Karol Swiderski scored his second goal of the game in extra time as Charlotte FC completed a comeback to beat host Chicago Fire 3-2 in a matchup of struggling teams Saturday night.
Substitute Nuno Santos scored his first goal in Major League Soccer play in the 76th minute to tie the game. Charlotte FC rallied from a 2-0 halftime deficit.
Swiderski notched his ninth and 10th goals of the season, but his first tallies in five games.
Charlotte FC (12-17-2, 38 points), which avenged an earlier loss to Chicago, has won back-to-back games following a three-game losing streak.
Mauricio Pineda and Jhon Duran scored in the first half for the Fire (9-15-8, 35 points). Boris Sekulic was credited with an assist on both Chicago goals.
Swiderski scored in the 68th minute for Charlotte FC, which applied pressure throughout segments of the second half.
Santos, a 23-year-old midfielder who was in his third game with Charlotte FC, didn’t have a shot in his first two games with the team. Orrin McKinze Gaines II assisted on Santos’ tying goal.
Fire goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina made three saves.
Kristijan Kahline recorded two saves for Charlotte FC.
Charlotte FC appeared to score in the opening minutes of the second half, but a would-be goal from Swiderski was overturned by video review. As it turned out, he had more chances and made those count.
It was a strong start for the Fire, which hadn’t scored in four of seven games since winning 3-2 on Aug. 6 at Charlotte.
Pineda scored in the third minute with a shot from outside the box.
Duran, who scored in the 30th minute, has been recalled to the Colombian national team, but he stuck around to play in this game. He has six goals in 12 starts with the Fire.
–Field Level Media