Goalie Chris Brady made four saves Saturday night, including a difficult stop on a point-blank shot early in the second half, to lift the visiting Chicago Fire to a scoreless draw with the Columbus Crew.
Brady denied Taha Habroune on a right-footed shot in the 51st minute that carried a goal expectancy of 66%, according to MLS’ statistics. Teammate Dylan Borso gave Brady help moments later by blocking a Max Arfsten shot on the goal line.
Chicago (1-1-1, 4 points) was outshot 14-8 and managed just three shots on frame against Columbus goalie Patrick Schulte. But Brady’s work was enough to earn it a second straight clean sheet.
The Crew (0-1-2, 2 points) were blanked for the first time as Diego Rossi and Wessam Abou Ali were held off the scoresheet. Each managed two-plus shots but couldn’t get any on target after each scoring a pair of goals in the team’s first two matches.
The Fire played without forward Hugo Cuypers, one of their most dangerous offensive threats with 29 MLS goals since the start of the 2024 season. He was sidelined with a lower-body injury.
The main storyline prior to kickoff was if Columbus could figure out its issues on defense. The Crew got goals from Rossi and Abou Ali in each of their first two road fixtures but couldn’t get a three-point result because of their inability to fend off counterattacks that resulted in a 3-2 loss on Feb. 21 at Portland and a 2-2 draw a week later at Sporting Kansas City.
Coming off a 3-0 blanking of CF Montreal on Feb. 28 in its home opener, Chicago started slow. Columbus controlled possession in the first half and didn’t allow a single shot on frame and just one total shot during the opening 45 minutes.
But the Fire’s defensive shape held and enabled it to get to the locker room scoreless. It got help when Arfsten pulled a shot wide left from the center of the box in the 24th minute.
–Field Level Media
