Hugo Cuypers scored for a 10th consecutive match and the Chicago Fire earned a 2-0 victory at CF Montreal on Saturday afternoon.
Cuypers took his MLS-leading total to 13 goals, two in front of Miami’s Lionel Messi and Dallas’ Petar Musa. They both play later this weekend.
Philip Zinckernagel added his fifth goal of the season early and assisted Cuypers’ late tally as the Fire (7-4-2, 23 points) posted their second away win in four days. Chris Brady made six saves to keep his and Chicago’s sixth clean sheet.
Montreal (4-8-1, 13 points) lost for the first time in five home matches under interim manager Philippe Eullaffroy.
The hosts held 56.8% of the possession and owned a 15-13 edge in shots, yet were shut out for the first time since a 3-0 loss on April 4 at New England.
Zinckernagel put Chicago in front in the 14th minute. Maren Haile-Selassie ran onto a long ball down the left, then played in a left-footed cross toward the penalty spot.
Montreal’s Brayan Vera reached it first and tried to clear, but the ball deflected off his teammate Jalen Neal and bounced toward the penalty arc. That’s where the late-arriving Zinckernagel met it with a first-time finish into the bottom left corner.
Brady was excellent to keep Chicago in front when it was 1-0, particularly after halftime. He denied Dawid Bugaj’s promising attempt from the center of the penalty area in the 56th minute, then in the 65th made an excellent double stop that included a reflexive denial of Noah Streit’s low, deflected shot through traffic.
The Fire had their second two minutes later. Haile-Selassie picked up a loose ball at the center circle and played it forward to Zinckernagel as Cuypers took off in front of him on a diagonal run.
Zinckernagel played it farther forward in time for Cuypers to remain onside. Cuypers reached it on the right side of the penalty area and guided a side-footed finish beyond Thomas Gillier (2 saves) and inside the far left post.
Brady still had work to do to preserve the shutout, reacting superbly to deny Daniel Rios’ near-post header four minutes into second-half stoppage time.
–Field Level Media
