Chicago Fire Concede Early, Lose 3-1 to St. Louis City

St. Louis, Missouri — The Chicago Fire continued to underperform in Major League Soccer after losing 3-1 to St. Louis City in the third match between these sides since St. Louis’ inception.

Chicago has now gone five matches without a win and has only scored a single goal in that time.

It was ideal for St. Louis as the hosts took the lead less than 120 seconds after kickoff in Missouri thanks to some dreadful passing from Chicago.

The Fire were trying to clear the ball out of their own half of the pitch but the end result was Kellyn Acosta playing a header to St. Louis’ Rasmus Alm 30 yards from Chicago’s net. Alm took a few dribbles, saw that Chicago’s goalkeeper Chris Brady was off his line, and powered a shot past Brady to make it 1-0.

Chicago had very little going forward in the first half and was outshot 17-5 before halftime by St. Louis.

The Fire came out with a purpose after halftime and briefly tied the match at one.

Chris Mueller made an attacking run down the right side and hit a cross that Andrew Gutman directed to Hugo Cuypers in front of goal. Chicago’s club-record signing had no problem scoring with his left-footed effort from close range and collected his third goal of the year while tying the match at one.

The fun didn’t last for Chicago and St. Louis regained control of the contest moments after Cuypers scored through Joao Klauss.

St. Louis’ number nine scored in the 56th minute after knocking in a cross from Celio Pompeu. Pompeu did well to fight off Allan Arigoni near the end line before playing his cross and Klauss completely lost Carlos Terán and had plenty of time to score.

Chicago lost track of Klauss again in the 67th minute after Chris Durkin played a cross to the far post from the right side. Klauss evaded Mauricio Pineda and headed his effort past a diving Chris Brady and St. Louis secured their 3-1 win.

Match Observations:

St. Louis got the lead less than two minutes after kickoff that was set up by a horrible back-pass from Kellyn Acosta. Mauricio Pineda played a header toward midfield and Acosta won the ball in the air but headed it right to St. Louis’ Rasmus Alm. The St. Louis attacker saw that Chris Brady was off his line in the immediate aftermath of Acosta’s turnover and hammered a shot into the net, sending the home crowd into a frenzy.

The hosts were inches away from doubling their lead in the seventh minute. Celio Pompeu had the ball on the left and played a quick one-two with Joao Klauss just outside of Chicago’s penalty area. Pompeu took a few touches and hit a shot that beat Chris Brady but was dragged just wide of the net, sparing Chicago an even larger early deficit.

Kellyn Acosta’s slow start continued in the attacking half of the pitch and he missed out on a great chance to tie the match in the 13th minute. Fabian Herbers had the ball on the right and played a perfect cross near the penalty spot that flew by multiple members of the Fire before getting to Acosta. The midfielder had time and space to hammer a shot on target but he nearly whiffed on his effort and the cross flew harmlessly past everyone.

Brian Gutiérrez will want the chance he had in the 24th minute back as he completely missed the net with his shot. Andrew Gutman set everything up by changing fields and finding Xherdan Shaqiri on the right side. The Fire’s captain took a few touches before finding a wide-open Gutiérrez near the penalty spot. Gutiérrez couldn't get the ball out of his own feet and when he did, his shot flew harmlessly wide.

Indiana Vassilev was a thorn in the Fire’s side throughout and nearly created a goal for himself before halftime. St. Louis’ number 19 was awarded a free kick after a foul was called on Fabian Herbers. Vassilev took the free kick himself and just missed the far post of the net, sparing Chicago from going down 2-0 in the 33rd minute.

Vassilev wasn’t done creating chances for St. Louis and created a fabulous opportunity for Joao Klauss in the 34th minute. Vassilev had the ball in the middle of the pitch, turned, and found Klauss in the Fire’s penalty area. Klauss hit a shot on-target from the right side but Chris Brady covered his near-post well and maintained the match’s 1-0 scoreline.

The Indiana Vassilev show continued before the halftime break but he was unable to score again in the 40th minute. Joao Klauss won a free kick 20 yards from goal after another foul from Fabian Herbers on the edge of Chicago’s penalty area. Vassilev stepped up and ripped a left-footed effort that was destined for the corner of the net before Chris Brady dove to his left and parried the shot out of play.

