The game at DC on Wednesday was not pretty but the result was. The same could be said versus Montreal. There were times where an equalizer seemed inevitable but the Fire defense did not break. Brady and company rode it out to their 6th shutout of the season.
The Fire made the most of their chances and seemed to bunker down after halftime. The second half of the game saw the Fire have only 35% of possession, face 13 shots and 12 corners. Fortunately, they were able to make the most of their chances and go home with a 2-0 win. A reverse of what the club has seen this year where they dominate games yet lose to a team converting their only shot on Brady.
Brady stepped up when Montreal was knocking at the door with an equalizer. He held on just long enough for Cuypers to get the Fire their second goal of the game and put the game away.
Up next is a home game versus on next Saturday.
Tactics
- With no D’Avilla, Anton Saletros and Sergio Oregel today, Joel Waterman stepped into the midfield with Mauricio Pineda.
- Berhalter made his 3 subs before the 70th minute. Much better than his usual habit of making none before the 89th minute.
Stats
- xG Battle: Chicago (1.07) v Montreal (0.89)
- Fire: 33 Duels won vs 18 for Montreal in second half
- Hugo Cuypers gonna Hugo Cuypers. The man cannot stop scoring. He has now scored in 10 straight MLS games. The Belgian is up to 13 goals in 10 games.
- Jack Elliot and Mbekezeli Mbokazi combined for 29 defensive contributions as Montreal kept pushing for a goal.
- Chicago had the 9 highest rated players in the game, per FotMob.
- Chris Brady prevented 1.13 xG with his 5 saves including 3 from shots within the box.
- Shout out to Joel Waterman for stepping into the midfield with a well rounded performance. He mostly stayed at home but did chip in with a key pass to go along his 8 defensive contributions. Joel stayed on the left side of the field with Pineda on the right.
- The Fire have equaled their clean sheet total for 2025 already, 6 shutouts.
Highlights
- Chris Brady should be at the World Cup for the USMNT.
- Viktor Radojevic with his best Andrew Gutman impersonation on this pass.