The Chicago Fire will bid for their second straight victory on Saturday afternoon when they visit the winless New England Revolution in Foxborough, Mass.
The Fire (1-2-1, 4 points) matched the total number of goals over their first three MLS matches with a 4-3 victory over CF Montreal last Saturday.
Chicago overcame a 3-1 deficit as homegrown Brian Gutierrez converted a penalty kick in the 84th minute and Hugo Cuypers scored in the 95th before Kellyn Acosta lofted a shot from beyond midfield that sailed over the head of the Montreal goalkeeper in the 99th.
“I had some St. Patrick’s Day luck,” Acosta said of his wind-aided goal. “I saw the ‘keeper take two steps and I’m like, this really might have a chance, and yeah, I mean he came out and it went over his head and the rest was history.”
Speaking of history, the Fire etched their name in the MLS record book by becoming the first team to win in regulation after trailing by at least two goals in the 84th minute or later.
While Chicago enters Saturday’s match with a bit of momentum, the Revolution (0-4-0, 0 points) find themselves headed in the wrong direction. They were outscored 10-3 in their first four matches following their 2-1 setback to FC Cincinnati on Sunday afternoon.
Giacomo Vrioni scored a goal in his second consecutive match for New England, which is off to its worst start to a season since going 0-6-0 in 2001.
“It’s important, of course, but at this moment, I’m not thinking about the individual results but about the team,” Vrioni said Thursday. “We are coming from zero points at the end of four (regular-season) games, but we are positive. Like I said before, we trust (first-year coach Caleb Porter) and we know that we are a really good team. We are really, really ready to play on Saturday against Chicago in front of our fans.”
–Field Level Media