Fire start fast, hold off Charlotte FC

The Chicago Fire struck for three goals in the first half, then held off a frantic comeback attempt by visiting Charlotte FC before holding on for a 3-2 win on Saturday evening.

Philip Zinckernagel had a goal and an assist, and Brian Gutierrez and Hugo Cuypers added goals of their own, as the Fire (8-7-4, 28 points) snapped a two-match losing streak despite seeing a 3-0 lead nearly evaporate.

Charlotte (8-11-1, 25 points) has now lost three matches in a row and nine of its last 11 (2-9-0).

Chicago opened the scoring in the 23rd minute through Zinckernagel, who ventured down the pitch, evaded a pair of Charlotte defenders and laced the ball past goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina to make it 1-0. It was Zinckernagel's ninth goal of the season.

The lead grew to 2-0 in the 25th minute as Zinckernagel, an MLS All-Star selection on Wednesday, slid an inch-perfect pass to Gutierrez inside the box, and the United States international made no mistake with the finish to double the Fire's advantage. It was Gutierrez's eighth goal of the season, with Zinckernagel's assist giving him eight on the year.

Cuypers made it 3-0 in the 33rd minute, as he pounced on a mistake by Charlotte defender Adilson Malanda and fired it in the back of the net to up his team-high total to 11 goals.

Charlotte, though, came alive in the second half. Pep Biel ended Chicago's shutout bid in the 56th minute, cutting the lead to 3-1 with his sixth goal of the season. Moments later, Idan Tokolomati made it 3-2 in the 59th minute.

But Chicago ultimately saw matters out, winning just its second home match of the season (2-3-4).

Along with the loss, Charlotte was forced into an early substitution in the 18th minute as Souleyman Doumbia came off after what appeared to be a right hamstring injury.

Saturday also marked the 100th appearance across all competitions for Malanda, the first player in Charlotte history to achieve the milestone.