Chicago City Wire

Chicago Fire FC secured a 3-2 victory over Charlotte FC at Soldier Field on Saturday, marking the end of their three-game homestand. The win improved Chicago's record to 8-7-4, placing them in eighth position in the Eastern Conference.

Philip Zinckernagel, an MLS All-Star, scored his eighth goal and assisted Brian Gutiérrez’s seventh goal of the season. Hugo Cuypers added his 11th goal of the year, which was also his third game-winning goal for 2025.

The match began with Chicago taking an early lead when Jonathan Dean intercepted a pass and set up Zinckernagel for a goal in the 23rd minute. Two minutes later, Zinckernagel assisted Gutiérrez for another goal. In the 33rd minute, Cuypers capitalized on a defensive error by Charlotte to score Chicago's third goal.

Charlotte responded in the second half with Wilfried Zaha assisting Pep Biel to cut the deficit in the 56th minute. Biel then set up Idan Toklomati for another goal just three minutes later. Despite these efforts from Charlotte, Chicago maintained their defense to secure their second home win this year.

Chicago will next face FC Cincinnati on July 5 at TQL Stadium.

Zinckernagel has become the fastest player in club history to reach eight goals and assists within just 17 matches this season. Head Coach Gregg Berhalter celebrated his 75th regular-season victory, becoming one of only 25 coaches in MLS history to achieve this milestone. Defender Omar González marked his 300th career appearance during this match.

Several players were unavailable due to international duty or injuries: Chris Brady (international duty), Carlos Terán (lower body), Christopher Cupps (lower body), Rominigue Kouamé (lower body), Chris Mueller (not due to injury), and David Poreba (lower body).

The match statistics showed that Chicago had more shots and possession compared to Charlotte but both teams had equal offsides calls and similar fouls count.