Thunderstruck: Chicago Fire 3, St. Louis CITY SC 2

BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. — Lightning doesn’t just strike twice, but it’s struck three times in Chicago over St. Louis.

The Chicago Fire kept their perfect home record against St. Louis CITY alive on Saturday after a thrilling, end-to-end 3-2 win in Bridgeview. In the context of the season, it’s a huge win for the team, and in the context of an organic, burgeoning rivalry in MLS, it writes a new chapter.

Entering Saturday, the Fire were looking to equal their longest unbeaten run of 2025 and build on a respectable 2-2 home draw with LAFC. Though the victory slipped away in the end in that day, there were plenty of positives to carry into the St. Louis game, and Gregg Berhalter opted for an unchanged starting XI.

However, rather than the match kicking off an hour after the lineups were announced, it took substantially longer. Thunderstorms in the area constantly delayed the start, and the ball didn’t get rolling until after 9 p.m.; roughly 90 minutes after the scheduled time. Eventually, the action finally got underway once the rain and storms had cleared.

Much like in years past, where Chicago-St. Louis games have been frantic, fast-paced affairs, this one got off to a quick start – despite the suspect-caliber playing surface at SeatGeek Stadium. The Fire were dominant and repeatedly inched closer to Roman Bürki’s goal in the first quarter-hour, with Philip Zinckernagel, Brian Gutiérrez, and Sergio Oregel all have shots blocked.

The breakthrough came in the 16th minute from a quick transition sequence. Jonathan Bamba, Brian Gutiérrez, and Andrew Gutman combined well before the latter played a brilliant cross into the penalty box. Hugo Cuypers got on the end of it, knocking the ball home for his 15th goal of the campaign.

After going ahead, the Fire remained in firm control but struggled to perform in front of goal. Gutiérrez and Bamba both ripped long shots just wide of the target from outside a box that was in poor condition after Chicago Fire II’s match last night and the torrential downpour earlier on.

Despite going into the half cruising and up a goal, everything changed after the break. St. Louis had a dream start to the second period casuing alarm bells to ring on the Fire bench. Tomáš Ostrák broke through with an equalizer just seconds into the half, and on the hour mark, Marcel Hartel gave the visitors a 2-1 lead.

Despite the terrible 13 minute lapse that saw the Fire’s comfortable one-goal lead instantly flip to looming disaster, they did not panic and responded well. Gutiérrez was denied by Timo Baumgartl from point-blank range, preventing what should have been a certain goal. Zinckernagel, the team’s top contributor in 2025, stepped up with a magical solo sequence that ended with him putting the ball in the back of the net to restore parity.

Zinckernagel’s 67th minute equalizer opened things up at both ends as the game descended into end-to-end chaos. In the 76th minute, St. Louis were awarded a penalty when Carlos Terán handled the ball inside the box. However, after video review, the call was overturned as his arm was deemed to have been in a natural position, saving the Colombian from the ignominy of giving us key penalties in successive MLS matches.

And then, in the 88th minute, the game’s moment of magic arrived. Gutiérrez – the Fire’s homegrown sensation – found a pocket of space roughly 25 yards from goal, and spotted an opening between Roman Búrki and the near post. The 22-year-old U.S. international launched a rocket into the bottom right corner, initiating exhilaration among the fans in attendance.

Despite the 88th minute winner, Gutiérrez’s goal wasn’t the end. St. Louis came perilously close to finding an equalzer in the fifth of the eleven minutes of stoppage time when Simon Becher rattled the post from inside the 18-yard box. Luckily for Chris Brady, who was frozen on his feet, the ball stayed out of the net and the game ended 3-2.

With the win, the Fire inch slowly closer to a first postseason berth since 2017. The Men in Red sit in 8th place and are well-positioned in what will likely be a four-horse race alongside Charlotte FC, the New York Red Bulls, and New York City FC for the final three spots in the playoffs.

Fortunately for the Fire, who are still somehow just one point above the playoff line, the final stretch of the schedule is fairly kind to them. After difficult road tests in Philadelphia and Miami in the next two weeks, they will play four of their final six regular season matches at home. While the Fire are set to easily and quickly eclipse their points total from every season since 2017, there’s still lots of work to do to secure their position and ensure safe passage to the playoffs.