It was a slow start but a strong finish as the Fire managed to turn a scoreless second half into a 5-0 outburst against Sporting Kansas City, with Maren Haile-Selassie punctuating braces by Hugo Cuypers and Philip Zinckernagel.
For the eighth time in nine games, Fire Head Coach Gregg Berhalter ran with a new combination for his starting XI. With winger Jonathan Bamba out for the second consecutive game, U-22 winger Puso Dithejane was given his first MLS start on the left wing.
He would be the only South African on the pitch at kickoff for the Fire: With an eye to the Fire’s upcoming week, featuring a total of three matches in eight days, Mbekezeli Mbokazi started off on the bench for the first time since his arrival. That gave Joel Waterman his seventh start of the year, as Berhalter effectively swapped one World Cup-bound center back for another.
Raphaël Wicky, the former Fire head coach now in the dugout for Sporting Kansas City, rolled with his best XI available, including Dejan Jovelić and Manu García. That did not include former Fire homegrown Justin Reynolds, however, with his homecoming postponed for the year due to an injury he picked up. Seeking to stem the bleeding after allowing a worst-in-conference 20 goals, Wicky played his team in a conservative 5-4-1 formation, with Jovelić the lone attacking threat up top.
The Fire held most of the possession early, but it was Kansas City who had the first real chance on goal. Recovering the ball then moving quickly in transition, Kansas City got the ball to Jovelić who passed it across the box to Calvin Harris with a clear look on net, but his shot went off the post.
That was as closed as either team would get, though. As expected, the Fire dominated possession, with holding the ball 75% of the time, but they couldn’t find the incisive pass or clear opportunity. As a result, all of their eight shots in the first half were weaker opportunities wide or distance.
The Fire’s best chance of the half came off a corner, when a low curler from Philip Zinckernagel was on its way to Hugo Cuypers, but the Belgian striker couldn’t connect with the ball and the play ended without a shot on target for the Fire.
As a result, the teams returned to their locker rooms with the scoreline the same 0-0 that it was at kickoff.
It didn’t stay that way for much longer, however. Kansas City’s Ian James had a handball as the Fire worked the ball into his team’s box, earning a penalty and giving Cuypers a chance from the spot. John Pulskamp denied the Belgian striker but left a nasty rebound. Zinckernagel got a toe on it and shepherded it past the goal line.
The goal seemed to remind the Fire what scoring felt like. In the 65th minute, Zinckernagel worked the ball into Kansas City’s box, and a quick one-two with Maren Haile-Selassie gave him a clear look on net. He made no mistake in sending it past Pulskamp, completing a brace as he put his team up 2-0.
Nine minutes later, the Fire padded their lead, as Maren Haile-Selassie had a perfectly-waited long ball for Zinckernagel who crossed it to Cuypers in the box. This time, the striker connected with the effort and he sent it past Cuypers, sending the Fire up 3-0 and getting a team record in the process: The game was his sixth consecutive match with a goal, the first Fire player in history to meet that mark.
Just five minutes later, the Fire made it 4-0 as Andrew Gutman gave Maren-Haile Selassie a great look on net that was made even better as the crafty Swiss attacker dribbled it past Pulskcamp and into the empty net.
Deep in second half stoppage time, Hugo Cuypers scored a second, giving him his eighth goal in his seventh appearance of the season for the Fire and the Fire
As a result, the Fire improve to 5W-2D-2L on the year and hold 3rd place in the Eastern Conference, two points back of Inter Miami, who hold a game in hand.
The Fire's next game is Wednesday when they host St. Louis City SC in the U.S. Open Cup. The second-ever Open Cup game between the two sides gives fans of the two teams from rival cities a matchup this year after the derby was omitted from the MLS schedule for the first time since St. Louis entered the league in 2023. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 PM CT at SeatGeek Stadium.
