The Fire once again found a way to win a close game where the team lacked a true striker, beating Atlanta United 1-0 for the team’s third win in a row. The Fire had a number of chances, but only one was good enough to make it into the back of Atlanta’s net.
It was far less than clinical on the attack, and the Fire’s defense was tested but ultimately held fast, as Chris Brady earned his second clean sheet in a row and fourth of 2026.
With Hugo Cuypers unavailable for the second week in a row, Fire Head Coach Gregg Berhatler used the same lineup that beat conference-leading Nashville SC last week – the first time in 2026 that the team repeated a Starting XI. Playing out of a 4-2-2-2, Robin Lod and Maren Haile-Selassie were tasked with taking over for the stricken Cuypers at top, with both playing out of their normal positions.
With Atlanta United Head Coach Tata Martino suspended after receiving a red card last week, assistant Jorge Theiler was in the dugout for the visitors and ran a lineup with four changes from the one that fell to Columbus last week. Headlining the changes was the removal of Designated Player Aleksey Miranchuk, one of the most expensive arrivals in league history from the lineup. The change was apparently due to a late-breaking muscle injury, although the team said he did travel to Chicago with the squad.
In the opening 10 minutes, the game had end-to-end action and Chris Brady was forced to be sharp as Atlanta had a series of corners and a free kick from a dangerous area after Philip Zinckernagel earned a yellow card from a careless foul, but the Fire held firm and the strike that mattered was the Fire’s.
Working in from the right wing, Zinckernagel crossed the ball to Jonathan Bamba in the box, who fluidly turned and sent it on to Haile-Selassie who received it dead in the center of the net. The Swiss attacker made no mistake and sent it past Lucas Hoyos for his first goal of the season. Ten minutes later, Andrew Gutman’s switch in to Robin Lod gave the Fire’s other striker a clear look on an open net but the Finnish attacker wasn’t able to get the ball into a wide-open net.
Atlanta would get a shot onto the post not long after, but the balance of the half was the the Fire’s. Late in the half, Gutman and Bamba both had shots that went off the post, with Bamba’s swinging strike from inside the box somehow making it to the crossbar, but despite ample chances, the Fire weren’t able to get a second goal despite ample chances to do so.
With neither coach looking to their bench at half, the first notable action on the restart came when Atlanta’s Enea Mihaj managed to draw a foul call on Leo Barroso, who had worked the ball past him. The Atlanta center back somehow managed to draw a yellow card on Barroso on the play, putting Barroso, who had been tasked with marking the dangerous Atlanta attacker, at a disadvantage for the final 45 minutes.
Getting outplayed in the run of play, Atlanta looked for set pieces, winning a number of corners, and as the second half wore on, the visitors were increasingly happy to stop the game however they could to give themselves time to reset their defense rather than risk facing the hosts in open play.
By the final 10 minutes of the game, Atlanta had already won 10 corners, and although they looked dangerous on a handful of them, none had actually been surgical in execution and the visitors remained off the scoresheet.
The win improves the Fire to 4W-1D-2L on the season, good for 2nd place in the East, with only Orlando and Columbus, both far behind the Fire in the standings left to play from Eastern Conference teams.
The team is back in action Tuesday, when they begin their U.S. Open Cup campaign on the road against Detroit City of the USL Championship. Their next league game is Saturday, when FC Cincinnati are slated to host the Fire at TQL Stadium. Kickoff for both games is scheduled for 6:30 PM CT.
