Fire end playoff-win drought, KO Orlando in East wild-card game

Hugo Cuypers recorded a second-half brace and the Chicago Fire picked up their first playoff win in 16 years with a dominating 3-1 triumph over Orlando City in an Eastern Conference wild-card match on Wednesday night in Bridgeview, Ill. Brian Gutierrez also scored for the eighth-seeded Fire, who ended the longest playoff-victory drought in MLS history. It also was Chicago's first postseason match since 2017. The Fire advance to play the top-seeded Philadelphia Union. Game 1 of the best-of-three first-round series is Sunday at Chester, Pa. Tyrese Spicer scored the lone goal for ninth-seeded Orlando City, who struggled on offense. The Fire outshot the Lions 25-7 and had a 9-4 edge in shots on target. Chicago goalkeeper Chris Brady registered three saves, while Lions counterpart Pedro Gallese had six stops. The Fire broke a scoreless tie with two goals early in the second half. In the 48th minute, Jonathan Dean sent a cross to the left side and Gutierrez collected the ball. Gutierrez then booted a right-footed shot into the left corner of the net. Three minutes later, Gutierrez had another opportunity, but his right-footed shot hit the right goalpost. In the 57th minute, the ball came toward Cuypers, who hit it forward. He rushed after it and Gallese came out to kick it away, but the ball smacked off Cuypers' shin and bounced into the net to give the Fire a 2-0 advantage. Orlando City had a good chance in the 60th minute, but a left-footed blast by Marco Pasalic was stopped by Brady. Gallese made a solid save on Jonathan Bamba's left-footed shot in the 66th minute and the ball went directly to Gutierrez. With the net open, Gutierrez hit the right goalpost to miss his opportunity for the brace. Cuypers got his brace two minutes later when he drilled a right-footed shot past Gallese. Orlando spoiled Brady's shutout bid in the 89th minute. Spicer advanced in and took a left-footed shot that hit off the goalie's hands and went into the top of the net. Chicago controlled the first half and had a 9-1 advantage in shots. The Fire had a big opportunity in the 36th minute when Cuypers broke in and a sliding Gallese knocked aside his left-footed shot. Orlando City took their first shot in the second minute of first-half stoppage time when Rodrigo Schlegel sent a header wide left. –Field Level Media

(The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)