A pair of braces balanced the first half but a pair of penalties tipped the balance as FC Cincinnati defeated the Chicago Fire 3-2 off of a hat trick performance by Evander, with his effort from the spot deep in second half stoppage time tipping the balance. The game ends the Fire's undefeated streak in MLS play mere days after its U.S. Open Cup loss ended the streak across all competitions.
For one of the first times in 2026, Fire Head Coach Gregg Berhalter had almost every player available for the selection, with Jonathan Bamba returning to the team after missing the previous two games for non-sporting related reasons. Ultimately, however, Berhalter elected to run back the same starting XI that held a lead into the 86th minute when the teams met two weeks ago. That kept Maren Haile-Selassie with Robin Lod and Hugo Cuypers serving as the twin forwards playing out of a 4-4-2 formation .
In the other dugout , FC Cincinnati Pat Noonan had to juggle his lineup considerably more, with his squad missing right back Alvas Powell and center back Miles Robinson as well as midfielder Obinna Nwobodo due to injury. That was still a significant improvement over where the team stood a week ago, when they were also without center back Matt Miazga and Nick Hagglund, both of whom were available on the bench.
The absences gave 17-year-old Andrei Chirilă his second consecutive start, and third in his career, after scoring last week against the New York Red Bulls. Up top, Kévin Denkey started for the visitors, after being unavailable for the match between the two teams two weeks ago due to a one game suspension.
The first strike of the night was the Fire’s. Building out from the back, Jonathan Dean had a great pass through Cincinnati’s lines along the right wing to Philip Zinckernagel who crossed it in to Hugo Cuypers in the box. The Belgian striker’s shot deflected off Cincinnati’s Kyle Smith on the way to the box but still ended up in the back of Roman Celentano’s net. The goal extended Cuypers team-record streak of appearances with goals to seven in a row.
The lead, however, would prove to be short lived. Less than 10 minutes later, Denkey crossed the ball into the Fire’s box and the low knuckleball deflected off Mbekezeli Mbokazi, who had been pulled out of position to Chris Brady’s right and through the other side. Cincinnati’s Pavel Bucha, totally unmarked, crossed it back in front of the Fire goal to Evander who made no mistake in sending it past Brady for his third of goal the year in the 24th minute.
Less than four minutes later, the Fire responded, with Zinckernagel again connecting to Cuypers, restoring the Fire’s lead with his 10th goal of the season in just his seventh appearance of the year.
The lead would prove to be transitory, however, as Evander received the ball totally unmarked in the final third and pushed his way into the box. With neither of the Fire’s two center backs – both in the box – able to fully close the distance, the Brazilian attacker had a glorious position on net and sent a shot past Brady.
That would be the last goal of the half. As has been the case often this year, the Fire managed to hold possession in the attacking half, but weren’t able to translate that into their third lead of the game.
The Fire made no changes at half, leaving on Djé D’Avilla, who had been having a rough game, as well as Maren Haile-Selassie and Philip Zinckernagel, both of whom had played 180 minutes in the week leading up to this match. On their end, Cincinnati swapped Nick Hagglund for Brian Anunga.
The first real action of the half came wasn’t a goal. In the 56th minute, Kyle Smith clipped Robin Lod’s face on his way into the box, earning a red card on the play and putting his team down to 10 men for the duration of the match.
With a rapidly blossoming black eye for Lod, Berhalter went to his bench, bringing on Jonathan Bamba for the Finnish attacker before the play was restarted. Shortly after, trying to restore defensive stability, Noonan responded by taking Gerardo Valenzuela.
As the game ticked to stoppage time with the game still deadlocked at 2-2, the had an appearance break when Ayoub Lajhar’s yellow in the box gave the Fire a penalty. For the second time this year, Hugo Cuypers’ attempt from the spot didn’t end up in the back of the net, and the Fire were unable to get a goal off the chances that came after.
The game wasn't over, however. D'Avilla was late in coming in to Bucha in the box, earning the visitors a penalty of their own.
Unlike Cuypers' shot, this one ended in the back of the net, Evander cashed in on the chance from the spot giving FC Cincinnati their first lead of the game while playing down a man.
A late chance off Zinckernagel wasn't enough as the game went into the 10th minute of second half stoppage time couldn't salvage a draw for the Fire. As a result, the Fire fall to 5W-2D-3L on the season and the team's undefeated streak in MLS play comes to an end.
The Fire’s home stand continues next week, with a matinée against the New York Red Bulls. The team is undergoing a youth-led renaissance under first-year head coach Michael Bradley, the son of Bob Bradley, the first head coach of the Fire who led the team to their championship double in their inaugural season. Kickoff at Soldier Field is slated for 1:30 PM.
