By Canadian Press

Chicago Fire take advantage of sloppy Toronto FC defending to post first away win

Jun 15, 2024 | 7:52 PM

TORONTO — The Chicago Fire, taking advantage of sloppy defending, scored three second-half goals — including two just three minutes apart — to defeat a depleted Toronto FC 4-1 for its first away win of the MLS season Saturday.

Maren Haile-Selassie, Hugo Cuypers, Mauricio Pineda and Allan Arigoni scored for Chicago (4-8-6), which came into the game tied for 27th in the league on offence, averaging 1.00 goals a game.

Lorenzo Insigne replied for Toronto (7-8-3) in a contest that saw some deplorable defending from both sides — but more from TFC.

Toronto was punished in the 41st minute when Alonso Coello’s attempted back pass was intercepted by Cuypers. Goalkeeper Luka Gavran made a fine save from close range to deny the Belgian forward but Toronto was unable to clear its zone as midfielder Deybi Flores had the ball pilfered by Fabian Herbers, whose cross was headed home by Haile-Selassie.

Toronto tied it three minutes later when goalkeeper Chris Brady could not hang on to Lorenzo Insigne’s shot from just inside the penalty box. The offside flag went up, prompting protests from the Canadian bench, but the goal — Insigne’s fourth of the season — was confirmed after Canadian referee Pierre-Luc Lauzière went to the pitch-side monitor to review the play.

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Insigne had missed the last two games for the birth of his third son.

Cuypers made it 2-1 in the 57th minute after some sloppy play by defender Kevin Long, who was dispossessed by the Belgian as he tried to clear the ball. Cuypers headed for goal, holding off Long, and beat Gavran with a well-placed shot to the corner.

It was the sixth goal of the season for the Chicago designated player, who has scored in three straight games. Cuypers also becomes the first Chicago player to record a goal contribution in four straight matches (three goals and an assist) since Robert Beric did it in five consecutive games in 2020.

Three minutes later, TFC was punished again. Coello gave the ball away, trying to keep it from rolling into touch, and Toronto could not clear the danger with Pineda scoring with a low shot from outside the box.

Arigoni rubbed salt in the wound in the 89th minute with his first MLS goal.

Toronto coach John Herdman made a triple change after Chicago’s third goal, sending on Prince Owusu, Kobe Franklin and Kosi Thompson.

Saturday’s game was TFC’s annual Pride Match with both clubs wearing Pride pre-match jerseys.

Announced attendance was 28,303.

Toronto came into weekend play in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, seven places and nine points ahead of Chicago.

Both teams were without some significant pieces with Herdman making five enforced changes to his starting lineup.

Toronto was missing three players on international duty at Copa America: captain Jonathan Osorio and wingback Richie Laryea with Canada and goalkeeper Sean Johnson with the U.S. Star attacker Federico Bernardeschi and defender Nicksoen Gomis were suspended after being sent off in the 2-2 draw at D.C. United on June 1.

Defender Shane O’Neill (thigh) and midfielder Brandon Servania (knee) are long-term absentees. Rookie wingback Tyrese Spicer was unavailable with a lower-back issue while Owusu was limited to a cameo due to a calf injury.

Toronto signed TFC FC II midfielders Markus Cimermancic of Kitchener Ont., and Hassan Ayari to MLS short-term agreements to help make up the numbers.

Missing through injury for Chicago were Chase Gasper, Andrew Gutman, Tobias Salquist and Federico Navarro.

Gavran was the busier goalkeeper to start, stopping Cuypers’ header in the eighth minute and making a fine diving save in the 18th to parry Haile-Selassie’s swerving shot from distance.

Insigne sparked some good moves early on with some laserlike passing. But the Italian’s body language showed frustration after losing the ball several times.

Insigne had a crack at goal himself in the 38th minute after a lengthy buildup. And the Italian targeted Brady in the 48th minute with a free kick that missed the target. Insigne had another chance in the 51st but defender Carlos Teran got a foot to his shot.

Toronto and Chicago had both been off since June 1.

Toronto was coming off back-to-back draws with D.C. United and the Philadelphia Union (0-0) and was 7-3-2 in its previous 12 games in all competitions.

Chicago beat the visiting Los Angeles Galaxy 2-1 last time out and was unbeaten in its previous three outings (1-0-2) after a seven-game slide (0-5-2). The Fire had not won on the road (0-5-4) before Saturday.

While the Fire were unbeaten in their three most recent meetings with Toronto (2-0-1 with the draw in Toronto), Chicago was winless in its last 12 trips to Toronto (dating back to Sept. 11, 2013).

UP NEXT

TFC hosts Nashville SC on Wednesday before visiting the New York Red Bulls next Saturday. Chicago plays at Orlando City next Saturday.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 15, 2024.

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press