A Saturday matinée was a spectacle, but not for the home team as the Chicago Fire dominated possession but were unable to use that to their advantage as they suffered a 3-1 defeat to the New York Red Bulls at Soldier Field.
For the first time in 2026, the Fire conceded the opening goal, and for the first time in 2026, the Fire trailed by multiple goals as they lost consecutive league games for the first time in 2026, extending to their first three-game losing streak across all competitions. "Disapointed with the result today," Fire Head Coach Gregg Berhalter said after the game, "also disappointed with the performance," contrasting it with last week's loss to FC Cincinnati where the Fire lost but controlled the terms of the game.
The Fire stuck with the 4-4-2 formation that had been serving the team in recent weeks, substituting in Maren Haile-Selassie for the injured Robin Lod at the second striker spot alongside. That put him next to Hugo Cuypers, who came into the match for the MLS Golden Boot lead. The only other change was at the other end of the pitch, with Joel Waterman coming in for Mbekezeli Mbokazi. The swap, likely motivated by the Fire’s two additional games over the upcoming week, shifted Jack Elliott back to the left center back position.
The Red Bulls continued their youth-led renaissance under first-year head coach Michael Bradley, starting three teenagers including Adri Mehmeti, Matthew Dos Santos and Julian Hall. Putting Hall at striker relegated Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, a European veteran with a Champions League pedigree and the team’s leading scorer in 2025 to the bench.
The youth core was supported by veterans including U.S. Men’s National Team goalkeeper Ethan Horvath (one of two USMNT senior players with Cade Cowell), defender Tim Parker and team captain Emil Forsberg, a former star of New York’s parent club RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga.
The Fire won an early corner in the first minute but weren’t able to get anything off it after Djé D’Avilla’s attempt streaking in was thwarted. Soon after, Red Bulls had a chance going the other way as they worked off a high press, but Jonathan Dean, in his fourth consecutive league start, saw off the Red Bulls’ Jorge Ruvalcaba.
The Fire continued to show their ability to play through the Red Bull lines, and managed to get a ball in the back of Horvath’s net in the early, but Jonathan Bamba was ruled offside on the play, nullifying what would have been the French winger’s third goal of the season.
As the half stretched on, the Fire continued to have the lion’s share of possession – much of it well into the Red Bulls’ half, but the visitors kept bodies behind the ball and manged to frustrate the Fire’s attack through physical play.
The teams seemed set to enter the half deadlocked, until the Red Bulls had a rare spell sustained possession starting in their own half. Emil Forsberg ended up with the ball near the box and sent it in for Ruvalcaba who blasted it to the far post past Chris Brady, putting the hosts up 1-0 just moments before the teams returned to the locker room, marking the first time in 2026 that the Fire conceded first in a match.
In the second half, Bradley brought on Choupo-Moting for Julian Hall, ending the promising teenager’s night and swapping 2026’s leading scorer for the team with the man who had the accolade last year. The FIre made no changes at the half.
Less than three minutes into the restart, Cade Cowell was streaking into the box with space as Joel Waterman didn’t catch his run and sent the ball past Chris Brady, putting the hosts down by multiple goals for the first time in 2026.
Moments later, Maren Haile-Selassie responded for the Fire but his shot was off the crossbar, keeping the Fire at zero for the only statistic that matters.
As the game hit the hour mark both coaches made changes. Gustav Berggren came on for Forsberg for New York, while Puso Dithejane relieved Jonathan Bamba for the Fire.
Moments later, the young South African cut past multiple Red Bulls defenders across the box and got off a shot to the far side that rendered Horvath a spectator but Dylan Nealis had a remarkable goalline clearance to keep the Fire at zero in the only statistic that matters.
The day for the Fire soon got worse. Left with no option but to step up and try to gather the ball, Adri Mehmeti got the ball before Brady could get to it, with the Fire netminder clipping the teenager in the box. Initially, the play was ruled as a throw-in for the Red Bulls, but after a lengthy delay was ruled to be a penalty.
From the spot, Choupo-Moting made no mistake in sending the ball past Chris Brady, putting marking the second time in as many games that the Fire conceded a third goal off a penalty kick at home.
In the waning minutes of regulation, Hugo Cuypers managed to get one back for the home team, ending Horvath’s shutout bid and extending the Belgian’s team-record scoring streak to eight games with his 11th goal of the season.
That, however, was as close as the Fire would get. A series of subs for the Fire – some of which were already slated to come on before the penalty – were unable to turn the balance against a Red Bulls team that was content to hold a rare multi-goal lead against an opponent.
The defeat sees the Fire fall to 5W-2D-4L as the team suffered their first back-to-back defeats in league play.
The Fire's next match is on the road in a midweek rematch against D.C. United, who handed the Fire their first home defeat of the season in March. Kickoff at Audi Field is slated for 6:30PM CT.