St. Louis outshot the Fire 17-5 overall in the first half and doubled Chicago’s on-target efforts four-two.

Chicago came out of the halftime break on a mission and was rewarded with a goal less than 60 seconds after play resumed. Chris Mueller made a run down the right and played a cross that found Andrew Gutman on the other side of goal. Gutman headed the ball back toward the penalty spot and Hugo Cuypers hammered the shot into the St. Louis net from close range. The goal is the third for Cuypers this year and the assist is Gutman’s first as a professional in a Chicago Fire uniform. The goal also snapped a streak of over four and half matches without a goal and was needed after a dreadful first-half output.

The fun didn’t last for the Fire and St. Louis regained the lead in the 56th minute. Celio Pompeu did well on the left side, fighting off Allan Arigoni near the end line while maintaining possession. Pompeu created just enough space between himself and Arigoni to play a ball to the middle of Chicago’s penalty area. Pompeu’s cross went to an unmarked Joao Klauss, Carlos Terán lost the St. Louis number nine completely, and Klauss played a perfect touch into the corner of the net to make it 2-1.

St. Louis put the stake in the Fire’s heart in the 67th minute and it was Joao Klauss once again for the hosts. Chris Durkin had the ball on the right side, took a touch toward the end line, and played a cross to the far post. Klauss easily evaded Mauricio Pineda and had zero problem heading the ball into Chicago’s net to make it 3-1 for St. Louis. Each of Klauss’ goals came far too easily and there’s no excuse for the Fire to leave such a talented player unmarked on multiple occasions.

Chicago had one last great chance in front of the net in the 88th minute but St. Louis goalkeeper Roman Bürki made an amazing save to maintain the two-goal margin. Brian Gutiérrez played a free kick from the left side toward the far post and Tom Barlow beat everyone to it in the air. Barlow’s header was on-target but Bürki fully extended and made the save to secure his side’s 3-1 win.

The Fire were outshot 25-13 overall and seven-five for on-target efforts in St. Louis. Fotmob’s expected goals had St. Louis outscoring Chicago 2.32-1.24.

The team’s slow start at CityPark wasn’t what anyone in the locker room wanted.

“We prepared all week,” said Fire head coach Frank Klopas. “We told them what to expect. Regardless of the shot, [Rasmus Alm] can hit a great shot. But I'm just saying, I think the first half, our ability to compete and win duels, that wasn't good enough. You know, we did create two big chances that I feel we need to score. We need to score on those chances, but our ability to compete, forget it. We can talk tactics all we want but for me, everything starts from that. And we came in, we addressed some things with the guys. We talked about it, and then, look, we went to the second half. We had a good start. Really good start.

“Again, it's just the little things: Our positioning, arguing with the referee; they play quick. We've got to cut that stuff. But the most important thing for me is coming out there, we need to compete and we need to fight, and forget about tactics and this or that. That's stuff that's in players control. We need to bring that energy for 90 minutes to turn these things around. There's no secret. That's the only thing that I can tell you.”

Fire captain Xherdan Shaqiri says his side needs to better handle other club’s intensity, particularly at the outset of matches.

“It's clear, in the first half we didn't play how we wanted to play and we conceded the 1-0 out of nothing– from our mistakes,” said Shaqiri. “The second half we showed much better character. We showed more pride, also, and yeah, in the end, yeah, we scored the 1-1. So we are back in the game, and so we were, yeah, hopeful, but then they came back again, 2-1.

“It's difficult to describe now how, but it's in the last couple weeks, it's always a bit like this. Small percentage who are really not good enough to win games, and especially the last two games, and we have to deal better with the intensity of the other teams.

“And yeah, the match to be also much better with the ball, come out from the -- yeah, from a pressing team, to come better out, to be more better with the ball, to make less mistakes. This cost us most of the time, always these kinds of goals where we have to do much better.”

Former Northern Illinois University Huskies standout Anthony Markanich started at left back for St. Louis and did really well over 80 minutes before being subbed off. Markanich had 48 touches and completed 17 passes (seven in the final third) while collecting seven recoveries and winning three duels.

What’s On Tap Next?

The Fire return to Soldier Field on May 15 when they host Charlotte FC. The match is scheduled to kick off at 7:30 PM CT and will air on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV+.