Chicago Fire

Match report

Chicago Fire vs Portland Timbers

Chicago Fire took three points from Soldier Field on Saturday evening, seeing off Portland Timbers 2-1 in the MLS Regular Season. The result keeps them in third place with 38 points from 22 games, while Portland drop further adrift in eighth with 31 from 23.

The opening exchanges were tight. Robin Lod opened the scoring in the ninth minute, and D'Avilla doubled the advantage just five minutes later. By then the visitors were chasing the game. Portland had plenty of possession but struggled to create clear-cut opportunities, and the hosts held their nerve through a busy first half.

Portland pushed for a reply and made their changes. Lewandowski and Zinckernagel were brought on together in the 60th minute, followed by Bassett and Antony at 61. The visitors increased the pressure, but Chicago's defence stayed compact. They made two more changes at 72 and 76 to see out the game.

The decisive moment came late on. Finn Surman found space in the box and finished well in the 85th minute to put the result beyond doubt. The hosts had already seen off Portland's best chances. They were out of sight by the final whistle.

The statistics told a familiar story. Portland enjoyed 63 per cent possession and completed 620 passes to Chicago's 366. They created more attacks — 124 to 60 — but their shot accuracy was poor at 18 per cent. Chicago were clinical: four shots on target produced two goals. Expected goals showed the same picture, 1.23 to 1.10.

The result means Chicago move closer to the top four while Portland's hopes of a play-off push grow thinner. They lost their last chance to close the gap. And here's the thing — sometimes a match is decided in moments, not minutes.

Prepared from match data

Key numbers

Possession, % 37 – 63

Shots on target 4 – 2

Shots off target 2 – 7

Expected goals 1.23 – 1.10

⚽ 9' R. Lod — Goal ⚽ 14' D. D'Avilla — Goal 🟨 51' Brandon Bye — Yellow card 🟨 57' Robin Lod — Yellow card ⇄ 60' R. Lewandowski — Substitution ⇄ 60' P. Zinckernagel — Substitution ⇄ 61' C. Bassett — Substitution ⇄ 61' Antony — Substitution ⇄ 72' L. Barroso — Substitution ⇄ 76' D. Chara — Substitution ⇄ 76' D. Da Costa — Substitution 🟨 79' Anton Salétros — Yellow card ⇄ 82' A. Saletros — Substitution ⚽ 85' F. Surman — Goal ⇄ 88' K. Miller — Substitution 🟨 90+4' Vincent Janssen — Yellow card

Match events

9' 1:0 Chicago Fire Goal R. Lod assist: A. Gutman
14' 2:0 Chicago Fire Goal D. D'Avilla assist: M. Haile-Selassie
51' 2:0 Portland Timbers Yellow card Brandon Bye
57' 2:0 Chicago Fire Yellow card Robin Lod
60' 2:0 Chicago Fire Substitution R. Lewandowski off: J. Bamba
60' 2:0 Chicago Fire Substitution P. Zinckernagel off: P. Dithejane
61' 2:0 Portland Timbers Substitution C. Bassett off: J. Ortiz
61' 2:0 Portland Timbers Substitution Antony off: A. Lassiter
72' 2:0 Chicago Fire Substitution L. Barroso off: J. Dean
76' 2:0 Portland Timbers Substitution D. Chara off: J. Caicedo
76' 2:0 Portland Timbers Substitution D. Da Costa off: V. Janssen
79' 2:0 Chicago Fire Yellow card Anton Salétros
82' 2:0 Chicago Fire Substitution A. Saletros off: M. Pineda
85' 2:1 Portland Timbers Goal F. Surman assist: B. Bye
88' 2:1 Portland Timbers Substitution K. Miller off: O. Fernandez
90+4' 2:1 Portland Timbers Yellow card Vincent Janssen

Statistics

37 Possession, % 63

4 Shots on target 2

2 Shots off target 7

1.23 Expected goals 1.10

3 Big chances 1

60 Attacks 124

0 Corners 4

15 Fouls 6

6 Free kicks 15

2 Offsides 2

2 Yellow cards 2

0 Red cards 0

13 Goal kicks 7

12 Throw-ins 20

All statistics

4/667% Aerial duels 2/633%

61 Backward passes 81

2 Blocked shots 2

25 Clearances 13

0/70% Crosses 4/1822%

4/1331% Dribbles 6/1735%

0.91 Expected assists 2.03

55 Failed passes 66

1 Goalkeeper saves 2

5 Interceptions 8

8 Key passes 9

25/4852% Long passes 21/4053%

70 Passes into the final third 130

158 Passes in the opposition half 369

215 Passes in own half 269

0.50 Shot accuracy 0.18

2 Shots from outside the box 4

6 Shots inside the box 7

9/1753% Tackles 9/1369%

366 Total passes 620

Line-ups

Starting XI
#	Player	number
1	Chris Brady	1
2	Leonardo José Caetano Barroso	2
3	Jack Stuart Elliott	3
5	Samuel Rogers	5
15	Andrew Gutman	15
6	Anton Janos Jönsson Salétros	6
17	Robin Lod	17
42	Tah Ange Innocent D'Avilla Dje	42
7	Maren Haile-Selassie	7
9	Robert Lewandowski	9
11	Philip Aksel Frigast Zinckernagel	11

Substitutes
#	Player	number
44	Josh Cohen	44
14	Viktor Radojević	14
16	Joel Robert Waterman	16
22	Mauricio Pineda	22
24	Robert Jonathan Dean Jr	24
38	Christopher Capps	38
29	David Poręba	29
12	Puso Ditejane	12
19	Jonathan Fousseni Bamba	19

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Portland Timbers

Starting XI
#	Player	number
41	James Pantemis	41
4	Kamal Miller	4
5	Brandon Scott Bye	5
20	Finn Surman	20
27	Jimer Esteban Fory Mejía	27
10	David Pereira da Costa	10
17	Cole Bassett	17
21	Diego Ferney Chará Zamora	21
11	Antony Alves	11
19	Kevin Jesús Kelsy Genez	19
99	Kristoffer Velde	99

Substitutes
#	Player	number
25	John David Muse III	25
15	Eric Miller	15
18	Zachery Lewis McGraw	18
30	José Caicedo	30
80	Julio Joao Ortiz Landázuri	80
7	Ariel Daniel Lassiter Acuña	7
14	Vincent Janssen	14
22	Omir Guadalupe Fernandez Mosso	22
88	Gage Guerra	88

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Portland Timbers

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All team matches

#	Team	P	W	D	L	Points
1	Nashville SC	26	17	6	3	57
2	New England Revolution	26	14	4	8	46
3	Inter Miami	26	12	10	4	46
4	Charlotte	26	12	7	7	43
5	Chicago Fire	25	11	6	8	39
6	Philadelphia Union	26	10	6	10	36
7	Orlando City	26	10	4	12	34
8	New York Red Bulls	26	9	6	11	33
9	FC Cincinnati	25	8	9	8	33
10	New York City FC	26	8	8	10	32

Chicago Fire — Portland Timbers: 2:1, Major League Soccer

Match report

Chicago Fire vs Portland Timbers

Key numbers

Match events

Statistics

Line-ups

Chicago Fire

Portland Timbers

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Chicago Fire

Portland Timbers