Chicago City Wire

Chicago Fire FC played New York City FC to a 0-0 draw on Saturday night at Soldier Field. The match saw Chicago Fire goalkeeper Chris Brady earn his third shutout of the season and the 11th of his career.

Both teams demonstrated strong defensive performances in the first half, resulting in a scoreless halftime. In the 33rd minute, Brian Gutiérrez delivered a ground pass behind the defense, which Maren Haile-Selassie pursued into the box. However, NYCFC's Matt Freese anticipated the play and secured the ball before Haile-Selassie could take a shot.

Later, in the 43rd minute, Chris Mueller managed to draw multiple NYCFC defenders away before passing to Hugo Cuypers. The Belgian forward's shot from a sharp angle narrowly missed the far post.

Chicago continued its offensive efforts in the second half. In stoppage time (90+4 minutes), Haile-Selassie had another chance when a loose ball bounced around between players in the box. His attempt was saved by Freese.

Key points from the match include:

- This result marked Chicago Fire's third clean sheet of the season.

- The team remains unbeaten in their last two home matches against NYCFC, both ending in draws.

- This was the first of two regular-season encounters between these teams in 2024. They will meet again on August 24 at Citi Field.

Several players were unavailable for Chicago due to injuries or yellow card accumulation: Chase Gasper, Andrew Gutman, Carlos Terán, Fabian Herbers, and Federico Navarro.

Chicago Fire's next match is scheduled for Wednesday, July 17 against FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium with kickoff set for 6:30 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass and locally via 890 WLS-AM (English) and WRTO 1200 AM (Spanish).