and Kellyn Acosta eventually scored a goal each to put the match to bed at 4-3. Here is a recap of the Fire’s individual performers.

*Players are listed in the order they lined up, followed by substitutes in the order they appeared.

Starting XI

Chris Brady (6.5) – Brady had as many saves as he did assists this match at one each. The youngster was put up against two penalties, one of which he got a hand on, and ultimately faced a combined expected goals rate of 2.7 from three shots on target. His passing was fairly poor, as he did not complete a single long ball, but if you were to ask Jonathan Sirois about his thoughts on the game, he would likely mention the heavy influence of the wind.

Chase Gasper (5.5) – Gasper had a rough start to the match, as he gave away a penalty five minutes into the match. The MLS veteran struggled defensively for his entire 76-minute appearance, losing all of his duel attempts. He did not complete any tackles and conceded five fouls. Despite this, he was quietly good in possession, as he held a 90.7% pass accuracy, with all of his turnovers coming from cross attempts and longballs. Unfortunately, that did not make up for his previous errors, and with Andrew Gutman steadily returning to fitness, Gasper’s recent collection of minutes may begin to dry up soon. The left-back was substituted for Tom Barlow in the 76th minute.

Rafael Czichos (7) – Despite not performing the greatest on the eye test for some, Rafa had a solid game against Montréal, besides a slow recovery on Dominik Yankov’s goal. The German notched an assist when he launched a long ball over the top of the opposition defense, with Maren Haile-Selassie getting on the end of it, leading to the Fire's opening goal. Besides that, Czichos won eight of his 10 duels and passed into the final third 12 times.

Tobias Salquist (6) — Like Gasper, Salquist looked like a deer in headlights shortly after kickoff, giving away a penalty just minutes after Montréal grabbed their first. In his remaining time on the field, though, the Dane completed 49 of his 58 pass attempts and won all four of his aerial duels. Despite growing into the match, a yellow card meant Salquist was pulled for Carlos Terán's season debut at halftime.

Allan Arigoni (7) – The Lugano loanee comfortably had another solid showing at right back, being extremely involved on both ends of the pitch. Arigoni yielded a pass accuracy of 92.9%, completed five passes into the final third, and got into the opposition box twice. On the defensive end, Arigoni won 10 of his 16 total duels and paired that with three successful tackles.

Fabian Herbers (8.5) – Herbers continually proves to be one of the Fire’s most valuable assets, dropping another great performance in midfield. The German again played in tandem with Kellyn Acosta, equally splitting defensive and offensive responsibilities between the two of them. Herbers won four tackles and eight duels on the back end, but going forward, he got two shots on target and created an expected assists plus goals rate of 0.57. Another great performance from the Fire’s longest-tenured player and vice-captain.

Kellyn Acosta (9) – Similarly to Herbers, the relationship between these two midfielders is equally beneficial across all phases of play. Acosta completed an astounding 20 passes into the final third and was the team’s most consistent crossing threat with another nine attempts. Despite not adding any assists, Kellyn showed up when it mattered most, ripping a long-ball turned shot from half field in the 99th minute of play, with the wind eventually carrying it into the net to make it 4-3. The investment needed to get Acosta in Chicago has been well worth it.

Maren Haile-Selassie (6.5) – Maren’s most important moment of the game came right before halftime when he got on the end of a Rafa Czichos long-ball, then beat Jonathan Sirois at the near post to get the team one goal closer to equalizing. Besides that, Maren has been relatively poor when playing directly in 2024, only completing a successful dribble and failing all three of his crossing attempts in this match. Despite the goal, the Swiss winger seemingly lacks confidence against competent backlines, which is fairly worrying given the lack of depth out wide.

Xherdan Shaqiri (5) – Oh captain, my captain. Once again, Shaq has only shown regression from an underwhelming 2023 campaign this season, and in this match, he looked continuously lackadaisical and often made the wrong attacking decisions. Shaqiri completed just one accurate cross from five attempts, registering the same numbers for his long balls as well. On top of that, the Swiss did not register a single defensive action and ultimately was taken off for Georgios Koutsias in the 69th minute.

Brian Gutiérrez (7.5) – The homegrown’s biggest moment of the match came when he stepped up to take the penalty created from Raheem Edwards' rouge elbow to Koutsias, converting the opportunity in the 84th minute to get the team back into touching distance at 3-2. On top of the penalty conversion, Guti created two other major goalscoring chances, completed two dribbles, and was heavily involved in getting the ball back for the team with 15 total duel attempts.

Hugo Cuypers (8) – The Fire’s record signing finally got his first goal for the club when he got on the end of a header that Carlos Terán squared down in the 95th minute to equalize seemingly at the death. Besides the goal, Cuypers was invaluable to the team’s attacking play, constantly dropping into wider spaces to bring the ball down for his teammates to play off of. The Belgian had seven touches in the opposition box, which is impressive but also signals the dysfunctionality of the team’s front four. Cuypers was eventually substituted for Mauricio Pineda in the 101st minute of play.

Substitutes

Carlos Terán (7) – The Colombian made his season debut for the club as a substitute for Salquist and changed the game during this time on the field. Terán played extremely direct, with almost a quarter of his completed passes being into the final third, and eventually, he earned an assist as he headed the ball down to Cuypers to ram into the net. The center-back also won two tackles and two duels, serving to be a real game-changer.

Georgios Koutsias (7) – Koutsias came on as a substitute for Shaqiri in the 69th minute as Klopas sought to increase the pressure on the Montréal backline. This pressure made the French Canadiens crack, though, as the forward was able to get on the receiving end of a Raheem Edwards elbow, eventually getting him sent off for violent conduct, as well as granting the Fire a penalty. Koutsi also had a shot on target that likely should have been a cross, but besides that, his physical impact was felt.

Tom Barlow (6.5) – In a swap that seasoned MLS fan might appreciate, Barlow replaced Gasper in the 76th minute. Barlow did not make a huge impact on the game, as he only got five touches on the ball, but he put plenty of pressure on Jonathan Sirois and the Montréal backline, which proved to be vital for the team’s end-of-game goals.

Mauricio Pineda (N/R) – Mauri came on as a sub for Cuypers in the 101st minute and only touched the ball a single time thus he could not be appropriately rated.

Manager

Frank Klopas (7) – Despite leading the team to their first win of the 2024 campaign, the lack of a real game plan is continually concerning. At this level, sticking to long ball as the primary offensive tactic simply is not good enough, and given the talent within the Fire’s roster, questions arise over what this team could do with someone else making the important choices. Regardless, the introduction of Carlos Terán and the substitution of Xherdan Shaqiri changed the game, and the team came out fighting after halftime. Credit must be given where credit is due, but major room for improvement exists nonetheless.