Jonathan Bamba had a goal and an assist in the second half and Maren Haile-Selassie scored the tying goal as the host Chicago Fire rallied to earn a 2-2 draw with Orlando City on Wednesday night.
Haile-Selassie’s equalizer came in the 69th minute as Chicago’s unbeaten streak against Orlando reached five (3-0-2).
The Fire (15-10-7, 52 points) remain in fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
Ivan Angulo and Antoine Griezmann scored goals for Orlando City (12-13-7, 43 points), which resides in seventh place in the East.
The Lions could have clinched a playoff spot with a victory and a Columbus Crew setback against FC Dallas. However, Columbus won its match and Orlando City blew a 2-0 lead and stand 2-0-3 in their past five matches.
Goalkeepers Maxime Crepeau of Orlando City and Chris Brady of Chicago each had four stops.
The Fire held a 21-9 advantage in shots, but both teams placed six on target.
Bamba had a chance for the go-ahead tally in the third minute of second-half stoppage time but was unable to get a lot on the right-footed shot and Crepeau easily made the stop.
Earlier, the Fire cut their deficit to 2-1 in the 57th minute when Leonardo Barroso delivered a cross that Bamba headed into the net.
Chicago tied the score 12 minutes later. Bamba got the ball close to the net and fed it back to Haile-Selassie, who drilled a short left-footed blast into the right corner of the net.
Orlando City scored in the sixth minute when Angulo dribbled in on the left side of the net and sent a left-footed shot into the right corner.
The Fire had a chance to knot the score in the 29th minute when Haile-Selassie sent a cross to Philip Zinckernagel, but the latter’s tap was stopped by Crepeau.
The Lions took a 2-0 lead in the 35th minute as Griezmann took a left-footed shot out from beyond the box that sailed into the top left corner of the net.
Orlando City had a chance for a three-goal lead, but Angulo sent a right-footer over the net in the 43rd minute.
–Field Level Media
