Chicago falls to Seattle after late penalty kick

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By Chicago City Wire

Jun 30, 2024

Chicago Fire FC Falls 2-1 to Seattle Sounders FC at Lumen Field

Seattle, Wash. (June 29, 2024) – Chicago Fire FC (4-10-6, 18 points) fell 2-1 to Seattle Sounders FC (7-7-7, 28 points) on Saturday night at Lumen Field. The Fire took the lead in the 30th minute of play, but the home side scored from the penalty spot on two occasions in the second half, including in the third minute of second-half stoppage time.

Winger Maren Haile-Selassie scored the lone goal for the Fire, tallying his fourth of the season. After controlling nearly 60 percent of possession to start the match, the Fire went ahead with 15 minutes remaining in the first half when Haile-Selassie scored for a third straight match. The Swiss attacker received a pass from midfielder Gastón Giménez just outside the 18-yard box and turned quickly to face the goal, pushing the ball by his defender before calmly slotting his shot past goalkeeper Stefan Frei and into the back of the net.

Seattle managed to level the score in the 57th minute when defender Jonathan Dean was called for a foul inside the box. Midfielder Albert Rusnak converted the subsequent penalty kick, placing his strike past goalkeeper Chris Brady. Rusnak scored his second penalty kick of the match in stoppage time after defender/midfielder Mauricio Pineda was whistled for a foul inside the area.

Tonight’s match against Seattle marked the conclusion of three straight on-the-road games for Chicago Fire FC, who scored seven goals during that stretch.

NEXT MATCH: Chicago will return home to host Philadelphia Union on Wednesday, July 3. Kickoff at Soldier Field is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT. The match will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass and transmitted locally via wlsam.com (English) and WRTO 1200 AM (Spanish).

Social:

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Notes:

With tonight’s opening goal, Maren Haile-Selassie scored for a third straight game. It marked his first time scoring in three consecutive MLS matches since joining from FC Lugano in 2023.

Haile-Selassie has now scored four goals for Chicago Fire FC in 2024, two shy of his team-leading six-goal output in 2023.

Gastón Giménez tallied his second assist of this season and his tenth career MLS assist since joining Chicago Fire FC in 2020.

Chris Brady made his fiftieth appearance for Chicago Fire FC, becoming only their fourth goalkeeper to reach this milestone.

Defenders Chase Gasper (leg), Andrew Gutman (leg), Tobias Salquist (leg); and midfielders Xherdan Shaqiri (national team) and Federico Navarro (leg) were unavailable for today’s match.

Box Score:

Seattle Sounders FC 2:1 Chicago Fire FC

Goals:

CHI – Haile-Selassie (4) (Giménez, 3) (WATCH) – 30’

SEA – Rusnák (2) (WATCH) – 57’

SEA – Rusnák (3) (WATCH) –90+3’

Discipline:

CHI – Pineda (Yellow Card) –42’

CHI – Dean (Yellow Card) –55’

SEA – Ragen (Yellow Card) –77’

SEA – Rusnák (Yellow Card) –90+4’

Chicago Fire FC: GK Brady; D Czichos; D Terán; D Souquet; M Dean; M Gutiérrez; M Giménez; M Herbers; M Arigoni; F Haile-Selassie; F Cuypers