Still waiting: Chicago Fire 1, Orlando City 1

CHICAGO, Ill. — The Chicago Fire’s winless run was extended to nine games tonight after a fairly forgettable Wednesday 1-1 draw with Orlando City at Soldier Field.

Frank Klopas’ lineup was almost unchanged, with Jonathan Dean replacing suspended Allan Arigoni in the only swap from Saturday’s draw at D.C. United. The team remained with captain and star Designated Player Xherdan Shaqiri, who left Chicago last Friday to join the Swiss National Team early ahead of Euro 2024 camp.

Things got off of the worst possible start for the Fire. What could best be described as a chaotic mess unfolded in front of Chris Brady’s goal, and Fede Navarro made numerous failed attempts to clear the ball. Eventually, Orlando’s Uruguayan international Facundo Torres took advantage of the hopeless goalmouth scramble, the knocked the ball in for a goal that was the Fire’s own fault more than anything else.

A few minutes later, things took another unfortunate turn for the Fire as left back Andrew Gutman was forced off with injury. It is the second time this year that he has had to exit in the first few minutes of a game, with Arnaud Souquet replacing him this time at full back.

Stunned by the early mishap, the Fire struggled to get back into the game in the first half. The back three of Rafa Czichos, Carlos Terán, and Mauricio Pineda which looked fairly solid against D.C. could not produce a clinic of distribution, and the game failed to find any sort of rhythm.

The Fire rarely threatened Pedro Gallese’s goal in the first period, though Terán did try a shot from over 70 years which ended up nowhere near the target. On the other end, an 11th-placed Orlando also was shy in front of goal, recording no shots on target aside from Torres’ goal.

The second half started with much of the same as two struggling MLS clubs seemed to be playing to another unextraordinary game. 60th-minute introductions of Maren Haile-Selassie and Fabian Herbers would spice things up for the home team, however.

In the 71st minute, Haile-Selassie weaved an excellent ball out wide for Souquet, who drilled the ball back across the box for Cuypers. The club record signing duly converted, knocking the ball in from close range to tie the game late.

Cuypers was substituted for Georgios Koutsias immediately following the goal, and the game died down in the final minutes. After a short period of just three minutes of stoppage time, the match ended in a fairly forgettable 1-1 draw.

The Fire will return on Saturday to face the L.A. Galaxy at Soldier Field.