Chicago City Wire

Chicago Fire FC opened their 2024 Leagues Cup campaign with a 2-1 defeat to Sporting Kansas City on Sunday night at Children’s Mercy Park.

The Fire took the lead in the 22nd minute when 20-year-old Greek forward Georgios Koutsias finished a pass from Homegrown midfielder Brian Gutiérrez. The goal marked Koutsias’ first across all competitions for the Fire this season, while Gutiérrez tallied his fourth assist in 2024.

Sporting KC equalized just before halftime when defender Robert Castellanos headed in a free kick from midfielder Rémi Walter in the 39th minute. The home side added another goal late in the second half when forward Willy Agada scored a diving header to seal the victory for Kansas City in the 76th minute.

With 11 players unavailable for tonight’s match, the Fire’s squad featured a mixture of experience and young talent, including three Chicago Fire FC II players. Defender Jaylen Shannon became the first-ever Fire II player to start for the Fire. Shannon, 24, played 55 minutes before being replaced by Fire II winger Omari Glasgow due to injury. Additionally, Fire II winger Christian Koffi earned his first career appearance for the Men in Red when he replaced forward Tom Barlow in the 62nd minute.

NEXT MATCH: Chicago will host Liga MX side Deportivo Toluca F.C. in their second and final group stage match of the 2024 Leagues Cup on Thursday, Aug. 1 at SeatGeek Stadium. Beginning at 8:00 p.m. CT, the match will be broadcast globally on MLS Season Pass.

Notes:

The defeat snapped a two-game winning streak for Chicago against Sporting Kansas City. Chicago’s record against Sporting Kansas City now stands at 28-22-13.

With his goal, Georgios Koutsias scored the third-fastest goal by a Fire player across all competitions in 2024.

Koutsias now has four career goals across all competitions for Chicago.

Brian Gutiérrez has nine goal contributions this season (five goals, four assists), ranking third-most on the team.

Defender Andrew Gutman made his first appearance since May after recovering from an injury and now has nine appearances this season.

Defenders Allan Arigoni (not due to injury), Rafael Czichos (illness), Jonathan Dean (leg), Chase Gasper (leg), Carlos Terán (illness), Wyatt Omsberg (leg); defender/midfielder Mauricio Pineda (head); midfielders Chris Mueller (illness), Justin Reynolds (illness) and Xherdan Shaqiri (not due to injury); and forward Hugo Cuypers (not due to injury) were unavailable for tonight’s match.

Box Score:

Sporting Kansas City: SKC – Castellanos (Walter) - '39; SKC – Agada (Afrifa) - '76

Chicago Fire FC: CHI – Koutsias (Gutiérrez) - '22

Discipline:

CHI – Shannon - Yellow Card - '53

Stats Summary:

SKC / CHI

Shots: 17 / 9

Shots on Goal: 6 / 5

Saves: 4 / 4

Passing Accuracy:84.2% /78.3%

Corners:  4 /   2

Fouls:  12 / 10

Offsides:  0 /   1

Possession:  58%/42%

Attendance was recorded at approximately14,047 spectators with Rubiel Vázquez officiating as referee assisted by Nick Uranga and Kyle Atkins.